The city of Cedar Park is set to begin renovations July 1 to move its emergency dispatch center to a new space, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

The details: The Public Safety Communications Division handles 911 dispatching for the Cedar Park Police Department and Cedar Park Fire Department. The current communications center is “cramped” and has no room to add additional dispatchers, Nicholle Benedict, public safety emergency communications manager, said.

The communications center will be moving from the second floor of the police department headquarters to the first floor. Dispatchers will take over the space previously occupied by the police department’s training division, which moved to the city’s new Public Safety Training Facility in April, Benedict said.

“We’ll be able to have enough room to breathe,” Benedict said.

The renovations are scheduled to be completed in February 2027, according to the TDLR filing.

Ice cream and coffee parlor Scoop and Score is set to celebrate its 10th anniversary in September.

The business, which opened after owners Alex and Angela Ellis moved from Ohio to Cedar Park, serves sweet treats including Graeter’s ice cream and Cuvée Coffee-based drinks.

Respecting the craft: While Scoop and Score offers classic favorites like mint chocolate chip and cookies and cream, the parlor also features unique flavors like black raspberry chocolate chip. Other items on the menu include ice cream floats, milkshakes, espresso shakes and affogatos with a shot of Cuvée espresso.

Quote of note: “While we never originally planned to open Scoop and Score, that love for great ice cream helped inspire the journey, and it quickly felt like a calling,” owners Alex and Angela said. “The [Cedar Park] community has supported us in ways we could not have imagined, and we are grateful to be part of it.” 

• Opened Sept. 16, 2026
• 111 N. Vista Ridge Blvd., Ste. 202, Cedar Park

Austin officials once again increased the city's property tax break for senior and disabled homeowners.

The details: Homestead exemptions allow property owners to lower the share of their primary residence's value that can be taxed by local entities. Texas school districts are now required to offer a set base exemption of $140,000, while other jurisdictions like cities can set a percentage based on a home's appraised value.

Homeowners who are 65 and older or have a disability can see their tax bills decreased further. School districts are now required to provide an additional $60,000 exemption to senior and disabled homeowners, and other jurisdictions can set their own exemption levels.

Continuing a trend from recent years, City Council voted unanimously in May to increase Austin's senior and disabled homestead exemption by more than 6%. The change will effectively maintain tax relief for those homeowners from last year.

Check out six upcoming or ongoing transportation project updates across the Austin metro.

Upcoming projects
Austin will commit $104M to support future I-35 decks: Austin will commit more than $100 million to support future public amenity decks covering portions of I-35, after a scaled-down alternate proposal was tabled this spring. The city would develop larger caps and smaller stitches to cover the interstate, connecting downtown and East Austin with public decks that could house parks, plazas and small buildings or venues. Building all caps and stitches is now estimated to cost about $400 million, added amenities across all decks could cost nearly $260 million, and maintaining the structures will cost about $9 million annually once they're in place. 

Ongoing projects
Construction on Austin Avenue bridges in Georgetown to resume: The southbound Austin Avenue bridge decks will be demolished beginning this month in preparation for new bridge construction. Demolition will take approximately two months, and both bridges are anticipated to be completed and open to traffic next April. 

Texans are on track to use more electricity this summer than ever before, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced during a board meeting this week.

The details: ERCOT, which operates the power grid for the majority of Texas, is forecasting high temperatures and moderate rainfall this summer. Coupled with the proliferation of data centers and other large projects, demand on the grid could surpass 92 gigawatts, officials estimated June 2.

This would break ERCOT’s current demand record of 85.5 gigawatts, which was set during an August 2023 heat wave.

What it means: However, ERCOT officials said a grid emergency or blackout is unlikely this summer. State officials have said this is due to:

• The addition of nearly 11 gigawatts of power capacity to the grid in the last few months
• A state law authorizing ERCOT to require large facilities to reduce their energy use in tight times