Water in Provo is going to cost more this summer, I-15 may be getting wider, and campaigns will have to disclose a little more about their finances.

These decisions were handed down by the Provo Municipal Council during its meeting Tuesday night.

The council voted to raise the price of water from 45 cents per 100 cubic feet to 48 cents per 100 cubic feet. That represents, on average, an increase of about $1.16 per month, according to Public Works Director Merril Bingham.

Bingham also said that even with the increase, Provo residents are paying one of the lowest rates for water in the county with an average of $195 per year. Bingham said that in some parts of the county people pay as much as $900 per year for water.

The water rate increase will only be in effect through October.

The fee increase is the second half of a two-year phase-in of increased water prices.

As for the upcoming city council races, the council made some basic housekeeping changes to current reporting requirements.

This was done in preparation for this year's council election cycle. Among the technical changes, the council added Internet advertising to the list of expenditures that had to be reported. Previously, the list included typical advertising mediums like newspapers, radio, or television but had neglected to include Internet expenditures.

Provo is unique in that it itemizes those advertising mediums which need to be reported. Both Mark Thomas of the Lt. Governor's Office and Utah County Elections Coordinator Sandy Hoffman said that state and county regulations are nowhere near that specific.

Finally, the council voted on a resolution indicating their hopes for the I-15 reconstruction project planned to take place over the next five years.

Provo City wants to see the use of a frontage road system along the freeway as a means of adding access points to the roadway.

Provo Mayor Lewis Billings and others have said it is ironic that the largest city in the county has only two ways onto and off of I-15. Many smaller cities have more interchanges than Provo, and city officials see the stark lack of exits and entrances as a problem.

That, says Stewart, causes a problem for drivers getting on and off of the freeway. Stewart pointed out that there is no access points between University Parkway in Orem and Center Street in Provo.

The concept of a frontage road system is that a limited access roadway would be built along the freeway. There would be about four points where drivers can get on and off the frontage road, making it efficient and fast while at the same time giving people a choice about where to access I-15.

The addition of a frontage road system won't add more physical entrances to the freeway, but the council believes that it would speed traffic along and make getting on and off the freeway a good deal easier. "There's no question about it," said Stewart.

Nathan Johnson can be reached at 344-2543 or at njohnson@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D2.