|
Help prepare Austin for tomorrow’s energy needs
|
|
Austin Energy is developing an energy generation plan for Austin’s needs through 2020. The plan must meet the demands of a growing community and City Council’s goals for renewable energy and carbon reduction, while providing affordable electricity rates. Input from the community is vital to the plan's success, and Austin Energy is conducting a public participation process to inform and to receive input from all segments of the community.
The public participation process includes a series of "town-hall" meetings, as well as meetings with specific stakeholder groups. For those wishing to participate in this process, Austin Energy has prepared a resource guide that presents all proposed generation options and alternative options. Resources represented in the proposed plan have different attributes that involve a balancing act between the capabilities of available technologies, their cost and reliability.
To participate, download the Resource Guide and attend one or more of the community meeting scheduled in November. For more information, visit the Austin Smart Energy Web site.
All meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. and conclude at 9 p.m.
Nov. 6
University Hills Branch Library
4721 Loyola Lane
Nov. 12
West Side Service Center – Town Hall
4501 FM 620 N
Nov. 19
Metz Recreation Center
2407 Canterbury St.
|
Last chance to vote
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, is Election Day. In addition to choosing a new president, a senate race and congressional seats, Austin voters also will decide two proposed Charter amendments. Polling places are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and you can find your precinct’s site at the Texas Secretary of State’s Web site.
Charter amendments proposals on the Nov. 4 ballot:
- Proposed changes to the City Auditor’s appointment and term of office. If approved, the City Council will appoint a City Auditor to a five-year term. (Ballot language)
- A citizen initiative to prohibit the City from providing financial incentives as part of future or certain existing development agreements for projects that include one or more retail uses. (Ballot language)
Green Neighbor Program – better than ever
The City of Austin’s Green Neighbor program has expanded to provide Austinites with a comprehensive guide to environmental protection. The new guide is a compilation of action items from 11 City departments that include tips for saving energy and water, and reducing air pollution, gardening chemicals and waste.
The guide also contains action items, stats on the benefits of green strategies and contact information for City rebates. Each action item has an associated score and if an individual or family reaches the Green Neighbor points goal, they can receive either a t-shirt or pass to Barton Springs pool. If they want to partner with neighbors or co-workers, they can become a Green Neighborhood and receive recognition and other benefits.
Green Neighbor is available online at www.cityofaustin.org/watershed/greenneighbor and booklets are available at all Austin public libraries. To request a larger quantity of guides, please call 974-2446.
Wastewater averaging period – a perfect time to conserve water
The Austin Water Utility encourages customers to conserve water during the annual wastewater averaging period, which begins in November and lasts through the March billing cycle.
Nov. 14 marks the beginning of the wastewater averaging period because less outdoor watering is used in the fall and winter months. This allows for more accurate measurement of indoor water usage, which is typically returned to the wastewater system.
Wastewater averaging is calculated using the two lowest customer bills out of the three months of billing cycles, with the bill reflecting the highest daily usage not used in the calculation. This timeframe usually spans from mid-November to mid-March. The customers’ new wastewater average will be reflected beginning in the April 2009 statement.
Regardless of customers’ water usage throughout the year, the wastewater billing average won’t increase, but it could decrease depending on usage. For more information about wastewater averaging in the City of Austin, visit www.cityofaustin.org/water/wwaverage/default.htm.
Help disabled Austinites enjoy Trail of Lights
The Trail of Lights Accessibility Depot is requesting volunteers to help those with disabilities enjoy the 2008 Trail of Lights.
The Accessibility Depot provides access to the trail for senior citizens and disabled individuals that have mobility issues. In 2007, 120 volunteers at the Accessibility Depot served more than 1,200 persons with disabilities and their families. In July, the Accessibility Depot was awarded the Mayor’s Committee for People with Disability Austin Access Award.
This year, the Depot will have wheel chairs available for visitors and will need volunteers to push the wheel chairs through the trail. The Depot will also need greeters and volunteers to distribute to visitors.
If you or your group would like to volunteer, please contact Mary Ann Vaca-Lambert at 478-6222. Please include the name and contact number for each person in your group that that wants to volunteer. Thank you for helping the Accessibility Depot assist everyone in enjoying the 2008 Trail of Lights.
La Clase Mágica comes to the Mexican American Cultural Center
AISD's Department of Diversity and Intercultural Relations sponsors the first event of its Hispanic Futures Conference series Nov. 9, 2008 at the Mexican American Cultural Center. The Mexican American Cultural Center has been selected to host the pilot program for this well-structured, technology rich after-school program.
"Be Informed and Aware of Your Resources and Power" is this event’s theme. Keynote speaker Dr. Olga Vasquez will speak about her nationally recognized Community-University collaborative program La Clase Magica (The Magic Class). Youth and their parents will be equipped with the cultural and social capital that they need in order to meet and surpass educational standards by fostering literacy in Spanish and English, a deep-principled learning of content, and college-going aspirations and orientations.
Hispanic Futures Conference
1 – 5 p.m. Sunday, November 9, 2008
Reception to follow 6-9 p.m.
Mexican American Cultural Center
600 River Street
For more information call Linda Crockett 478-6222 x225
"Breaking Through" highlights work of artists with disabilities
The Julia C. Butridge Gallery at the Dougherty Arts Center presents the work of three Texas artists with disabilities at the "Breaking Through" exhibit Nov. 4 – 24. A reception is planned 6 – 8 p.m. Nov. 12, 2008.
Artist Eric McGehearty explores the worlds of dyslexia, illegibility and inaccessibility. Painter Wes Holloway is interested in portraiture and people's faces. Joan Fabian challenges ideals of beauty, normalcy and the voyeuristic desire behind the act of seeing by her combinations of form-based abstractions.
The Julia C. Butridge Gallery is open 9 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday. For more information visit the Dougherty Arts Center Web site.
Curator of major exhibit visits Austin
Sagrario Cruz, curator for "The African Presence in Mexico: From Yanga to the Present" will deliver a presentation at the Carver Museum, 1165 Angelina St., 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, 2008; the presentation follows a 6 p.m. reception. Her exhibit will be on display at the Museo Alameda in San Antonio from Nov. 12, 2008 – Feb. 22, 2009.
This program is offered in collaboration with the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies and the John Warfield Center for African and African-American Studies, both at the University of Texas at Austin and the Mexican American Cultural Center.
The Carver is organizing a tour to visit the exhibition at the museum on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008. Please call Danita Nelson, Culture and Arts Education Coordinator, at 974-3651, for details.
|
