AUSTIN, Texas — At its meeting on Thursday, the Austin City Council is set to discuss water reuse, property taxes for child care facilities, issues at the airport and more.
Here are four things to keep an eye on.
Salvation Army shelter in Downtown Austin
Council members voted to move forward with plans to spend at least $15 million to buy the Salvation Army's shelter in Downtown Austin.
The shelter for people experiencing homelessness closed this spring, and the City of Austin has been leasing the space since June. The Salvation Army announced the decision to close the shelter in February, saying, "We can no longer offer the level of quality and care our brothers and sisters need at this facility."
Before announcing the closure, representatives with the Salvation Army said they would need an additional $3 million a year from the City to continue operations. But they said City officials never made that commitment.
Recently, the Salvation Army approved a one-year lease with the City so the City could operate the building as an emergency shelter. Now the council is set to decide whether or not to spend millions to purchase the building.
During Tuesday's council work session, Mayor Kirk Watson called out those who are criticizing the City's plan to buy the space while also complaining that the City isn't finding space for shelter beds fast enough.
City leaders have previously said Austin is about 1,000 emergency shelter beds short of where it needs to be to support the city's unhoused population.
Up until this year, the Salvation Army had operated the downtown shelter since 1988. Right now, the organization operates two other shelters: the Austin Shelter for Women and Children and the Rathgeber Center for Families.
Water reuse rules for large developments
Council approved on consent an ordinance we told you about in a KVUE Defenders investigation that will delay implementing new water reuse rules for large developments.
In some parts of Austin, systems like this are already used. The ordinance would require developments that are 250,000 square feet or larger to have systems that take water from rain, condensation from air conditioning and wastewater, treat it and then reuse it for non-drinking purposes, like flushing toilets and irrigation.
"This building still uses the city's water for drinking and things like that, the faucets and the drinking fountains. But you don't need to have drinking water, for example, in your toilets and to irrigate the landscape," said Katherine Jashinski with Austin Water.
This would begin in December if it is approved by the city council.
Child care facility property taxes
A resolution the council approved on consent Thursday waives property taxes for eligible child care facilities.
The city council can lower these property taxes because voters passed state Proposition 2 on Tuesday. It allows cities and counties to lower property taxes for child care facilities if they meet certain requirements.
Call on FAA for help
The council also joined the growing list of officials calling on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for help at the Austin airport.
Five near collisions at the airport in the past year are gaining national attention. At Wednesday night's Airport Advisory Commission meeting, commissioners said they support the council's decision to sign onto a letter by Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) asking the FAA for more air traffic controllers. Congressman Greg Casar (D-Austin) has also called for similar action.
According to Doggett's letter, traffic at Austin's airport has increased 30% since 2019, but staffing hasn't kept up.
"This recommendation is federally focused to get the attention of our council members and the public that we are concerned about this," said Wendy Price Todd, chair of the Airport Advisory Commission. "The shortage of FAA staffing, not only in Austin but across the system, and that Austin's growth, that the designation of Austin, the airspace around the airport needs to be measured, measure up to what's happening at the airport."
The city council is directing the city manager to immediately notify council members and the Airport Advisory Commission if there are any future safety issues, and they are urging the FAA to take immediate safety action at the airport. The council is also directing the city manager to develop and implement a "ramp control system" at the airport.
The "ramp" is the area of the airport where aircraft are parked, loaded or unloaded, refueled, boarded and maintained. Air traffic control does not direct aircraft movements in this area. At other airports, airlines or third party vendors manage ramp programs, but at Austin's, there is not a designated entity in charge. Aircraft are responsible for their own safety.
In a memo sent to council members earlier this week, the airport's interim CEO said the Aviation Department is working to develop a new "virtual ramp control program," which would use technology and human oversight to manage aircraft movements on the ramp.