BG Reads | News You Need to Know (September 14, 2022)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Majority of Austin’s short-term rentals operating illegally (Austin Monitor)
As the city struggles to enforce short-term rental regulations, a large majority of Austin’s STRs continue to operate illegally, according to a Sept. 6. presentation from the Code Department to the City Council Housing and Planning Committee.
There are anywhere between 9,000 and 11,000 STR listings in Austin, depending on the day, according to José Roig, director of the Code Department, but only around 2,000 of those are licensed.
What’s more, the number of licensed STRs has decreased in recent years. Before the pandemic, Austin had 3,000 licensed short-term rentals.
Roig said the decrease could be because people aren’t renewing their license annually like they’re supposed to. The city requires a license in part to better enforce code violations like noise complaints.
A license costs $643 initially, and then $355 each year. The licensing fees cover the costs of administering the program, while money for enforcement comes from the city’s Clean Community Fee, a surcharge on Austin Energy utility bills.
Roig said that the owners of unlicensed STRs have become very savvy about evading city regulations by omitting exterior photos or other identifying information on online listings. This has led code enforcement officers “to become like a detective,” using photos or Google Earth to try to connect an online ad to an address to enforce a violation… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin likely to let police bring back controversial license plate cameras (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin police officers are likely to again have access to high-speed cameras as an investigative tool to track the vehicle license plates for people suspected of a crime.
But before that happens, finer details must be resolved by the Austin City Council, whose members are at odds — and have been all summer — over how long the data the cameras collect can be stored and which potential offenses it can be used to investigate.
Austin police say the license plate readers have helped crack several major cases, including a series of rock-throwing incidents on Interstate 35. But critics have raised a number of privacy concerns, as the devices, which are affixed to both police vehicles and along overpasses and underpasses, do not distinguish between vehicles driven by potentially dangerous suspects and those driven by everyday Austinites who are causing no trouble or maybe have an unpaid speeding ticket… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin FC looks to end 3-game losing streak against Salt Lake (FOX 7)
Austin FC will try to end a three-game losing streak on Wednesday at Q2 Stadium.
Saturday's 3-0 loss in Seattle was followed by a 3-0 loss to Nashville. Which begs the question, why is the Western Conference's second-place team playing so poorly all of a sudden?
"This is still a very good team. Right now, we've lost a bit of our bite and intent, and the personality that we've shown. So, is it fatigue? Is it complacency? Just knowing and feeling that we're in the playoffs? We've got to continue to push, and we're at our best when we've got a bit of, not that the world is against you, but you've got to go out and prove something. We still have plenty to prove," said Head Coach Josh Wolff… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Music Commission seeks say in land use around affordability, creative spaces (Austin Monitor)
Members of the Music Commission have set their sights on influencing how the city handles land use specific to affordability, in the hopes that more homes and commercial spaces can be created for local musicians and artists.
The commission voted unanimously at Monday’s meeting to reorganize a recently formed working group focused on the proposed expansion of the Austin Convention Center, with land use in the urban core selected as a more worthwhile goal. Chair Anne-Charlotte Patterson said her conversations with members of the Arts Commission brought about the need to address land use.
The Arts Commission is expected to vote on nominating members to the joint working group at its next meeting.
Patterson said the pace of growth throughout the city and the lack of incentives or other civic tools to promote new creative spaces and affordable housing is growing into a crisis for Austin’s overall character and reputation as an artist-friendly city.
“Real estate costs are the critical issue for so many things in Austin, but especially in the music and cultural arts for venues, promoters, musicians and music workers having to drive in from the suburbs to work a gig,” she said.
“There are more and more clubs open now outside of town and we’re going to suffer a loss of talent and loss of venues. I see opportunities with real estate developments for those kind of things … this can make your development cooler and it can help you get it through Planning Commission.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas natural gas sector balks at potential new oversight aimed at boosting grid (Austin American-Statesman)
The state’s natural gas industry is bristling at the possibility of beefed-up reporting requirements as regulators work to develop final reforms aimed at ensuring the reliability of the Texas electricity grid. State Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, said during a legislative hearing Tuesday that the prospect of a so-called "gas desk" to provide operators of the power grid with insight into real-time operational information regarding the natural gas sector is viewed by many industry players as an unwarranted intrusion into private enterprise. “My constituents are very heavily involved (in the natural gas industry) and they are not for it, I can tell you that right now," Craddick said. "They don't want the Legislature controlling the gas industry.”
He made the comments during an update over ongoing efforts to shore up the reliability of the power grid and implement reforms approved by the Legislature in the aftermath of the deadly freeze in February 2021, when a failure of the grid resulted in extensive blackouts that contributed to hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in property damage in Texas. Overall, state regulators told lawmakers that the process of enacting the reforms is proceeding well, with a variety of measures already put in place — such as weatherization requirements for power plants and, just two weeks ago, for natural gas infrastructure deemed essential — and a proposed revamp of the Texas power market nearing completion for public review. “The bottom line is the reliability reforms y'all passed … are working," Peter Lake, chairperson of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, told lawmakers. "The lights are staying on, and most importantly we are continuing to switch from the old crisis-based business model (on the ERCOT grid) to a reliability-based business model that focuses on people and households rather than corporate profits." Still, the possibility of increased oversight of the natural gas sector became a point of contention at several points during Tuesday's event… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas needs to revamp community colleges. Here’s what may be needed (Dallas Morning News)
Texas’ community colleges should be funded based on how many students graduate or transfer to four-year universities, according to a proposal outlined to lawmakers on Monday.
Community colleges have long depended on local property taxes, student tuition and fees to cover the majority of their costs. State funding offsets less than 25% and has not kept up with rapidly changing needs, officials say.
So Texas should overhaul how it funds them and include additional funding to reflect the higher costs of educating and supporting students from low-income families, those who came from academically disadvantaged backgrounds and working-age adults who need to reskill to remain competitive, a draft from the Texas Commission on Community College Finance reads.
“This new model would allow the colleges to focus on improving their own outcomes, rather than competing with other colleges for limited funding,” Woody Hunt, the commission’s chairman and an El Paso businessman, said at a Monday meeting.
The group — which includes college officials, business leaders and lawmakers — spent the past year exploring how to bolster and sustain the state’s funding for such schools.
The group presented its draft recommendations, which will be considered during next year’s legislative session, during a meeting of the commission.
Basing state funding for the state’s 50 community college districts on measurable outcomes will allow them to better predict how much money they will receive, said Renzo Soto, a policy advisor at the Texas 2036 think tank… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 165: Discussing water supply and conservation with Taylor O'Neil, CEO, Richard's Rainwater
Today's episode (165) features Taylor O'Neil, CEO of Richard's Rainwater.
Headquartered in Austin, Richard's Rainwater is the U.S. leader in capturing and bottling pure rainwater, and is the nation’s first FDA approved cloud-to-bottle company.
He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss Richard's history, the rain harvesting process, water supply and conservation, and regulatory hurdles in the industry.
Taylor is also a fellow Wake Forest University alum (Go Deacs!).
-> EPISODE LINK <-
Enjoyed this episode? Please like, share, and comment!
SUBSCRIBE / CONTACT US AT: info@binghamgp.com