Running the Numbers

The City Council mixes things up today with an off-campus meeting, this one on the Eastside; see first item for details and check austinchronicle.com for fresh updates.

1

The first meeting held outside City Hall since Lee Leffingwell's promise to move meetings into the community: 10am at George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, 1165 Angelina.

57

The number of items on City Council's Sept. 30 agenda.

$1.5 million

Cost to acquire a lot between Fourth and Fifth streets, abutting I-35, which will be the primary construction entrance and a temporary construction site for the Waller Creek Tunnel Project. (Item 3)

$1

Annual payment from Planned Parent­hood to the city, for its lease on its East Seventh Street building. A 10-year lease, with a 10-year renewal option, is up for a vote. (Item 4. Related: Item 9, a $50,000 contract amendment and six-month extension with Planned Parenthood for teen pregnancy prevention.)

10/01/11

The approximate date that would kick-start new social service contracts awarded by the city. Over this year, council's Public Health and Human Ser­vices Committee has looked at revamping the process by which contracts are awarded to social service providers – shelters, mental-health providers, drug and alcohol treatment centers, and more – which largely haven't been rebid since the 1990s. Should the item pass this week, a request for proposals would be issued this month, with evaluation occurring between January and April 2011, followed by approval of a transition between the current contracts and new agreements, then by the contracts' initiation in October. (Item 10)

4

Number of eminent domain cases being brought forward for Austin Water construction: one project for construction of the utility's Northwest Zone C pipe, the others for erosion control along Fort Branch Creek. (Items 5-8)

$220,000

Contract with Richards Rodriguez & Skeith LLP, for legal representation in the lawsuit brought by Adam Loewy, attorney for the family of Nathaniel Sanders II, alleging a breach of contract in the council's refusal to settle the Sanders' initial suit against the city for their son's shooting death. (Item 12)

3.95

Acres in the suddenly controversial Zilker Neighborhood Park. Slated to be renamed Bluebonnet Park, neighbors protested last week, saying they know it as Little Zilker. Council is expected to make the renaming decision today. (Item 18)

50

Number of days until Nov. 20, the date the city manager is directed "to work with other area governmental bodies and coordinate a job fair ... with the goal of filling as many vacant positions as soon as possible." Guess the hiring freeze is over! (Item 22)

10-30%

The amount of construction debris estimated in a city's waste stream, according to a resolution asking the city manager to "investigate incentives for the recycling of demolition and construction materials." (Item 23)

6,700

Number of miles to Oita, Japan, one of Austin's sister cities. Austin is recommitting to "certain joint-partnership objectives," including programs centered on "music, which is a common means of expression for both communities," and exchange programs on peace, the environment, and other assuredly achievable measures. (Item 27)

10:30am

Posted time for two presentations: a briefing on the city's Permanent Supportive Hous­ing Strategy and a report on taxicab issues, likely including ancillary issues like pedicabs. (Items 34 & 35)

10

Number of zoning cases before council, including the owner-fought case for historic zoning being made by the neighbors of the Callan-Boswell House at 408 E. 33rd (Item 46). A supermajority of council is required to approve historic zoning, since it's contested by the owners, and as they put the case in front of the Planning Commission by a 4-3 vote, there are seemingly not enough votes on council to pass it.

3

Number of zoning cases relating to the Domain: The Simon Properties rezoning, up for second and third reading, requesting 83% impervious cover at its site – 3% over the limit – with the overage to be met by making an additional acre of nearby property on Endeavor Real Estate's Domain tract green space (Item 42); a separate restrictive covenant asking the Domain to withhold from providing 9 acres of private parkland until the construction of nearby residential units (Item 43); and Endeavor's request to bypass the big box ordinance requirements for a conditional use permit for developments over 100,000 square feet (Item 44). Good to see that, along with an iPad and a Louis Vuitton bag, you can still pick up controversy at the Domain. (At press time, we learned the items will likely be postponed until Oct. 14.)