Austin plans to apply for more than $160 million in loans from the Texas Water Development Board to help pay for a potential smart meter system as well as wastewater treatment plant improvements, and Austin City Council will decide whether or not to approve applying for the loans at its April 21 meeting.
Austin Water is proposing to update customer water meters so that meter readings will be collected digitally instead of manually, according to a draft ordinance. If the loan applications are approved, a smart meter program would need to be approved in a separate process, according to city staff.
City Council is also scheduled to vote April 21 on these items:
- Contracts with the University of North Texas and the University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering to research the possibility of using drones and other types of robotics to aid in emergency response to disasters such as wildfires, floods, hazard material spills and tornadoes. In 2014, Austin City Council approved an interlocal agreement with Texas A&M University to investigate utilizing robotics during emergency responses, according to city documents.
- A proposal to include tenants of mobile homes in a program the city began designing in November to aid renters who are displaced from their apartments because of development
Austin City Council will meet April 21 at 10 a.m. in City Hall, 301 W. Second St.
