Beginning next week, Austin Public Health will open COVID-19 vaccine appointments to the general public, including anyone 18+. The next appointment release through Austin Public Health will be for the first dose of the Moderna vaccine, and will be available for sign-ups through their portal Monday, April 12. Click here to pre-register.

A total of 80,031 cases have been reported to date in Travis County, with 2,581 of those cases from the Lake Travis area (zip codes 78734, 78738 and 78669). That's up 34 cases from this time last week in the Lake Travis area. There are currently 1,021 active cases at this time in Travis County (down from 1,033 last week) and 138 individuals hospitalized in the region (down from 146 last week). A total of 192,732 individuals have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Travis County through Austin Public Health according to the latest update to their dashboard (up from 163,013 last week). Click here to review the COVID-19 case dashboard, which includes an interactive map to see cases by your zip code. Click here for more details on hospitalizations. Click here for helpful links on vaccinations, including the pre-registration portal with Austin Public Health.

Mayor Sandy Cox gave an update yesterday on the latest with COVID-19 and other city news. Click here to watch that video update.

Travis County remains in Stage 3 of the risk-based guidelines. Whether you have or have not received a vaccine, it's still strongly encouraged to continue to social/physical distance between individuals not in your household, wear a proper face covering, and wash your hands regularly. Thank you for continuing to follow these guidelines.

A special city council meeting took place this past Monday, April 5 at 6:30 p.m. through video conference. Here are some of the highlights from that meeting:

Oaks Development/Main Street Extension: City Council received a presentation from Stratus Properties, Inc. regarding the undeveloped portions of the Oaks Planned Unit Development, which sits just behind H-E-B. The area is part of the future extension of Main Street that would eventually connect RR 620 to Lohman's Crossing Road. The presenters gave two options including the current R-2 housing option and a new multi-family option with a larger park dedication. Click here to review that rendering. We welcome your feedback on the linked concept. Comments can be sent to [email protected].

Flint Rock Road Traffic Study: City Council also received a presentation from Huitt-Zollars regarding their assessment of data collected from a recent traffic study they conducted within a one mile radius of Flint Rock Road near the intersection of RR 620. The conclusion of the study revealed that Flint Rock Road is not over capacity and heavy morning eastbound traffic on Flint Rock Road seems to be due to high school traffic. Huitt-Zollars also made recommendations, including a signalization change to help with flow. Click here to review the full presentation.

Staff Salary Changes: City Council voted to approve the appropriation to allow a combination of one-time lump sum merit allocation and/or base salary increase for staff. This would be approximately $180,000 including the associated benefit costs, or about a 2% increase in staff salaries. During the annual budget process last year, city council decided to delay authorization of salary increases for city employees due to the uncertain economic conditions created by the pandemic and the desire to hold taxes flat for residents. After six months of closely monitoring revenues and expenditures, providing a raise is now possible due to a favorable sales tax budget variance of about $335,000.

If you're interested in watching the full meeting or reviewing the agenda, please click here.

As we approach Earth Day on April 22 and our special volunteer cleanup project, the city's Parks & Recreation Department along with Lakeway MUD have created a special environmentally-focused scavenger hunt. Starting tomorrow (Saturday, April 10) and running through April 25, there will be ten (10) Earth Day themed questions hidden in Lakeway City Park. When you find a question, you can use your smartphone to scan the corresponding QR code. Then, follow the link to answer the question in an online form. For each answered question, the participant will be entered into a prize drawing, which will take place the end of this month. The questions are meant to test your environmental knowledge, while also exploring our beautiful City Park. Click here for more information.