Monday Morning Report
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The Executive Committee met in San Marcos last week (5/21) to hear updates on Union Pacific talks, funding for the commuter rail project from Austin's CAMPO and the San Antonio MPO ($40 million through 2012), and approved contributions to the Digital Convergence Initiative and the campaign to finance the Texas Railroad Relocation and Improvement Fund. Minutes will be out later in the week. Unfortunately, chairman Bob Huthnance missed the meeting due to a short hospital stay. Get well quickly, Bob.
Infrastructure
According to a Houston Chronicle story over the Memorial Day weekend, TxDOT is reaching out to repair its relationship with the Democrat-controlled Congress as that body moves toward re-authorization of the Federal transportation spending bill which expires in 2009. At issue are claims of partisanship and opposition to the Trans-Texas Corridor projects. Read the whole story here.
Well, it took ten years but the new Gruene Bridge opened last week, just in time for Memorial Day weekend. The old bridge, built in 1909, had been ordered replaced in 1997 but years of controversy delayed construction. “We set out to build a bridge that was as unique as the old one, and I think we did that, ”TxDOT Area Engineer Greg Malatek told the Herald-Zeitung.
Kyle has hired its first human resources director. Sandra Duran will manage and coordinate the city’s employee relations. Kyle has increased its administrative staff significantly in the last two years to keep up with population growth: according to U.S. Census Bureau information, Kyle is the fifth fastest growing city in Texas with a population close to 30,000.
After a six-year run as mayor of Round Rock, Nyle Maxwell - who did not seek a third term - passed the city's top slot to longtime councilmember and mayor-elect Alan McGraw during his final City Council meeting last week (5/22). Details of Maxwell's reign here from The Leader.
Economic Development
Development plans should be ready by August 08 for the future Texas A&M University-San Antonio campus and the groundbreaking could occur as early as mid-2009. The A&M System operates a statewide network of nine universities, seven state agencies and a health science center. The A&M system has more than 106,000 students.
Walt Disney Co. says it will be launching a research lab in Austin by the end of the year that will test and assess its network's advertising strategies and programming. Disney’s media network division, ABC Television Group and ESPN Inc, will be directly involved in the lab.
Raba-Kistner Consultants Inc. has agreed to buy 100% of its power using renewable energy sources from San Antonio's CPS Energy . The company has signed up to become a Windtricity Business Partner. This means that Raba-Kistner’s Windtricity power purchases will offset an estimated 1.1 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
The Texas State University System Board of Regents has approved the creation of a nursing school and degree program. Texas State plans to admit the first class of students to the School of Nursing at the Round Rock Higher Education Center in the fall of 2010.
Steel makers, railroads, mining concerns and agriculture, long considered part of a fading past, suddenly have bright futures, according to the Los Angeles Times. And segments of the economy long lauded as the wave of the future are undergoing an old-fashioned, and very painful, consolidation, according to this story.
" If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."
- Mario Andretti