The Water and Wastewater Commission has recommended that Council amend Austin Water Utility’s residential rates for 2015 in a way that staff says will cut an average user’s rates while raising them for more intensive users. Austin Water Assistant Director David Anders said the amendment would lower the impact of the 2015 rate increases for […]
Environment
Posted inResources, Water
San Antonio approves $3.4B for water pipeline
Saying the city needed to act to secure a new, long-term source of water, the San Antonio City Council voted Thursday to approve a $3.4 billion project to build a pipeline to deliver an estimated 16 billion gallons of water each year from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in Burleson County. The flow from the 142-mile pipeline […]
Posted inAustin, Bonds & Propositions, City Council, Development, Local Politics, Resources, Water
Reporters Notebook: Rail bonds & fluoridated water
Discovering the flip side of Laura Pressley … Two separate local media outlets started digging deeper into District 4 City Council candidate Laura Pressley’s recent political past Thursday. The Chronicle struck first with a piece from Monitor political editor Jo Clifton that runs down a host of odd beliefs attributed to Pressley, including wide-ranging concerns […]
Posted inDevelopment, Parks, Preservation, Resources
Parks Board says ‘no thanks’ to Rainey house
The Parks and Recreation Board voted Tuesday to recommend that City Council “politely decline” the donation of a small historic house for use as the Rainey Street History Center. The vote came after the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican-American Cultural Center Advisory Board members expressed concerns about staff’s identification of 64 Rainey St. as a potential […]
Posted inPremium Types
Tip Sheet: Planning Commission 10/28
The City of Austin Planning Commissions meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday. In the interest of saving space, we will not publish the entire agenda here. It is available on the City’s website. Items of interest for Planning Commission include: 1. Plan Amendment: NPA-2014-0016.02 — Springdale Farm Location: 755 Springdale Road, Boggy Creek Watershed, Govalle/Johnston Terrace […]
Posted inResources, Uncategorized
Code violators may get administrative hearings
The Code Department may soon have a new tool to enforce city code, if an ordinance passes at today’s City Council meeting that would create an administrative hearing process for certain violations. Code Department Director Carl Smart told Council members at Tuesday’s work session that he hopes the new procedure will help to streamline the […]
Posted inResources
Decker decommissioning faces complex hurdles
A key Austin Energy reserve fund that would be used to pay for the potential decommissioning of the Decker Lake gas generation plant has no money that could be used in that effort, according to Austin Energy. Utility spokesman Carlos Cordova told the Austin Monitor in an email that a City Council-approved Austin Energy fiscal policy for […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Resources
Council members disavow Gonzalez audit
On Thursday, City Council approved a resolution that backs away from a City Auditor’s report associated with the fraught ethics review of former Zero Waste Advisory Commissioner Daniela Ochoa Gonzalez. Though the measure initially passed on consent,Council Member Mike Martinez, who sponsored the item, moved to reconsider the motion so Council Member Kathie Tovo could […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Resources
Reporters Notebook: Lawn renamed for Mathias
Council renames part of Auditorium Shores for Mathias … Council members voted 7-0 Thursday to name the east lawn of Auditorium Shores in honor of Vic Mathias, the former CEO of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. The honor was proposed earlier this year, but the idea almost didn’t make it out of the starting […]
Posted inResources, Transportation
Commissioners debate Capital Metro pass program
A relatively routine spending item at Travis County Commissioners Court Tuesday turned into an extended discussion of the value of providing free Capital Metro transit passes to county employees. The item, to approve a contract with Capital Metro for an initial $40,000 of an $80,000 expenditure, got the attention of Commissioner Gerald Daugherty, who is […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Resources
Martinez’s living wage proposal raises questions
A proposal from Council Member Mike Martinez to tie the city’s living wage mandate to an index that would allow it to adjust with the going rate drew a handful of questions from Council members at their Tuesday work session. There, Mayor Lee Leffingwell worried that extending such a policy to the likes of city […]
Posted inResources
Panel narrows social services funding to 4 options
The difficult decisions continued Monday for the Council Public Health and Human Services Committee, which is in the process of dividing a very limited amount of money among numerous social service agencies seeking funding from the city for FY 2016. The committee, including Council Members Mike Martinez, Chris Riley and Laura Morrison, has been working […]