AUSTIN, Texas — During their second meeting of 2019 Thursday, the Austin City Council endorsed 10 proposed subsidized housing projects, extended the lease for Lions Municipal Golf Course by a year, and asked the City Manager to explore buying kits for every Austin high school to respond to mass shootings.

"Stop the Bleed" Kits

Just like many public places have defibrillators in order to help someone in cardiac arrest, Austin high schools could soon have tools to respond to a mass shooting.

According the the City Council's resolution, "Stop the Bleed" kits are credited with saving three lives at the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh last October and as many as 30 lives at the Las Vegas shooting. Austin medics approached city leaders about outfitting every Austin high school with the kits, as well as coupling them with training for students.

"It is a curriculum, so students who may be interested in becoming medics or other types of first responders will have an opportunity to learn the techniques," said District 7 Council Member Leslie Pool, who sponsored the item. She represents central and north Austin.

Officials hope it will also be a recruiting tool for the city's emergency crews. The kits would be rolled out at the end of the year as part of the city's 2020 budget. The request includes a budget to create a full-time staff to provide training across the Austin area.

Muny Lease Extended

One of Austin's oldest golf courses will remain open for at least another year. The Austin City Council approved a one-year lease extension for Lions Municipal Golf Course, or Muny, which neighbors want to prevent from being redeveloped.

The University of Texas owns the course and planned to let the current lease end in May. U.T. Regents previously wanted to increase the rent to what they believe is market rate, or they planned to develop the property.

Retired PGA Hall of Famer and two-time Masters Champion Ben Crenshaw grew up playing at Muny.

"Some of the guys that I played with at ages 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 I am still friends with these days," he said. "We know what golf has done for us. We want to extend that--not only for ourselves, but for all the people that are enjoying the recreation out there."
Crenshaw has designed improvements for the course that he plans to roll out if the lease is renewed. It includes reversing the direction of two holes, so they return to how they were when he was a kid.

Affordable Housing Projects

Ten housing projects that hope to become affordable homes for future Austinites now have the backing of Austin leaders.

 

 

As shown on the map above, most would be built in east and southeast Austin. All of them are competing for federal money to help subsidize the cost. The city's endorsement could be critical to them winning those tax credits. If all are approved, they'd provide more than 1,000 subsidized apartments to Austin's housing market.

Income restrictions target the city's low income and very low income residents.

READ MORE | 2018 Home and CBDG Program Income Limits (.pdf)

The City Council's vote Thursday adds to an overall score for each project, which is ranked against similar projects across Texas.

City Council Voting System

The city's looking into a system that would allow people at City Council meetings to track how each member votes. It would be similar to what is used at the Texas House of Representatives, which has green, red and white lights to show each vote. The Council hopes to have proposals ready by the end of May.

Smart Trips Program

One way Austin's trying to tackle traffic is by encouraging more people to ride a bus or bike. The Austin City Council approved expanding a contract it has for its Smart Trips Program at a total cost of $1.875 million over five years. Smart Trips buys bus passes for the people it targets, as well as organizes group bike rides for its target communities. Officials say the program's cut down people driving their cars alone by as much as 18 percent in other U.S. cities.

The $1.2 million approved Thursday will carry the program through 2022.