In Austin Resource Recovery director Bob Gedert’s report to the Zero Waste Advisory Committee on Wednesday night, he noted that waste composition studies indicate 40 to 45 percent of the city’s recycling materials are glass or trash. Gedert said, “I don’t think we’re capturing as much paper and paper fiber from the households as what we could, and if the paper fiber was at its proper level of capture in the blue carts, the percentage of glass would be lower. I don’t think the glass numbers are up there because we’re heavier drinkers. I think that’s (just) the common explanation.” Austin was recently named one of the country’s heaviest drinking cities in a national survey.

Not necessarily by popular demand, but the drought is back at the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer. The aquifer board voted Thursday night to call a Stage II drought alert for the aquifer, which after heavy winter and spring rains had been at normal (Stage I) until late June. The aquifer’s two drought triggers — the Lovelady well in Hays County and the flow meter at Barton Springs — have fallen below the normal levels in the past two weeks. Stage II means that commercial water customers must reduce the amount of water they pump by 20 percent until the restriction is lifted. The Barton Springs move comes on the heels of the Edwards Aquifer Authority in San Antonio declaring Stage IV conditions on the entire Edwards Aquifer, meaning its commercial customers must reduce their pumping by 40 percent until further notice.

Brett Spicer of the Travis County Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Association and James Hodge of the Travis County Sheriff’s Officers Association told Travis County Commissioners Wednesday they need a pay raise for the department’s least experienced officers. They explained how much more the Austin Police Department pays its officers than Travis County does and concluded by asking for a $4 million increase to the budget. However, a member of the county’s budget staff said the overall increase would actually be about $5.7 million for all of the county’s peace officers. County Judge Sam Biscoe said he recognized the need for a pay raise for those officers but it was not clear exactly how much they might get. Also Wednesday, four citizens came to the court to ask that the budget for Sheriff Greg Hamilton receive no increase so long as he continues to participate in the Secure Communities Program with federal immigration authorities. There have been numerous protests by lawyers and rights groups in recent months over the controversial program, which places “immigration holds” on some prisoners after they complete their sentence.

The six major Texas urban counties, including Travis, are pushing for increased funding and access to health care coverage for low-income earners during the interim. County judges from Bexar, Dallas, El Paso, Harris, Tarrant and Travis sent the state’s Health and Human Services Committee a letter detailing the fiscal burden indigent health care places on county governments throughout the state. Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo), whose sprawling 21st District includes parts of Travis and Hays counties, is on the HHS committee. The letter states that the Health Care Treatment Act of 1985 mandates all counties lacking a public hospital or hospital district must provide health care for impoverished residents. This costs up to 8 percent of a county’s general tax levy, and urban counties with high populations must continue to provide health care even if the cost exceeds 8 percent of the tax levy, the letter states. Travis County spent $270 million in the 2011 Fiscal Year on indigent health care. Overall, private and public providers throughout the state spend $4 billion a year on uncompensated care. In 2012, the Kaiser Foundation reported that Texas was last in the nation, with 24 percent of its residents without health insurance.

Kyle City Manager Lanny Lambert has accepted a job as city manager of Converse, a small city just outside of San Antonio. The job will be a move home for Lambert, who has maintained his residence in another San Antonio suburb, Helotes, since Kyle hired him in December 2010. Lambert said he began looking for new employment after the Kyle City Council failed to renegotiate his contract in January and showed no signs of moving forward. He was caught between the transition from former Mayor Lucy Johnson to new Mayor Todd Webster, who took office in June. Lambert, who has previously served as city manager for Abilene, Balcones Heights, Big Spring, Brownsville and Leon Valley, will start his new position in mid-September. The Kyle City Council will appoint an interim manager until a permanent replacement is hired.

The Council Committee on Austin Energy meets at 2 p.m. in the Boards and Commissions Room at City Hall . . . The Austin City Council meets in a special called session at 3 p.m. in the Boards and Commissions Room at City Hall . . . The Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District board meets at 6 p.m. at headquarters at 1124 regal Row in Manchaca. They will be looking at the levels in their monitor wells and deciding whether to cut consumption in response to the ongoing drought.

