Four months after raging floodwaters damaged and destroyed dozens of homes in the Onion Creek neighborhood in southeast Austin, city officials say it could cost between $80 million and $100 million to complete a buyout of homes in the flood plain and relocate the displaced families. Officials with the city’s Watershed Protection Department told […]
Environment
Posted inResources, Uncategorized
New wind-power agreement is Austin Energy’s cheapest
A wind-power purchase agreement going to the City Council Thursday for approval will not only allow Austin Energy to reach a key renewable energy goal four years ahead of time, it will be the cheapest wind energy the utility has ever purchased, Austin Energy officials say. It also may be the last wind power project […]
Posted inResources
Austin Resource Recovery doubles efforts to collect compostables
The city’s Resource Recovery Department continues its push toward its goal of Zero Waste by 2040 by doubling its current program to test curbside compost collection. Officially calling it the Curbside Organics Collection Pilot, city officials are hoping they can convince residents in selected neighborhoods to put their food scraps, yard waste and unrecyclable paper […]
Posted inDevelopment, Environment
Environmental Board rejects variance request despite threat of lawsuit
Go ahead, go to court. That was the message from the Environmental Board last Wednesday night, after its members refused to be spooked by the threat of a vested rights lawsuit over a southwest Austin property. The Vineyard Business Center, 2009 North FM 620, was seeking a variance that would allow construction within the 40 percent […]
Posted inEnvironment
Aquifer District ramping up for Habitat Conservation Plan
A decade in the making, the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District is making progress on a Habitat Conservation Plan aimed at mitigating groundwater-pumping effects on endangered salamanders. The ultimate goal of the plan is to acquire a federal Incidental Take Permit – a risk reduction measure protecting the district and its well permittees from potential […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Government, Resources
LCRA raises permit fees for developers to recover 100 percent of cost
Developers along the Highland Lakes will be paying more for construction permits as part of the Lower Colorado River Authority’s effort to keep what’s left of its water supply as clean as possible. The LCRA Board of Directors approved the increase in permit fees in areas under the Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance Wednesday. It is […]
Posted inDevelopment, Environment, Local Government, Resources
LCRA to consider shifting watershed ordinance fees to developers
For the first time ever, the Lower Colorado River Authority may raise fees to develop within the Highland Lakes watershed. The only question seems to be how much of those fees will be passed on to developers. The measure – up for a vote Wednesday at the LCRA’s February board of directors meeting – […]
Posted inLocal Government, Resources
Confederation of water utilities presses rate case against Austin
A group of local water districts continues to press their case against the City of Austin, claiming that the city’s wholesale water rates are unrelated to the cost of providing service. Both the Citizens for Fair Rates and the Austin Water Utility say they are in talks over a possible settlement of the case, but […]
Posted inLocal Government, Resources, Uncategorized
Travis County Commissioners back LCRA emergency drought order
Travis County Commissioners voted Tuesday to back the Lower Colorado River Authority’s 2014 emergency drought order that would again limit the release of Highland Lakes water to agriculture interests downstream. The three-member Texas Commission on Environmental Quality are expected to take final action today amid new discouraging information about the drought. TCEQ’s executive director […]
Posted inResources
Renewable energy pioneer retires from Austin Energy
Michael Osborne, long-time entrepreneur, author, and renewable-energy pioneer in Texas, is turning another page in his storied career. Over the past four decades, Osborne has built energy-friendly homes; developed the first wind farm in Texas; helped form the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association, marketed solar and wind equipment around the state, and found time […]
Posted inResources
Austin Water says conservation measures cutting into bottom line
Austin Water Utility officials reported to the Council’s Audit and Finance Committee Wednesday that the utility had overestimated its FY2013 revenue figure by nearly $10 million. The culprit, according to utility Chief Financial Officer David Anders, was a drop in both residential and commercial water use thanks to Stage 2 drought restrictions. Though the […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Resources
City’s General Fund ends fiscal year 2013 with $14 million surplus
The City of Austin’s General Fund ended fiscal year 2013 with a $14.2 million surplus. That figure amounts to a roughly 1 percent variance from projections made by city staff. Despite the positive figure, Austin’s Chief Financial Officer Elaine Hart told members of the Council’s Audit and Finance Committee Wednesday that management was not […]