Liberty Hill will hire its first city engineer and supporting staff after City Council approved funding at its March 25 meeting.

The details: Deputy City Manager Brandon Pritchett said the city currently contracts with a third-party engineer to handle most of the duties of the city engineer, but is currently lacking certain services that the city engineer would provide, such as reviewing capital improvement projects during construction.

Five positions will be added, including

• City engineer
• Two project engineers
• GIS analyst
• Construction inspector

A new swim school is slated to join Leander Tech Park, a 50-acre mixed-use business development at the border of Leander and Georgetown. SafeSplash Swim School will open its doors to swimmers in the fall, bringing lessons on water safety for all ages, owner Sukesh Bodavula said.

What they offer: The year-round indoor swim school will provide structured swim programs for infants, youth and adults. The business features heated pools, certified instructors and small class sizes, Bodavula said.

SafeSplash Swim School has a S.A.F.E.R Swimmer Promise, pledging that students will learn ten lifesaving skills in one year or less. Essential skills include front-to-back rollover, back float, and backstroke or safety backstroke. SafeSplash also offers swim clinics and team prep for those looking to hone their craft in the water.

What’s next: Construction on the new SafeSplash location is anticipated to start in early June and last approximately 20 weeks, Bodavula said. Upon completion, the business is expected to officially open in October or November.

• 80 Kauffman Loop, Leander

Check out the latest updates on upcoming, ongoing and completed transportation projects across the Austin metro. 

Upcoming projects
Austin’s I-35 cap-and-stitch vision faces uncertain funding future: The outlook for Austin's ambitious plans to cover stretches of the redesigned I-35 with public amenity decks remains unclear due to the high costs of constructing the project, which city staff advised not to fund as of this spring. City Council committed last year to pay the Texas Department of Transportation $104 million to add structural supports along I-35, which are needed for any future decks to be built. But no funding has yet been set aside for the development of caps and stitches or public amenities. 

Ongoing projects
Greenlawn Boulevard widening
Project: The city of Round Rock is reconstructing Greenlawn Boulevard from an existing four-lane divided roadway to a six-lane divided urban roadway with pedestrian and lighting improvements.
Update: Construction began in January, per city officials.

• Timeline: completion is expected by April 2027

• Cost: $13.95 million

• Funding source: type B sales tax revenue

Months after a historic flood hit Central Texas, Travis County has been awarded a $1 million state grant to install flood warning sirens.

The Travis County Commissioners Court approved an award agreement for at least $1 million in funding from the Texas Water Development Board at a March 24 meeting. The grant is a part of the state’s $50 million effort to fund the installation of flood warning siren systems in counties impacted by the July 4-5 flooding.

The details: The $1 million grant is expected to cover the installation of outdoor warning siren systems, including flood gauges, in Travis County. The sirens must be located in areas that the TWDB has identified as being prone to flash flooding.

The backstory: Central Texas was impacted by catastrophic flooding on the weekend of July 4, resulting in more than 130 fatalities. 

Senate Bill 3 requires cities or counties impacted by the July 4-5 floods to install and operate outdoor warning sirens. Under Senate Bill 5, the state will award $50 million across 30 counties.

At least 257,000 students have applied for Texas’ inaugural education savings account program, according to the state comptroller’s office. Less than half of those applicants are likely to be accepted.

The overview: Applications for Texas Education Freedom Accounts close at 11:59 p.m. March 31. Students enrolling in private schools will receive $10,474 to spend on tuition and related expenses, while homeschool students can get up to $2,000 each, and students with disabilities may qualify for up to $30,000 each.

Through March 29, about 23% of applicants had indicated they would be homeschooled while 77% of applicants said they wanted to attend a private school, state data shows.

Program funding is capped at $1 billion for the 2026-27 school year, meaning between 90,000 and 100,000 students will likely be accepted.

By the numbers: About 34,000 students indicated in their application that they have a disability, per the comptroller's office. Students who have a disability and are considered low- or middle-income will receive priority acceptance into the program under state law.