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Austin Water Oversight Committee calls on city leaders to make right with customers after boil notice

After a days-long boil water notice, the Austin Water Oversight Committee is asking the city manager to fix negative impacts customers felt because of it.

AUSTIN, Texas — New leadership in the Austin Water Oversight Committee is calling on City Manager Spencer Cronk to address adverse water bill impacts and explore the reallocation of existing funds from the water budget to customers. 

The committee held its first meeting on Wednesday in response to the days-long boil water notice that led to the Austin Water director's resignation and placed three employees on leave.

The meeting comes after the Austin City Council approved an external audit of the utility. In its resolution, the committee looks at different ways to mitigate the negative impacts the notice had on water customers. 

The resolution first calls on Cronk to provide options to address adverse water bill impacts experienced by Austin Water customers.

“Much like the action council pursued following Winter Storm Uri, our community deserves relief from the impacts of the recent boil water notice whether in the form of a rebate or through an investment into operations and infrastructure at our water plants,” said newly appointed committee chair and Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes.

The resolution also directs the city manager to explore the potential of reallocating existing Austin Water budget funds towards infrastructure. According to the release, the potential amount would depend on how much would be returned to customers through relief.

The proposal was unanimously approved during the Feb. 23 meeting. Now, the proposal will be included in the March 3 city council agenda with instructions to return with recommendations on March 24.

The additional information will create an outline for how the relief dollars might be used to reinvest in Austin Water's Capital Improvement Plan.

When reached by KVUE shortly after the boil notice, Austin Water reported it wasn't planning rebates to customers saying that expected cost of flushing water systems would have been "minimal."

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