14th May, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
As reported in the Statesman, city council yesterday voted to move forward on three green initiatives for Austin:
- the council agreed to accept $450,000 in federal stimulus money to install solar panels on local schools and develop a curriculum related to solar energy, as discussed here.
- the council agreed to accept $607,209 in grant money to convert 38 city-owned Priuses to plug-in hybrid vehicles and install charging stations for those vehicles.
- the council directed Austin Water Utility staffers to develop a 10-year water conservation plan to reduce drinkable water use to 140 gallons per capita per day by 2020, as discussed here.
Check out the Statesman link above to learn more about yesterday’s council meeting.
13th May, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
This Statesman blog reports that the Hays County Commissioners Court voted to accept the terms of a $3.5 million settlement to end a lawsuit that over pollution of Hamilton Creek and Hamilton Pool caused by construction operations at the Ranches at Hamilton Pool subdivision. The article notes that construction of the subdivision by “Rodman Excavation, Inc. of Frisco and Coldwater Development, Ltd., and engineer Aaron Googins as well as several subsidiaries and associate companies” resulted in “massive amounts of sediment from the subdivision to run into Hamilton Creek and ultimately into Hamilton Pool, affecting water quality, aquatic life and the public’s enjoyment of the water.” The Travis County Commissioners had already apporved the terms of the settlement in March of 2009.
Under the settlement, Hays County will receive $425,000 ; Travis County, $2.1 million to cleanup Hamilton Pool and Hamilton Creek; and the State of Texas, $500,000. Three downstream landowners will also receive money.
Check out the article for more details.
11th May, 2010 - Posted by carsi - 5 Comments
The Austin Zero Waste Alliance, a group of environmental advocates, is requesting that the City of Austin create a ban on plastic bags, similar to the ban that San Francisco already has in place. Six large area retailers including H-E-B, Randalls, Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens and Whole Foods have voluntarily reduced the amount of plastic bags they send to the landfill by 38 percent since 2008, but their efforts have fallen short of the 50 percent decrease they originally promised. The alliance is requesting the ban be phased in over a period of six months. City Council members and the mayor have yet to say publicly whether or not they support the ban.
19th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
Carsi and I have written before about the recycling requirements in Austin apartments (in general and compared to Portland). The Statesman today has more details on a proposal city council could consider this summer which would require apartment complexes with fewer than 100 units to recycle.
The article states that “The financial impact of the proposal is unknown, but the city would either pick up and process recyclables from some of the properties or require them to contract with private haulers” and that “currently, Austin requires only apartment complexes with at least 100 units and offices with at least 100 employees to recycle and pay private haulers to pick up the materials. The city provides containers and picks up recyclables from single-family homes, duplexes, fourplexes and some small businesses. Larger apartment complexes must recycle four materials of their choice, and larger offices must recycle two.”
The article also notes that “an additional 2,015 offices and 5,469 multifamily properties would have to comply with the proposed rules.”
12th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
According to this KUT story, city council will be considering adopting an invasive species plan sometime in June. Invasive species are “non-native plants and animals” that ”are choking out native species, with potentially damaging environmental and economic effects.” For example, invasive trees can crowd out native trees and cause soil erosion, not to mention harming the animals that depend on native plants for food and shelter.
There is also this link from the Austin Parks Foundation if you would like to know more about it and find out what you can do to help, such as planting native species and removing invasive species from your land, or volunteering at local parks.
1st April, 2010 - Posted by carsi - No Comments
The city is in the process of deciding on a name for the park adjacent to Zilker Elementary, and they are taking suggestions from the public until June 28. The name can be after a person, living or dead, or after something else, such as a place or natural feature. If you suggest a person, you must include “a biographical sketch; a description of the individual’s involvement in the community; and the individual’s connection, if any, to the Austin park system.” If you use another suggestion, you just need to include justification for the name. You can submit your name suggestions here. After the deadline, a public hearing will be scheduled, and the Parks Board will then make recommendations to the City Council for final approval.
26th March, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
According to the Statesman, the renegotiated deal with Greenstar that the council considered on Thursday would have “locked the city into a contract to process most or all of Austin’s recyclables in San Antonio through fall 2011 , even though an Austin recycling plant might be up and running sooner.” Check out the article for more details
24th March, 2010 - Posted by carsi - No Comments
The city is developing a Comprehensive Plan, which maps out how Austin will grow and develop in the years to come. The council will be dealing with green issues like sustainability, transportation, and water and land use. Right now, they’re taking input from the public, which means you can tell the city what you want it to look like in the future. You can give your opinion by taking a survey or attending a Meeting-in-a-Box. The Sustainable Food Center is hosting a Meeting-in-a-Box today at the Triangle Farmer’s Market from 5-6:30.
23rd March, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
According to this Chronicle article, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization has scheduled a series of opportunities for the public to review and comment on its draft 2035 transportation plan.
The article states that as an alternative to urban sprawl, the plan could “direct new density toward live-work-play nodes accessible both by major roads and by expanded transit…As drafted, the multimodal plan includes roadway, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities, supporting a regional goal of reducing vehicle miles traveled and emissions of both air pollutants and greenhouse gases.”
You can read the draft plan here, and attend one of several open houses this week and/or attend a public meeting on April 12th. Check here for more details.
