FY24 Community Project Funding Requests
Project Name: Buttermilk Creek Water Quality Improvement
Proposed Recipient: City of Austin
Address of the Recipient: 301 West Second Street, Austin, Texas 78701
Requested Amount: $2,000,000
Description of the request, including the purpose and justification for use of taxpayer funds: This project will improve water quality in Buttermilk Creek and the broader Walnut Creek watershed through stormwater control measures, including detention ponds, protection of exposed and deteriorating wastewater infrastructure with a record of Sanitary Sewer Overflows, and restoration of streambank stability and riparian habitat using nature-based solutions, including multiple rain gardens and bioswale with native landscaping, which will improve infiltration and pollutant load. Buttermilk Creek contributes flow to Walnut Creek, an impaired water body under the Clean Water Act Section 303(d). This project will directly address stormwater runoff, the primary source of impairment in Walnut Creek’s heavily urbanized watershed. The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it would provide community health and safety benefits through improved water quality, streambank stabilization, pedestrian bridge maintenance and park enhancements. All three segments of Buttermilk Creek frequently rank in the top twenty poorest water quality scores among all creeks in the City of Austin. Buttermilk Creek contributes flow to Walnut Creek, an impaired water body under the Clean Water Act Section 303(d). This project would serve an area that has historically been home to Austin’s most vulnerable and underserved population. Decades of public neglect have resulted in failing infrastructure and declining ecology.
Project Name: Arroyo Doble Stormwater Infrastructure Improvements
Proposed Recipient: Travis County – Transportation and Natural Resources
Address of the Recipient: 700 Lavaca Street, 7th floor, Austin, TX 78701
Requested Amount: $10,269,171
Description of the request, including the purpose and justification for use of taxpayer funds: The funding would be used for the design, acquisition of stormwater easements, and construction of stormwater improvements for the Arroyo Doble and Twin Creeks subdivisions, which are at an elevated risk of erosion, contaminated water reaching the creeks without any water quality controls, and localized flooding. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will directly further the goal of properly managing stormwater and ensuring a safe and healthy environment for community residents, enabling the design and construction of drainage infrastructure to capture, retain, and/or redirect stormwater so that it safely leaves the subdivisions without damaging homes, yards, and streets. This historically under-resourced area has previously suffered a high level of destruction from its lack of stormwater infrastructure, and this project would leverage work and funds that the County has already invested.
Project Name: National Semiconductor Training Center (NSTC) at Austin Community College District Highland Campus
Proposed Recipient: Austin Community College District
Address of the Recipient: 6101 Highland Campus Dr., Austin, Texas 78752
Requested Amount: $3,000,000
Description of the request, including the purpose and justification for use of taxpayer funds: The funding would be used to acquire and install semiconductor training equipment to outfit ACC’s workforce training center. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because Central Texas has been witnessing strong growth in the local semiconductor industry and the need for skilled technicians is quickly outpacing the available supply. To meet this workforce demand, establishing a national semiconductor training center at ACC's Highland Campus with the acquisition and installation of workforce training equipment that can be leveraged by every semiconductor partner in the region, will be a critical piece of the local semiconductor workforce pipeline. These companies have indicated an interest in paying for their current employees to travel from other locations across the country to enroll in accelerated 1- and 2-month training programs in Central Texas, further cementing the region's role as national leader in semiconductor workforce education.
Project Name: Early Childhood Education Center at Pease Site
Proposed Recipient: Austin Independent School District
Address of the Recipient: 4000 S. I-H 35 Frontage Rd, Austin, TX 78704
Requested Amount: $4,400,000
Description of the request, including the purpose and justification for use of taxpayer funds: The funding would be used to create an early childhood education facility at the repurposed site of Pease Elementary School. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because of the need for affordable high-quality childcare, which allows parents to remain in the workforce, and is a foundation for children’s learning and development. These funds would not only have an immediate impact in workforce participation from families served but would have a lasting impact from the opportunities for participating children’s cognitive and social development.
Project Name: Electric Chargers and Charging Infrastructure for the Transition to a Zero-Emissions Public Transportation Fleet
Proposed Recipient: Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (CAP Metro)
Address of the Recipient: 700 Lavaca Street, Austin, TX 78701
Requested Amount: $4,169,920
Description of the request, including the purpose and justification for use of taxpayer funds: The funding would be used to design, build, and install necessary electrification infrastructure in the CapMetro service area, providing the charging infrastructure needed to accommodate additional electric battery buses and their deployment throughout the region. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because by providing additional electric charging infrastructure, CapMetro can ensure that the benefit of electric vehicles is not limited to one area of town. The request will promote resilience of the electric bus fleet while reducing emissions, improving air quality, helping to meet the region’s sustainability goals, and offsetting thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide.
Project Name: Bergstrom Spur Urban Trail – West Segment
Proposed Recipient: City of Austin, Texas
Address of the Recipient: 301 W 2nd St, Austin, TX 78701
Requested Amount: $5,000,000
Description of the request, including the purpose and justification for use of taxpayer funds: The funding would be used to construct the western segment of the Bergstrom Spur Urban Trail. The 1.12-miles long western segment will provide direct and dedicated bicycle and pedestrian connections to Stain Elmo Elementary School and Park, Saint David’s South Austin Medical Center, and the South Congress Transit Center (a future Orange Line light rail station), among other destinations. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the trail will transform a dilapidated brownfield into a safe, functional, and equitable crosstown transportation corridor for utilitarian and recreational purposes. Further, the trail will catalyze economic development, enhance public health, improve east-west connectivity for non-vehicular travel where little exists, and promote environmental sustainability through low impact landscaping.
