John Davidson

After more than two years of deliberations, public meetings and on online surveys, Austin Energy’s 2020 generation plan is, according to Mayor Lee Leffingwell, “definitely not set.”   Leffingwell convened a special session of City Council on Monday evening at the Palmer Events Center, where a public forum drew several hundred people for a panel […]

After more than a year of deliberations over the city of Kyle‘s application for a permit to double its draw of water from the Barton Springs portion of the Edwards Aquifer, the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District unanimously approved a compromise measure Thursday evening.   The decision will allow Kyle to increase its draw […]

Hays County is in the clear, at least for now, as far as the Texas Commission on Jail Standards is concerned.   On Thursday, after Pct. 3 Commissioner Will Conley gave a full update on the progress of renovations at the jail, the commission rescinded its remedial order from November and commended Hays County officials […]

Not many people are aware of it, but a massive portion of the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer is a saline zone – a body of underground saltwater unsuitable for human consumption that runs parallel to the fresh water zone. According to Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District Board Chair Bob Larsen, the […]

To hear Hays County Judge Liz Sumter and Pct 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton, both Democrats, talk about the challenges facing Hays County and what should be done about them, you’d think they were running mates—not opponents running against each other for county judge in the March Democratic primary.   Both candidates emphasize the need to […]

Hays County commissioners unanimously approved $72 million in certificates of obligation (COs) for a new government center on Tuesday, with one caveat: They will reconsider the debt structure before a March 30 sale date to see if the county can save money by splitting the issuance of COs between 2010 and 2011.   At the […]

Austin‘s Pecan Street Project has won $10.4 million in federal stimulus funding for an advanced smart grid energy demonstration project at the Mueller Development.   Congressman Lloyd Doggett, along with Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Austin Energy General Manager Roger Duncan, made the announcement Tuesday afternoon at the site of the city’s former airport. It came […]

About 1,000 people packed into the LBJ Library auditorium for former Austin Mayor Roy Butler’s memorial service on Thursday afternoon. Butler died Friday, Nov. 13, following complications from a fall earlier this month. He was 83.   Butler served on the Austin School Board for nine years before he was elected mayor in 1971. He […]

Hays County Commissioners voted Tuesday to begin the process of appealing a decision by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards that would have forced the Hays County Jail to shut down its kitchen by Nov. 20.   The county jail failed state inspections in April and September, and at a hearing on Nov. 5 the […]

The city is moving forward with an ambitious schedule for building an urban rail line, with plans to have an operator, a defined route for the first phase construction, and some preliminary engineering completed by February or March 2010.   In a report to the Council Comprehensive Planning and Transportation Committee Monday afternoon, city Transportation […]

If the Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation District is going to annex and manage parts of southwestern Travis County, then the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) needs to come up with an adequate funding formula.   That is the response the district’s board members approved last week to the TCEQ staff report recommending areas of […]

In cities across the country, comprehensive planning is all the rage these days. Although the process itself can be nebulous and cumbersome, having a comprehensive plan that’s shaped by public input has become an increasingly popular way for cities to coordinate policy in terms of transportation, land use, utilities, recreation, development, and housing.   Here […]