Update: After our story was originally published, we heard from several members of Flood Mitigation Task Force, who disputed the assertions made by some task force members, including the group’s chairman, who said the final report lacked prioritization. An executive summary of the report, not available at Monday’s meeting of the Council’s Public Utilities committee, […]
Austin City Council Public Utility Committee
A City Council committee that reviews issues related to water and drainage utilities.
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: This week’s Council committees
As the Austin Monitor does weekly, we invite you to join our ongoing effort to keep readers up to date with all that is going on at City Hall by providing a tip sheet for City Council committees. As usual, we will be offering highlights of meetings, with links to entire agendas. Planning and Neighborhoods […]
Posted inBudget
Troxclair wants to cut utility transfers
Wading into the affordability debate with a new tactic, City Council Member Ellen Troxclair is proposing to cut transfers from the Austin Water utility to the city’s General Fund. On Wednesday, members of Council’s Public Utilities Committee unanimously approved forwarding Troxclair’s resolution – which seeks information on cutting or eliminating the transfer – to the […]
Posted inWater
Committee takes on water restrictions (again)
The battle over whether to loosen or make permanent some current water restrictions played out once again Wednesday at the City Council Public Utilities Committee, as Council Member Don Zimmerman questioned the intent of a recent public survey by Austin Water. According to the survey data (collected at five public meetings held throughout January), roughly […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: This week’s Council committees
As the Austin Monitor does weekly, we invite you to join our ongoing effort to keep readers up to date with all that is going on at City Hall, by reading our tip sheet for Austin City Council committees. As usual, we will be offering highlights of meetings, with links to entire agendas. Planning and […]
Posted inResources, Water
Council members react to water meter audit
Although Austin Water and Austin Energy staff said at a City Council Public Utilities Committee meeting Wednesday that recent audits found the city’s water billing system to be accurate, the Council members who sit on that body said they still have unresolved concerns. The water meter read and testing audit, performed by independent utility consultant […]
Posted inCity Hall, Reporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Semiconductors & Bible bids
A tech company, a City Council and love… Freescale Semiconductor, which joined Samsung Austin Semiconductor on Nov. 13 in rejecting the contract terms of a special new Austin Energy tariff created by City Council the day before, received a nomination from that same Council on Thursday for a special state designation as an Enterprise Zone […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: This week’s Council committees
As part of our ongoing effort to keep readers up to date with all that is going on at City Hall, we present our tip sheet for Austin City Council committees. As usual, we will be offering highlights of meetings, with links to entire agendas. Mobility Committee Monday, Nov. 16, 9 a.m. 3. Chair briefing […]
Posted inWater
Zimmerman water resolution not legal
City Council Member Don Zimmerman has failed in his attempt to give water utility money back to some of the customers who used the most water and had the highest bills during August. Zimmerman had proposed directing the city manager to compare residential and multifamily monthly usage for this year to monthly usage for 2014 […]
Posted inWater
High water bills remain a puzzle (or maybe not)
Although various citizens complained to the Council Public Utilities Committee on Wednesday about their high water bills and the trouble those bills were causing them, there was no aha! moment during which the source of the puzzlingly high water usage was revealed. Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros did explain that water bills spike nearly every August […]
Posted inDevelopment
Committees fail to agree on Whisper Valley deal
A relatively small change in an agreement between the city and the developer of the Whisper Valley and Indian Hills Public Improvement Districts has failed to win approval from two committees charged with making such decisions and passing them on to the full City Council. Representatives of the Austin Water utility as well as city […]
Posted inResources
Citywide compost pickup may be on the way
The blue recycling bin that many Austinites leave on their curbs may soon have a counterpart – a green organics collection bin. While a citywide compost pickup program boasts obvious environmental benefits, it would come at a cost to taxpayers, and that is a conflict that City Council will be wrestling with as it prepares […]