15th March, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
I’ve always wanted backyard chickens for the fresh eggs, but according to this Statesman article, while Austin currently allows an unlimited number of roosters and chickens per household, city officials may be considering a change. I think the irritation of neighbors dealing with multiple roosters crowing next door at all hours is understandable – but hopefully the rules won’t change so drastically that roosters AND chickens will be banned from backyards.
The article notes that “[a]dvocates say chickens should be raised locally, as opposed to in industrial poultry operations criticized by animal rights activists.” City officials have stated that the city already prohibits pets that disturb neighbors and neighbors are free to report noisy roosters to the police, but that “[t]he police always have a quandary in a city where serious crime and even murders take place…They have to be judicious about how much attention is paid to things like quality-of-life issues.” The Statesman article notes that city council will probably consider the matter this Spring.
15th March, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment
According to this KUT story, city council voted to approve incentive agreements of more than $354,000 for Chinese solar panel manufacturer Yingli. The company has not yet decided between Austin and Phoenix for its headquarter’s location. An office opening in Austin would create about 300 jobs here.
4th March, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
According to the Austin Chronicle, the city’s Public Works Department unveiled the results of a study done by HDR Engineering, which predicted what the proposed Nueces bike boulevard may do to traffic. The report claims that whether the bike boulevard is built or not, many of the intersections on the boulevard will be congested and experience delays. For more details, check out this article.
3rd March, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
As reported in the Statesman, Austin’s Water Conservation Implementation Task Force and Austin Water Utility will be hosting a public meeting next Tuesday, March 9th at 6PM to discuss a draft of the “Water Conservation 2020: Strategic Recommendations” report. The proposal would set a of goal of cutting the per capita consumption of water to 140 gallons a day by 2020. The per capita average consumption for Austin for the last 14 years was about 171 gallons a day. To read the draft report, click here. The Task Force will be listening to public input before finalizing its report for presentation to City Council, so if you have views on water conservation, try to attend the meeting or call the Austin Water Conservation Division at 974-2199.
25th February, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
City Council plans to hold hearings and vote on March 11th on a proposal that would offer incentives to bring Chinese company Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. , one of the world’s largest manufacturers of solar panels, to Austin. For more info, see this Statesman article.
25th February, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
As reported here in the Statesman, Austin Energy is seeking permission from City Council to secure rights to build and operate a wind farm in Pecos County. By owning the wind farm, Austin Energy hopes to have more control over wind costs than it currently has by buying wind power from privately-owned facilities. The article notes that AE is paying roughly about twice as much for wind power since it started buying it from privately-owned facilities a decade ago. Customers of AE can opt-in to AE’s GreenChoice program and buy wind energy.
25th February, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
Austin’s Transportation Department today presented a new proposal to City Council today, which has two North-South routes, as opposed to the previous proposal which included only one North-South route. Under the new proposal, one of those routes will run West of the Capitol, and one will run East of the Capitol. Under the plan, one single route would cross Lady Bird Lake. A bond proposal may go before voters next fall, with an updated estimate of the cost of the new proposal available in April. For Statesman coverage click here, and for KUT coverage click here.
23rd February, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
As discussed in this Statesman article, about 200 people attended last night’s energy forum discussing AE’s proposed plan to increase Austin’s use of renewable resources. Under the plan the utility would get 35% of its energy from renewable resources by 2020. City council may vote on the plan as early as March. It sounds like the discussion was very similar to the one that took place last week on PBS and KUT.
22nd February, 2010 - Posted by carsi - No Comments
There has been much discussion about making Nueces Street more bike-friendly in an attempt to divert bicycle traffic away from car traffic and to provide a safe, non-hilly street for cyclists. This plan, originally proposed by City Council in its bicycle master plan, has sparked controversy among business and home owners on the street who claim that the bike boulevard would hurt their businesses and decrease their home values. If you’d like to take part in the discussion, there will be a public forum on Wednesday, February 24, at 6:00 pm at Pease Elementary School. Check out the Statesman’s article for more info.
15th February, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
Austin Energy is proposing that Austin get 35% of its energy from renewable resources by 2020, up from 11% currently. For more information, check out the Statesman. Listen to discussion about the proposed plan and its potential costs on KUT Thursday at 8:00PM, or watch it on our local PBS station Thursday at 7:30. There is going to be a public forum on the proposed plan next Monday – we’ll update you with the time and place of that meeting when we have more information.
*UPDATE: The public forum will be on Monday, Feb. 22 at 6 pm at the Palmer Events Center. Read more on the plan here: http://bit.ly
15th February, 2010 - Posted by carsi - 2 Comments
-At the most recent City Council meeting, the Council renewed its contract with Greenstar to continue providing single stream recycling in Austin. It’s a 2-year agreement with two 6-month extension options. Using Greenstar isn’t necessarily the greenest option possible, since they truck all our recyclables to a facility in San Antonio. The council has been trying to get a Single-Stream Material Recovery Facility (SSMRF) built locally, but it seems that it will take longer to complete than expected. The renewed contract with Greenstar would allow the city more time to get building on that local SSMRF. ***CORRECTION: The City is postponing this decision on extending the Greenstar contract until February 25. Hear more from KUT here.
-City Council also approved a Chris Riley-sponsored resolution directing the City Manager to indentify means of reducing nitrous oxide, particulate, and greenhouse gas emissions associated with construction and demolition projects. This is partially motivated by the EPA’s planned reconsideration of their current smog standard, and it is likely that Austin will not meet the new standards. Way to be on top of things, Chris Riley!
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