The Daily Hustle: 8/16/10

City Council ain't slouching this week, what with a Wednesday budget worksession, and their regularly-scheduled Thursday meeting.

After the jump, catch the bountiful highlights for their Thursday sesh, including lots of historic zoning talk, Fire Department action, a recurrence of Sanders settlement discussion, and more.

Item 3: Setting the maximum property tax rate – which council isn't bound to accept – at 46.93 cents, or the “rollback” rate.

Item 5: Appropriating and issuing an IOU for $7.75 million worth of radio replacements for public works and public safety responders. According to backup, “These models represent approximately 22% of all radios currently in use by City of Austin departments.”

Item 6: $398K contract with Arizona-based G.U.Y. Construction for 10 “dynamic message signs” alerting drivers to traffic information and other information. Funded by federal recovery dollars.

Item 7: $11.5 million contract for the Onion Creek Wastewater Interceptor - Rinard to Slaughter project, “part of the South IH-35 Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Improvements Program … that will provide water and wastewater service to the southeast Austin area.”

Item 9: The $144K contract for the Seaholm substation wall returns.

Item 10: Appropriating $330K from the budget stabilization reserve fund to pay for two ambulances.

Items 13, 14: Developing and funding an $100,000 invasive species plan for the city with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Item 20: From the Purchasing Office, a $3.7 million contract with Solar World California for installing solar panels on Parks and Recreation, Austin Public Library, Austin Water Utility, Austin Energy and other buildings; funded through a Department of Energy grant.

Item 24: A $236K Fire Department contract to “develop, validate, and assist in the administration of an employment assessment process for the entry level position of firefighter cadet” through a third party, as specified in the last union contract.

Item 33: Item from council (Mike Martinez, Lee Leffingwell, and Sheryl Cole) renaming the Mexican American Cultural Center the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center.

Item 34: Resolution from Martinez, Leffingwell and Randi Shade making Ethics Review Commission-recommended changes to campaign law, regarding clearer disclosure requirements on advertisements and from “bundlers” collecting contributions.

Item 35: Item from Laura Morrison and Chris Riley initiating recommendations from the Design Commission “for design guidelines for infrastructure projects commissioned by the City of Austin, including Austin Energy, the Austin Water Utility, and other city-owned enterprises.”

Item 42: 10:30am briefing on Austin Energy's rate development.

12pm Citizen Communications features six speakers opposed to Water Treatment Plant No. 4's Jollyville transmission line, slated to be built from a staging area along Spicewood Springs.

Items 43-47: To be a fly on the wall during executive session: discussion of the Sanders family lawsuit, SOS' myriad lawsuits, and more.

Items 48-61: Zoning, including historic district zoning for Castle Hill.

Item 65: One of several public hearings, this one on capping historic zoning cases.

Items 66-81: A deluge – get it! – of floodplain variance requests.

What the hell else is happening?

On the city calendar: The Community Action Network's Resource Council meets in the Boards and Commissions room at City Hall, 301 W. Second, 5:30pm.

The Electric Utility Commission meets at Town Lake Center, first floor conference room, 721 Barton Springs, 6pm.

The Urban Renewal Agency meets at the Street-Jones Building, Room 400A, 1000 East 11th, 6pm.

The Joint Committee of the Environmental Board and Parks Board meets at the Mexican-American Cultural Center, 600 River, 6:15pm

HEY! Sign up for the Hustle's weekly e-mail newsletter, recapping news, politics and more every Friday. Don't worry, we'll never spam or sell your address. Visit here, enter your info, and click 'City Hall Hustle.'

Got something you wanna show the Hustle? Email it to wells [at] austinchronicle.com, tweet it @CityHallHustle, drop by the Hustle's Facebook or Tumblr page, or leave a comment in the section below.