Monday Morning Report
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Internal
The Corridor Council Executive Committee meets this Wednesday, August 19 at 2:00 pm at the Corridor Council offices in San Marcos. Please RSVP if you have not done so to council@thecorridor.org.
Infrastructure
Hays County will embark on building the largest and most expensive building in the county's history, a new $89 million government center, and is seeking design-build proposals from the private sector for construction. Details here from Newstreamz.
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has raised Texas’ credit ratings to AA+ from AA based upon a strong and diverse economy and, most importantly, a projected $9 billion in the State’s Rainy Day Fund banked against anticipated budget deficits in 2012-14. Details.
Major road improvements of extending downtown Kyle eastward may be completed as early as next fall after the city council passed a resolution to cooperate with Hays County on FM 150 improvements. Details.
San Antonio-based Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. has launched its SmartBike sharing program in Mexico City. The company will eventually build and maintain up to 400 stations with 6,000 bikes, according to the Express-News.
Well, it's official: parts of the Austin-San Antonio Corridor are trapped in the worst drought since officials began keeping weather records in 1895. Among the worst-hit counties in the state are Bastrop, Caldwell, and Lee, according to the San Marcos Daily-Record. Crop and livestock losses statewide have reached $3.6 billion just this year. Details.
New Braunfels’ City Council recently approved an agreement with Comal County to set aside mandatory parking requirements to construct a 90,000-square-foot, three-story, $36-million Comal County Justice Center.
Austin/Round Rock MSA. The report suggests that the MSA’s smaller scale manufacturing could benefit from a rail car holding yard near the intersection of Capitol Metro and Union Pacific rail lines; and also that while air freight services are currently considered adequate, continued efforts to seek reliable and cost effective air service (especially to larger metropolitan areas) would be the most effective way to increase use of air freight. REPORT
Economic Development
Verizon Wireless announced that it has invested more than $79 million to enhance services and coverage throughout Texas. Much of the investment has gone into the installation of new transmission sites to ensure more reliable wireless coverage. Verizon has activated 64 new cell sites throughout the state.
Temple is the new site of HEB’s newest 450,000-square-foot distribution center. The company is developing the center on a 160-acre site next to the city’s Rail Park at Central Pointe. Once completed, the center will employ about 112 people and stock for more than 50 HEB grocery stores between Austin and Dallas.
The 24th Air Force will make its headquarters at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio; and will be designed to conduct cyber operations activities for the Air Force. Maj. Gen. Richard Webber will assume command of the 24th Air Force later this month.
Austin City Council approved up to $200,000 in federal grant money to renovate part of a Texas Department of Public Safety building to house the Austin Regional Intelligence Center. The center will house a central databank of information shared by local law enforcement agencies to help with investigations.
State Rep. Ed Kuempel, who represents parts of New Braunfels and Seguin, announced last week that he will seek another term, his 15th, in the Texas Legislature.
SAT loves those Spurs: The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce has changed date for its 115th annual gala dinner to avoid conflicting with the Spurs basketball game against Charlotte Dec. 11. The new date is Dec. 10.
The 2009 Texas Conference on Regionalism: A Bridge Across Texas will be held Wednesday through Friday, Sept. 16-18, on South Padre Island. Topics include economic development, criminal justice, 9-1-1, homeland security, solid waste and aging. To view the draft agenda for the event, click here. To register, click here.
The San Antonio Hispanic Chamber will celebrate the 15th Anniversary of NAFTA with a luncheon on Thursday, August 27 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Conventional Center. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison will be the keynote speaker. Registration will begin at 11:30am. Details.
"Someday you will look back on all of this and…plow into a parked car.”
~ David Anderson
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