City officials and planning consultants officially began gathering feedback from Bellaire residents regarding future enhancements of the city’s park system at an Aug. 19 Parks Master Plan Community Meeting.

The local impact: This feedback is slated to help shape Bellaire’s ongoing development of its 2027-2037 Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan, which, once complete, will establish the city’s parkland initiatives for the next decade, according to information presented at the meeting.

The background: In April, Bellaire City Council unanimously voted to execute a $221,800 contract with outdoor environment design firm MHS Planning & Design to collaboratively build the Parks Master Plan prior to its adoption.

The City of Bellaire’s previous Parks Master Plan was adopted in 2015.

Offering input: In small groups, attending residents were invited to write down their feedback on interactive boards placed around the room at the meeting, each board posing different questions about Bellaire’s existing parks and facilities.

Bellaire residents can expect these community engagement events to span from the end of August until mid-September, city officials confirmed.

A 35-year-old restaurant staple along Buffalo Speedway closed Aug. 21 so owners Abraham and Susan Mathew could retire.

What happened: The owners of Shiva Indian Restaurant announced on Facebook that the longstanding Indian restaurant shuttered after serving the community for more than three decades.

"The time to pack up our tandoor and parking sign has come," the statement read. "Our family has seen generations of families walk through our doors, sit at our tables and allow us to share our food and traditions with you. We thank you for all the beautiful memories."

The restaurant sold traditional Indian-style cuisine such as vegetable samosa, tandoori, tikka malai and curry.

A new chapter: "We are very excited for this new season of retirement in our lives where we can sit down with a cold mango lassi in one hand and hold our grandkids in the other," the owners shared on Facebook.

Several community members shared their thoughts, well wishes and sadness at the news under the restaurant's social media post.

• 5220 Buffalo Speedway, Houston

Motorists traveling to and from George Bush Intercontinental Airport this week should allow extra travel time due to nearby road construction, Houston Airport System officials announced in an Aug. 24 news release.

What you need to know: Beginning with prep work Aug. 24, HAS will repair concrete in the westbound lanes of Will Clayton Parkway between Kenswick Drive and Lee Road. Per the release, major demolition and concrete work will occur Aug. 25-28.

Officials noted motorists should anticipate lane closures, especially overnight, when two of three lanes will be closed for construction. Motorists can take John F. Kennedy Boulevard as an alternate route during construction. 

Stay tuned: All three lanes are expected to reopen by the afternoon of Aug. 28, per the release. 

Harris County commissioners are slated to discuss debt service payments, planning studies and capital improvements at its Aug. 25 business court meeting.

At a glance: The court will consider about $235.6 million in debt service payments for September and October, per the agenda. The payments will cover Harris County road bonds, permanent improvement bonds, Harris County Flood Control District bonds and Flood Contract Tax bonds. 

In other news: Three planning studies will also be up for discussion during the Aug. 25 meeting. Harris County Housing and Community Development is requesting $150,000 for the Resilience Hubs study, which will evaluate the creation of community spaces to provide daily and disaster response services. The other two studies, which the agenda does not provide details on, will look at projects in Precinct 4 and cost $1.4 million.

Texas’ audit of hundreds of proposed data centers will likely wrap up by the end of the year, grid officials said Aug. 20.

The overview: Up to 300 proposals will be audited to ensure they meet certain criteria before the data centers can begin connecting to the state electric grid. If all the plans are approved, these facilities alone could use about 200 gigawatts of electricity—more than twice Texas’ 91-gigawatt peak demand record, which was set on July 22.

How we got here: On Aug. 3, Gov. Greg Abbott directed ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas to audit proposed data centers regarding their water and electricity use; tax exemptions; impacts on residents; and facility ownership.

More details: Only large loads, or facilities that are expected to use at least 75 megawatts of electricity, will be fully audited. However, ERCOT will also survey proposed data centers that would use 25 megawatts of electricity or more.

ERCOT plans to release reports detailing the results of the audit and surveys on Dec. 10, officials said.