Project Name: Victim & Survivors of Violent Crime Trauma Recovery Program
Proposed Recipient: City of Austin
Address of the Recipient: 301 W 2nd St, Austin, TX 78701
Requested Amount: $2,000,000
Description of the request, including the purpose and justification for use of taxpayer funds: The funding would be used to establish a Trauma Recovery Center (TRC) in Austin/Travis County to provide evidence-based mental health services such as individual and group psychotherapy, medication management, substance abuse treatment, case management, and assertive outreach to victims and survivors of violent crime and their families. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the center will be in an underserved community where many residents face insurmountable barriers to connecting with support services after victimization. This service gap is exacerbated among low- and moderate-income households The center will fill this gap through its service model using assertive outreach where case managers actively work in community to connect survivors to mental health and wraparound services at no cost, with the intention of removing barriers to treatment and enhancing healing and stabilization of survivors of violent crime.
Project Name: Violence Prevention Initiative Continuation & Expansion
Proposed Recipient: City of Austin
Address of the Recipient: 301 W 2nd St, Austin, TX 78701
Requested Amount: $2,004,200
Description of the request, including the purpose and justification for use of taxpayer funds: The funding would be used to expand and continue the City of Austin’s innovative Community Violence Intervention Program. The program aims to reduce community violence in identified crime hot spots in Austin/Travis County using street outreach, case management, life coaching, conflict mediation and other wrap around services. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because by providing community-based person-centered outreach, the program has the unique opportunity to begin working with individuals early to interrupt the cycle of violence and reduce recidivism which will in turn reduce crime and violence in the community. Programs like this one have been identified by national leaders and criminal justice experts as a best practice for bolstering traditional public safety programs in reducing violence in the communities most impacted by crime.
Project Name: Foundation Communities/Mary Lee Campus Redevelopment
Proposed Recipient: Foundation Communities (FC)
Address of the Recipient: 3000 S. I-H 35, Ste 300, Austin, TX 78704
Requested Amount: $5,000,000
Description of the request, including the purpose and justification for use of taxpayer funds: The funding would be used to support the creation and building of affordable housing on the 8-acre Mary Lee Foundation (MLF) site. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the building will provide housing to serve MLF by providing housing for their clients, many of whom have intellectual disabilities, plus rehab/services/office space that will accommodate additional clients who live in MLF’s other supportive sites. The building will also serve as FC housing under their services-enriched model (health supports, case management, 24-hour staffing). Because FC houses a vulnerable population and their mission is to create housing where individuals and families succeed, of necessity their communities include a variety of supportive and community spaces—places for education, rehabilitation, programming, green and recreational spaces—that will accommodate a wide variety of residents’ needs, facilitate building community, and in this case, will make this campus a true home for more than 600 people.
Project Name: Peer Support Programming for Opioid Use Disorder Recovery
Proposed Recipient: Travis County
Address of the Recipient: 700 Lavaca Street, 5th Floor, Austin, TX 78701
Requested Amount: $931,500
Description of the request, including the purpose and justification for use of taxpayer funds: The funding would be used to establish peer support specialists in the Emergency Department (ED) and Drug Courts, which would (1) fund a team of peer support specialists that would work rotating shifts at the ED and in the community to connect with persons with opiate use disorder and support recovery based on a model supported by research and funded in recent State Targeted Response (STR) grants, and (2) provide direct engagement and support to individuals enrolled in the drug court programs to recovery, successful completion of the Drug Court, and participation in alumni supports including peer support specialist certification programs. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because its goal is to help curb the opiate crisis by integrating peer support specialists in both the Emergency Department and the Travis County Civil and Criminal Courts to assist individuals in seeking opioid recovery to reduce recidivism.
Project Name: Extreme Weather and Environmental Data Collaborative for Scientifically Informed Decision-Making
Proposed Recipient: University of Texas at Austin
Address of the Recipient: 110 Inner Campus Drive, Austin, TX 78712
Requested Amount: $1,500,000
Description of the request, including the purpose and justification for use of taxpayer funds: The funding would be used for research to create first-of-its-kind city neighborhood/community scale datasets for extreme weather and environmental stressors using machine learning and computational tools that can be used by local government and communities to understand which areas require attention to mitigate extreme heat, or other environmental stressors. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because such datasets and technology will allow for data-driven decision making regarding where and how critical infrastructure should be deployed for providing positive outcomes for taxpayers to have a safer, more sustainable, and economically vibrant future.
Project Name: Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center Carriage House Renovation
Proposed Recipient: University of Texas at Austin
Address of the Recipient: 110 Inner Campus Drive, Austin, TX 78712
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Description of the request, including the purpose and justification for use of taxpayer funds: The funding would be used to renovate a historic carriage house currently closed due to structural decay and safety concerns into an open pavilion and multipurpose community center for use by guests for meetings, recreation, and educational programs. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the Wildflower Center welcomes more than 240,000 guests from communities across Austin and the world each year to connect with its vision to support our environment. The carriage house is a key component of the Center’s plans to improve infrastructure needed for an ever-increasing number of visitors. Federal support would enable the Center – the state botanic garden and arboretum, which receives no annual governmental or institutional funding – to provide increased experiential and educational opportunities for our community.