There’s no City Council meeting this week: Instead, City Hall watchers’ eyes were on Mayor Lee Leffingwell’s 2013 State of the City address, delivered at a Real Estate Council of Austin luncheon on Tuesday. Owing in part to Austin’s good fortunes, the mayor’s speech is traditionally a rosy affair, full of economic achievements. And that was the case this time:  “Austin, Texas is today, I think without question, one of the most widely admired and most emulated cities in America,” said Leffingwell in one of the speech’s many paeans to the city. But Mayor Leffingwell also used the occasion to champion a couple big...
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City of Austin’s Aquatic Division manages over 50 public pool facilities. The Bartholomew Pool, in particular, has demanded significant time and funding from the city since 2009. Now, the city says the pool will need even more time and money before it's ready to reopen. The Bartholomew Pool was closed in 2009 when large leaks posed safety threats. But the demolition of the pool didn’t start till last September. Since then, asbestos pipes, a form of mineral fiber that occurs in rock and soil, and seeping groundwater were found and have delaying the reopening. The project will require another $1 million in addition to its original $4.6 million budget. The city says the pool won’t open till May 2014—nearly a year after the previous projected opening date.