BG Note | News - What We're Reading (October 11, 2017)
[Austin Metro]
Push on at Council to delay CodeNEXT vote (Austin Monitor) LINK TO STORY
Council Member Leslie Pool is pushing to further delay a vote on CodeNEXT, the controversial rewrite of Austin’s Land Development Code that is already years behind schedule.
In a message to fellow City Council members Monday evening, Pool suggested rethinking the April deadline that Council had informally set for final adoption of the new code...
Travis County appoints Commissioner Travillion to Capital Metro board (Community Impact)
Travis County Commissioner Jeff Travillion was appointed to the Capital Metro board of directors Tuesday morning following the resignation of Beverly Silas.
Silas served on the board for eight years and resigned at the Travis County Commissioner Court meeting Oct. 3 amid racial comment controversy. Silas, who was vice chair of the Capital Metro board, made comments about hiring an African-American as the agency’s CEO and president during an Aug. 9 workshop.
Deece Eckstein, intergovernmental relations officer for Travis County, said the county is allowed to appoint someone to fill the vacancy until the term expires in June.
County no longer suing surf park (Austin Monitor) LINK TO STORY
The Travis County Commissioners Court voted unanimously on Tuesday to bail on its legal challenge against the state’s first artificial surf park.
After a relatively short executive session during their regular weekly meeting, the members of the court returned to the seats on the dais and supported Commissioner Margaret Gómez’s motion to non-suit NLand Surf Park.
The park features an 11-million-gallon wave pool that produces consistent waves that customers can surf on without ever leaving the comfort of the county.
AISD seeks to improve district construction program with changes to purchasing, bidding policies (Community Impact) LINK TO STORY
On Monday night Austin ISD trustees discussed making a few policy amendments in an effort to improve the construction program and address some of the frustrations that some of the district’s vendors are experiencing.
As the district prepares for a potential bond season, amendments to these policies could help streamline the construction process, board members said.
AISD Chief Financial Officer Nicole Conley Johnson said the provisions include delegating emergency purchases to the superintendent and enhancing the employee conflict of interest provisions.