This Thursday at 2 p.m., Austin City Council and the Planning Commission will combine to form City Hall’s most anticipated supergroup in an attempt to shepherd changes to the Land Development Code through the normal process with an abnormal amount of haste. A post from Mayor Kirk Watson lays out what the meeting will look like. “We have worked with City Staff and we will bring in infrastructure to create a second temporary dais that will be set up in front of the permanent dais. The Planning Commission will be seated on the newly constructed temporary dais and Council Members will sit in their current seats on the permanent dais,” he writes. In information more germane to the general public, Watson also notes that anyone wanting to speak at the meeting can sign up online until noon Wednesday – or in person at City Hall until 1:15. “Each speaker will have two minutes to speak. People signed up to speak will be able to donate time. Time may be donated to a person so that the speaker will have up to 6 minutes total time to address the joint bodies. People wishing to donate time must coordinate with the city clerk prior to being called. All parties (speakers and donors) must be present in person to be eligible for donation of time,” Watson continues. At the meeting, Planning commissioners and City Council members will hear public comment on proposed amendments to the city code that would allow up to three housing units on single-family lots, remove occupancy-limit restrictions and revise regulations that apply to properties with two housing units. Though all of these resolutions were easily approved by City Council previously, Austin Neighborhoods Council, GAVA and Community Not Commodity are holding a press conference Tuesday to protest the “HOME” initiative, which would allow multiple housing units on properties.

Reunir: Historia del Día de los Muertos makes its debut online with an in-person event and ceremony entitled Alma Y Corazón at 5:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2. It’s a digital history exhibit about the history and traditions of the holiday as celebrated in Austin, Texas, Mexico and Latin America. The event will include music, food, speakers and a tour of the graves of Tejano ancestors at Oakwood Cemetery Chapel, 1601 Navasota St. The Reunir exhibit and accompanying events are made possible through a partnership between Austin Parks and Recreation’s Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, Oakwood Cemetery Chapel, Brush Square Museums and Cemetery Operations. RSVP online for the free event.  Two days later is the 16th annual Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center Day of the Dead festival and MexAmericon from 1-9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Pan American Recreation Center, 2100 E. Third St., where guests can enjoy hands-on children’s activities, art activations, vendors, food trucks and a collective community altar. For more information, visit AustinTexas.gov/DayoftheDead.

City Council on Thursday approved modifications to the city’s Land Development Code that will allow child care facilities as well as adult day care in areas previously off-limits to such facilities. Council Member Vanessa Fuentes sponsored a resolution earlier this year urging the zoning staff to move forward with changes to regulations limiting child care and adult day care facilities. The new regulation will eliminate the requirement for nonaccessible parking for child care services and allow such services as an accessory use in residential areas. The number of children allowed in child care services will also be increased, as will the number of spaces for adults needing day care. According to a staff report, “childcare prices as a share of median family income range from 7.6 percent to 16 percent depending on the type of care.” Fuentes said that in order to make child care more affordable in Austin, it was necessary to change the rules to allow more properties to be available for child care. Council Member Chito Vela offered his wholehearted support for the item, thanking everyone involved. He said in his district, “child care is probably one issue that we hear about” most often that families struggle with.

The city’s Resource Management Commission has approved two resolutions asking City Council to lower or eliminate certain rebates for gas appliances. On a vote of 7-2, the commission approved recommendations authored by the commission’s vice chair, Paul Robbins. The first resolution advises that Council should lower or eliminate certain rebates because they are inconsistent with rebates paid by other utilities throughout the nation. For example, commissioners recommended that the city eliminate payments for clothes dryer connections and lower rebates for tankless water heaters, furnaces and dryers. The city could reallocate some of the money currently going into rebates by assisting low-income customers. The commission recommended that Council approve a pilot program for such customers.

The commission also approved a second resolution related to state oversight of Texas Gas Service’s energy conservation programs. In the past, the city has regulated such programs, but recent legislation puts that into the hands of the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state agency that regulates the massive oil and gas industry. Commissioners voted to ask the Council to seek a waiver from the Railroad Commission allowing Austin to maintain its regulatory control.

Austin Animal Center continues its push to increase adoptions this weekend, with a Halloween-themed pet adoption festival that “promises a ghoulishly good day filled with shopping, community, and the cutest creatures in costume,” according to a city press release. In addition to waived adoption fees, face painting and local vendors, “Adoptober Fest” will feature an Adopt the Runway event starring adoptable animals in costume. “This yearly adoption event is something that shelter really looks forward to! We look at it as a day of community, supporting local makers, small businesses, and organizations, all while supporting Austin’s animal shelter,” said event coordinator Stephanie McCutcheon, in a statement to the press. “But this year, more than ever, we need successful adoptions to happen on Saturday because we are so close to having dogs back in pop-up crates due to our shelter being overcapacity.” The adoption event will take place 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, at 7201 Levander Loop.

