Downtown At A Glance

September 1995

• ADA Curb & Sidewalk - East Austin
  The low bidder for the project is Engineering Micro Research, Inc., in the amount of $148,000. We are now in the process of having the low bidder to execute the contracts.

• Downtown 'Dillo Routes (Capital Metro)
  The #88 Old Pecan Street 'Dillo Circulator is a new downtown cross-town service that will begin on October 29, 1995. This new service will operate from Austin High School to Red River along 5th and 6th Streets. This route will be modified to operate from 5th to Trinity to 8th to Congress on Friday and Saturday nights after 9:30p.m.

• Downtown Development Initiatives
  On June 7, the City Council voted to:1) establish a preliminary location for the proposed City Hall, and separate the City Hall developer solicitation process from the public/private development solicitation process, and 2) authorize staff to negotiate a Phase II contract with Keyser Marston Associates for downtown redevelopment consulting services. On July 27 the Council approved the phase II scope of work. The major work elements include: 1) formation of one or more reinvestment zone(s) for the purpose of tax increment financing, 2) formation of a development corporation to focus on downtown development opportunities, and 3) establish criteria, standards and initiate the downtown developer selection process .

• Downtown Libraries Renovation
  The Austin History Center will be closed from May 1 through October 15.

• Downtown Mobility Action Plan (Capital Metro)
  The next public DMAP meeting will be held at the City Council Downtown Subcommittee on October 17, 1995, 1:30 PM at City Hall. Many other additional public meetings will be scheduled beginning in September. The schedule for DMAP has been revised for completion at the end of this year..

• Downtown Noontime Concerts (Downtown Austin Alliance)
  The Downtown Austin Alliance (formerly Austin DMO, Inc.), and the Austin Federation of Musicians have co-sponsored two years of free noontime concerts. A variety of local musicians perform every Tuesday at Regents Plaza, Sixth and Colorado. The concerts, which were first held in September-October 1994, will resume September 5 after a summer break, and run through November.

  The fall schedule is: September 26 - Extreme Heat; October 3 - Don McCallister; October 10 - Round Trip (Fusion Guitar Jazz); October 17 - Beto and The Fairlanes (Hurricane Jazz Sounds!); October 24 - Van Wilkes & Dave Sebree (Texas Rock); October 31 - Sissy Slero (Happy Country / Western Halloween!); November 7 - Steve James (Delta Blues); November 14 - Paul Glasse Group (Jazz Mandolin); November 21 - Europa Trio (Euro Folk/Gypsy); and November 28 - Pinnacle Quintet (Perfect Cold Weather Blues).

• Holly To Seaholm Transmission Line
  Foundation construction is scheduled to begin November 1, 1995. Pole setting and wire stringing will begin in January 1996. Construction projects should be completed in March 1996, with clean-up and restoration activities concluding in April 1996.

• Light Rail Starter Line Proposal (Capital Metro)
  In April, Capital Metro began a system planning process that will examine the cost, feasibility, possible alignments and station locations, impacts and benefits of a 24-mile system. A draft of the system planning work is expected to be completed this fall. The Board of Directors is then expected to consider next steps for the project, including whether the project should move forward to a voter referendum. Several community workshops are being held to involve the public in the planning process, including a "live" video teleconference with Portland, Oregon and Sacramento, California, two cities which have light rail transit systems in operation.

• New City Hall
  A final report of The Business Case with Respect to a New City Hall was completed. It was given to the Mayor and Council Members on August 25. Since the Council was focused on the budget approval, the report will not be discussed until October. Assistant City Manager Jim Smith has requested to be on the Council Work Session agenda in October.

• O. Henry Museum Restoration - Phase I
  Construction is approximately 64% complete. Interim control of lead-containing paint has begun.

• Scattered Cooperative Infill Housing Program (SCIP 2)
  The Anderson Community Development Corporation (ACDC) has completed a Plan I Environmental Review of the proposed development and all is clear. Capital Market Research has been retained by ACDC to perform a market study of the area. This report should be completed by September 15, 1995. Henry Neil has been retained to complete ACDC's tax credit application for submission to the State no later than September 29, 1995, which it is anticipated will be for approximately 60 units. Austin Housing Finance Corporation's (AHFC) Board approved an action to provide additional option contracts on six parcels to ACDC. This option contract is for land located on East 12th Street. An award of tax credits to ACDC's SCIP 2 project is not anticipated until mid-November, 1995.

• Seaholm Substation Expansion
  The substation project and associated transmission improvements are expected to be completed by March 1996. Costs are estimated at approximately $6.6 million.

• South 1st Street
  Bids were opened on July 27, 1995, and the apparent low bidder is BRH-Garver. The project was scheduled for award by the City Council on September 14, 1995, and construction should start at the end of October, 1995.

• Street Reconstruction and Overlay
  Construction is scheduled for October 1995.

• Waller Creek Flood Management and Water Quality Improvements Study
  The Study is approximately 60% complete, and the estimated study completion is October 1995.