AUSTIN (KXAN) — Here's what we're watching at the Austin City Council meeting Thursday.
The council could approve the settlement of a personal injury claim by Brad Levi Ayala and direct the City Manager to return to Council with the necessary resolution and ordinance to finance the settlement. An amount wasn't disclosed in city council paperwork.
Ayala was shot in the head with a "less lethal" bean bag round during the racial injustice protests in May 2020 and has been recovering since.
This resolution would direct the city manager "to provide recommendations for mitigating water utility bill impacts experienced by customers due to the February 2022 boil water event."
While a decision on Thursday won't set a final amount in stone, the resolution could potentially give Austin Water customers a "goodwill credit" of $10, or invest $4 million in system improvements.
The council could approve a resolution that would allocate funding for the Project Connect anti-displacement for Fiscal Year 2022. According to the council's agenda, $41 million is available, and it's to be split between paying for affordable housing along the proposed rail lines and other anti-displacement initiatives.
This would authorize negotiation and execution of Amendment No. 5 to an agreement with Family Eldercare, Inc. to provide temporary work and supportive services to individuals experiencing homelessness, to add $316,167 to the current term, for a revised total agreement amount of $3,373,321.
The idea of this is to make it easier for taxicab companies to do business in Austin. The ordinance amends city code to repeal franchise requirements for taxicab companies and establish taxicab operating authority requirements.
It will essentially allow taxicab companies to operate more like pedicabs and limousines and with "less red tape and a faster application approval process."
Council is trying to make Sixth Street safer in a variety of ways, and this resolution relates "to comprehensive strategies and actions intended to create a safer Sixth Street area," including gun storage and buyback programs.
It would direct the city manager to work with bar owners to create written safety plans, train door staff and increase communication with APD, among other measures.
The council also would like "to take a strong stance against establishments with records of repeated violent incidents taking place among their customers." They want to examine what Houston has done in that regard, so part of the resolution would look into "legal options that may be available to the City to address establishments with such records."
It would also give incentives and loans to owners of historic buildings on Sixth Street to add kitchens.
