The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be giving a $4 million grant to Austin, allowing the city to move forward with the creation of a reuse warehouse. It “will accept drop-off donations and redistribute furniture to regional nonprofit organizations with a focus on furnishing homes for those transitioning out of homelessness,” according to a news release about the grant. “Furniture has emerged as a problematic material stream. Bulky items like furniture take up more floor space at resale stores and often sell slowly. This means unwanted furniture that is still usable sometimes ends up in the landfill. Austin needs more infrastructure to adequately process and rehome these materials.” The city hopes to open the warehouse no later than 2026. The EPA will give the funds to the city after City Council approval and other requirements are met.

Improvements to the intersection of Barton Springs Road and South First Street are complete. The project, which started in September 2022, added protected bike lanes, a concrete median, a new bus stop and upgraded signals and pedestrian infrastructure, including high-visibility crosswalks and ADA-compliant curb ramps. Construction was funded by the 2016 mobility bond.

Credit: city of Austin

The public has two more opportunities to weigh in on what services and resources should be included in creative hubs proposed for the city’s three ethnic cultural centers. The sessions are scheduled for Sept. 30 at the Asian American Resource Center, with a session about the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center kicking off at 11 a.m. while the gathering about the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center begins at 2 p.m. These facilities are all run by the Parks and Recreation Department and are being considered to be partially renovated to offer musicians and artists resources to perform, rehearse, livestream and record. The centers would also offer assistance in business development, marketing and other entrepreneurial needs. Those interested in attending either session are asked to RSVP on the EQ Austin website.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will hold a second public hearing this fall to allow the public to share thoughts on the 5,000-seat amphitheater proposed to be built west of Austin in Dripping Springs. The commission held an initial hearing last November for the water quality permit and application for municipal wastewater treatment, which developer Blizexas, LLC filed. TCEQ was still evaluating the applications but received a letter from state Sen. Donna Campbell requesting another public meeting to let residents near the Fitzhugh Road site share their concerns. The Stop Fitzhugh Concert Venue group has argued the concert venue will negatively impact water quality in the area and create public safety hazards because of excess traffic on surrounding two-lane country roads. The commission is working to finalize a date and location for the new meeting.

Spurs Give, Austin Parks Foundation and the Austin Parks and Recreation Department will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the renovation and reopening of a basketball court at James A. Garrison District Park this Sunday, Sept. 17. According to a press release about the event, San Antonio Spurs player and former Texas Longhorn Sir’Jabari Rice and Austin Spurs head coach Will Voigt will conduct a basketball clinic with 50 youth athletes from nearby schools to help celebrate the new space. “Austin Parks Foundation, alongside Austin Parks and Recreation, is grateful to continue this partnership with Spurs Give in amplifying the importance of community in our city’s parks,” said Colin Wallis, CEO of Austin Parks Foundation, in a statement to the press. “We’ve already seen the positive impact that these court improvements have made in Dove Springs District Park and we are excited to see that impact extend to Garrison District Park.” The project is the second to come out of the Play ATX program, which was launched in April 2023 with $500,000 from Spurs Give and APF. The program expands on one started in San Antonio, and will help parks in need of renovation. As part of Sunday’s ceremony, Central Texas Food Bank will launch tits new “Mobile FARMacy” that will provide fresh food to up to 50 families, nutrition information and help applying for food assistance.

As plans for a health center in Southeast Austin move forward, project officials are looking for feedback from the community on how the center will take shape. Using $16 million from the 2018 bond election, Austin Public Health and Austin Public Works are managing the construction of the Dove Springs Public Health Facility, which will consist of a neighborhood center, food pantry, health services and child care when complete. The meeting, which will take place on Sept. 21 from 6 until 7:30 p.m. at the George Morales Dove Springs Recreation Center, will discuss construction status, potential child care operators and artwork proposals for the space. Currently, the project is in its design phase.

Recently, the city’s Development Services Department adjusted its rules in order to be in line with changes made at the state level. The department is now holding a virtual stakeholder meeting to answer questions about how House Bill 14 and HB 3699 will impact development projects. On Sept. 28 from 10 to 11:30 a.m., staff will explain how the changes to the city code will impact the development process and answer questions. Anyone wishing to attend can register for the session here. Anyone not planning on attending who has questions can visit the city’s web page dedicated to the topic or contact the city directly at DSDCommunications@austintexas.gov.

A plan to charge for street parking on South Congress is being implemented this week. The change is part of the South Congress Parking and Transportation Management District ordinance approved in March, and is expected to take four to five weeks to fully implement. According to the city, parking enforcement will issue warnings for the first two weeks after full implementation, before issuing citations. A map of the parking district can be seen below:

Transportation industry leaders from the public and private sector are invited to the 2023 Movability Summit, which will feature representatives from the seven Central Texas agencies that constitute the region’s Construction Partnership Program. The Sept. 28 event will focus on the more than $20 billion in construction projects scheduled to begin soon. Those projects include the reconstruction of Interstate 35 through downtown, construction of light rail reaching three directions beyond downtown, expanded bus rapid transit service, and improvements to busy city and county roadway corridors. In addition to networking, the summit will feature a panel discussion about the region’s mobility and transportation challenges and solutions. Ticket purchasing and additional information are available online.

Researchers from three University of Texas colleges – the Jackson School of Geosciences, LBJ School of Public Affairs, and the School of Architecture – have received $1.5 million from the federal government to gather community-scale data on extreme weather and climate change. The data will be used to build advanced models that show patterns of extreme weather around Austin’s neighborhoods, environmental stressors involved in extreme weather, and impacts on communities. City government and community groups will be able to co-design strategies and investments informed by the data. During prepared remarks announcing the research, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who helped secure initial approval for the funding, pointed toward efforts like the Austin Climate Equity Plan as important to help identify future strategies to make the city more resilient to the effects of extreme weather.

Samsung Electronics and the University of Texas at Austin have reached an agreement that will see the technology giant invest $3.7 million at the Cockrell School of Engineering. The money, which was announced last week at a “semiconductor day” celebration earlier this month, will help fund recruiting and supporting undergraduate and graduate students to study semiconductor manufacturing at the school, as well as in other key majors in the semiconductor space across the university. It will also pay for research and development support and upgrades to lab facilities. The money is coming as a $1 million contribution to the Cockrell School from Samsung’s Austin market facilities and the remaining $2.7 million from the larger parent company. Samsung currently has hundreds of jobs available locally, and that number is expected to increase dramatically as the company moves forward with a $17 billion manufacturing facility in Taylor.

Preservation Austin has organized its inaugural Legacy Business Month, beginning Oct. 1, in an effort to highlight iconic businesses that define local culture. Using a free “passport” loyalty system, those interested in participating will be encouraged to visit 13 local businesses that have been open for at least 20 years: BookPeople, Broken Spoke, Carousel Lounge, Cisco’s, Deep Eddy Cabaret, Driskill Hotel, Green & White Grocery, the Herb Bar, Paramount Theatre, Peter Pan Mini Golf, Playland Skate Center, Quality Seafood Market, and Waterloo Records & Video. Passports will be available beginning Oct. 1 at BookPeople and the Zilker Brewing Co. taproom. A kickoff party will take place Oct. 5 at the Zilker taproom, while a wrap party to recognize the most stamps collected will take place Oct. 30 at Historic Victory Grill. More information is available at preservationaustin.org.