Posted: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:30 AM - 8,178 Readers

By: Reagan Hackleman

Water Treatment Plant

As expected, The Austin City Council voted to move forward with Water Treatment Plant number four.

The council voted last Thursday to pay a private water company $3 million to start digging tunnels down to Lake Travis.

This is the first part of construction on the highly controversial treatment plant.

Many people, including three out of seven council members, believe the city should focus on water conservation, rather than spending half a billion dollars on a new plant.

Money for the plant will come from Austin water customers.

"Once the project was completed, water rates would go up. We estimate 12 percent, which would be about $3 to $4 a month starting in 2014," Greg Maszaros with Austin Water Utility said.

The increased rate would last for about 30 years. The plant is scheduled to be operational by 2014.

Texting while driving

The Austin City Council also made texting while driving in Austin illegal starting Jan. 1.

Texting is still allowed if the driver's vehicle is stopped, or in an emergency situation.

The new law also made texting while riding a bicycle against the law as well.

Bicycle distance

The council also passed a law last week stating bicycles and cars must remain three feet apart when sharing the road.

Channel 6

The City of Austin's television station, Channel 6, has been working for years to bring community members up to date with the latest city council meetings.

"We have always had sort of a C-SPAN model," Keith Reeves with Channel 6 said.

The channel is now taking it up a notch and plans to increase the level of programming with new shows.

The channel televises about 35 meetings per month, allowing the pubic an easy way to find out how local government is making decisions that may impact their community.

The channel also offers all city council meetings since 2008 available on demand on the city's Web site.

This week the channel will begin offering about 25 meetings per month on demand.

*  Story Contributed by: Reagan Hackleman