I personally don't know anything about any of the proposals and my guess the ones that would probably know about it might not be in a position to discuss it currently.
The alterations they are proposing based on that article sound as if they are in line with everything else they have done to the course in the past since the late 60s rerouting of the Trinity River to prevent it from flooding anymore. They are veiled changes to meet the standards being imposed by the PGA Tour and to keep Colonial "relevant" in the modern world of tournament courses. There were several articles about the work of Keith Foster a few years ago at Colonial that supposedly did the same thing. If they did it then, then why do they need to do it now?
The original look will not be returned to Colonial anytime soon. Just looking at photos from the early years of the course could tell you that they will never implement that style of bunkering or green contouring again, or at least as long as the PGA Tour has a presence at the club. But that is just my view through a pair of backwards binoculars though.