City Council will likely vote to postpone an item on Thursday’s agenda authorizing an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for the construction of a 300-foot-wide deck structure at Woodland Avenue over Interstate 35 as TxDOT enlarges the highway. After hearing about an alternative plan at Tuesday’s work session, Council Member José Velásquez indicated his support for a narrower structure that would be more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly, cost less and have a smaller footprint. A majority of his colleagues agreed that this item should be revised. When it comes back, the proposed 300-foot-wide deck should be about 75 feet and cost the city about $2 million as opposed to the original $14.2 million plus cost overruns anticipated for the larger structure.

Marking the beginning of the transition of services from the Hornsby Bend clinic’s initial, temporary home off FM 969 (Webberville Road), a new medical facility and resource center in the Austin’s Colony neighborhood near Dailey Middle School will have its grand opening 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21. The Hornsby Bend Health and Wellness Center – opened by Central Health to supply clinical, social, and support services for those living in Eastern Travis County’s medical deserts – will offer a number of services and community voices at its kickoff event. Medical and support specialists who’ll be working at HBHWC will administer Covid and flu vaccines and “practice” at the Teddy Bear Clinic. Local agencies and organizations will be on hand at the Community Resource Fair. And there will be performances by the cheer, stomp, and ballet folklorico groups from Gilbert Elementary in northern Hornsby Bend, plus live music from Rey Arteaga, a member of the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians. Hornsby Bend Health and Wellness Center is located at 3700 Gilbert Road, Hornsby Bend, TX 78725.

Residents interested in advising local leaders on matters involving anti-displacement and equity related to Project Connect are invited to apply for a position on the new Community Advisory Committee. The CAC will advise the city, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Austin Transit Partnership on those and other related issues. Applications are open until Nov. 17, and the goal is to include representation from women, families with small children, Black people, indigenous people, people of color, people from immigrant and/or undocumented populations, members of the LGBTQI community, students and workers’ rights advocates, among others. An applicant must be a city resident (or live in Capital Metro’s service area) and not be a registered lobbyist nor an employee of any of the sponsoring organizations and not have any contract with any of the sponsoring organizations. They also must agree to follow all required ethics policies. Members will be selected based on their use of transit to commute, demographic information and lived experience involving the needs of marginalized communities, including people experiencing homelessness. The application and further information is available online.

ReadyCentralTexas.org is the new home of the emergency preparedness hub for the Austin area. The city’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management was created to educate visitors on how to be ready in the face of flash floods, wildfires, extreme weather or other emergencies that take place in the Austin area. The hub offers steps to prepare for those and other hazards and provides lists of resources available across the city for those impacted by any kind of emergency in each City Council district. The hub will also allow users to register for preparedness training sessions or download a preparedness guide in English or Spanish. There are also videos in both languages explaining state and federal reimbursement programs for those affected by a disaster.

Austin City Council is seeking applicants to fill two seats on the five-member Municipal Civil Service Commission. The seats are for two unexpired terms that run through May 2024, and applicants may also be considered for the follow-up three-year terms. The commission’s focus is the rules and regulations concerning those who work in civil service, and one of its main tasks is hearing appeals and “making final, binding decisions in the case of any municipal civil service employee who is discharged, suspended, demoted, denied a promotion, or put on disciplinary probation.” The time commitment for the position is estimated at 20 hours a month. Applicants should be a city resident, a qualified voter and have experience in administration of human resources or labor relations or knowledge of labor and employment law. The application is available online.

As the state Legislature carries out a special session on “school choice,” local school leaders, advocates and policy experts will take part in a discussion hosted by The Texas Tribune on what could come out of the session and how legislation could change things for students, parents, teachers and schools across the state. Speakers include Norma V. Cantú, professor of education and professor of law at UT-Austin College of Education; John Emerich, superintendent of Crockett Independent School District; and Corey A. DeAngelis, senior fellow at the American Federation for Children. “Public Education and the Special Session” is planned for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, online at texastribune.org and in downtown Austin in the Tribune’s Studio 919, located at 919 Congress Ave., sixth floor, 78701. The event will be livestreamed online and available to watch on demand afterward at texastribune.org/events. RSVP here to attend this free event.

The city of Austin and Waterloo Greenway Conservancy will be holding a series of community conversations to learn more about the future of Sir Swante Palm Neighborhood Park. The meetings are open to the public and designed to be an opportunity to talk to people working on the project, for the public to offer feedback on future plans and for people to share Palm Park stories. The meetings, which are listed below, start today and run through the end of the month. Registration for the conversations can be found here. Feedback on the future of the park can also be offered through a survey that is available in both English and Spanish.

• Tuesday, Oct. 17
  6-7:30 p.m.
  Palm Elementary School
• Thursday, Oct. 19
  6-7:30 p.m.
  Palm Elementary School
• Saturday, Oct. 21
  10:30 a.m.-noon
  Chalmers East Community Room
• Wednesday, Oct. 25
  6-7:30 p.m.
  Mendez Recreation Center

Waterloo Greenway’s park system is currently in its third phase design and is expected to break ground in 2026.