Add another candidate to the overstuffed District 3 City Council race. On Tuesday, third-generation Tamale House owner Jose Vallera filed his campaign treasurer appointment and application for placement on the ballot. Congressman Lloyd Doggett appointed Vallera to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where Vallera was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. He served in Iraq in 2003. After graduating from the University of Texas School of Law, Vallera went on to practice intellectual property law at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati. In 2012, he opened Tamale House East with his family. In a news release, Vallera promised to focus his campaign on affordable and equitable living, increasing opportunities for quality education, effective transportation solutions and public safety. Vallera’s candidacy brings the suspected number of candidates to 10 in District 3, though Vallera is only the fifth candidate to officially file for a place on the November ballot. The candidate filing deadline is Aug. 18. For ongoing coverage of all of the candidates, remember to visit the Hall Monitor.

Commissioners approved a burn ban for unincorporated areas of Travis County on Tuesday. The last burn ban was lifted May 13. Fire Marshal Hershel Lee said the fire danger runs from “moderate” for the eastern half of the county to “high” and “very high” for the western portions. “The extreme heat and lack of significant rainfall increases the chances that fires can get out of control and spread quickly.” Under the burn ban, the public should not litter cigarettes, park recently driven or running vehicles on dry grass or operate poorly maintained machinery on dry grass. Prescribed burns and grilling in a closed container with a lid are allowed.

You’d think with all the rain and storms lately, the drought would be a thing of the past. But that is not the case. Tuesday, the Edwards Aquifer Authority in San Antonio voted to impose Stage IV restrictions on pumping, saying the aquifer’s water level has fallen below the critical threshold of 630 feet above sea level. That means water customers in Bexar and Medina counties and parts of Atascosa, Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe and Hays counties must cut pumping by 40 percent. The north end of the Edwards, the Barton Springs segment in parts of Travis, Hays and Bastrop counties, could face a similar change in status this week. The Barton Springs aquifer district board meets Thursday and will consider the state of its portion of the underground river. As of Tuesday, the aquifer’s two drought triggers – the Lovelady Well level and the flow at Barton Springs – were at or below the threshold to send it into Stage II status, meaning a 20 percent reduction in pumping. Board members took the aquifer out of drought status in late June but warned at the time that hot summer weather could draw it down again.

After today, there will be just one week left for candidates in the Nov. 4 City Council election to make it official and submit an application to get their name on the ballot. Applications are due at the City Clerk’s office by 5 p.m. Aug. 18. Several new candidates filed for places on the ballot late last week, including Randall Stephens in the Mayor’s race; Andrew Bucknall in District 1; Robert Perez Jr. in District 4; Ann Kitchen in District 5; Edwin E. English and Leslie Pool in District 7; Eliza May in District 8; and Kathie Tovo in District 9. Of the 60 or so people who filed paperwork naming campaign treasurers, only about half have signed up to be on the ballot with a week left to go.

Travis County Medical Examiner Dr. David Dolinak is resigning his position, effective Aug. 18, and Travis County Commissioners have appointed Dr. Satish Chundru to step in for the interim until a new chief is hired. Dr. Dolinak was the chief for eight years. The Medical Examiner‘s office has until November to hire a permanent replacement.

The Council Audit and Finance Committee will have a lot on its plate this morning as it grapples with the results from audits of the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department related to contract compliance; small and minority business participation goals for the Small and Minority Business Resources Department; and a safety audit of Austin Resource Recovery. Committee members will also be asking questions about whether the Budget Office has adequately documented cost allocations for internal services. There has long been a suspicion that Austin Energy and Austin Water Utility are being overcharged. According to a briefing document provided ahead of the meeting, city auditors found that the Budget Office “does not have a well–documented cost allocation plan for CTM (the Communications & Technology Management Department). However, the budget office argues that “they took over responsibility for administering the cost allocation plan in FY2013, and documentation for the plan was not available from CTM.”