Bastrop, Texas Events, News & Stories

Bastrop, Tx–Bastrop County commissioners today approved a 10-year tax break for a new $65 million data center proposed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on a 40-acre site near McKinney Roughs off Texas 71 West of Bastrop presenty owned by the tax-exempt Lower Colorado River Authority.

ERCOT is a non-profit corporation governed by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and is charged with regulating the flow of electric power from generators to consumers across roughly 75 percent of the state. The operating center of the distribution system is in Taylor. The Bastrop facility is planned as a back-up data center for the system. It will be staffed by a work force of 15 who will be paid on average $85,000 a year, said ERCOT officials.

The county tax break will save the agency a few million dollars over the coming decade but will not affect property taxes due to the Bastrop Independent School District and the Bastrop County Emergency Services District No. 1, which provides fire protection to the area.

Commissioners approved the proposed tax break agreement without discussion.

ERCOT officials said they plan to spend about $30 million for building construction and utilities at the site, plus another $35 million for equipment.

Bastrop, Tx–A racing wildfire burned 10 acres near FM 812 in Western Bastrop County beginning about 3:40 p.m. Feb. 8, “directly threatening” as many as 18 residences, according to Mike Fisher, Bastrop County’s coordinator of emergency management.

Firefighters from the Bluebonnet Acres, 5 Points and Bastrop fire departments responded to protect the nearby homes and contain the fire, which was fanned by a stiff breeze from the South and fed, in part, by exceptionally dry conditions.

In brief remarks to Bastrop County commissioners earlier today, Fisher said weather forecasters see little likelihood of significant rainfall in the coming 90 days. Bastrop County has not received significant rainfall since June 2008, and drought conditions in the area are approaching the severity of the record drought in Texas in the 1950s, according to Fisher.

Rockne, Tx–A Bastrop area resident died and two others were injured early Feb. 5 in an traffic mishap on FM 20 near the intersection with Earl Callahan Rd.

Cari A. Serschap, 20, was ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, Sean Cook, 21, and another passenger, Danielle Herschap, 22, were injured.

None of the three were wearing seat belts, according to a Department of Public Safety announcement.
Investigators also suspect that alcohol may have played a role in the accident.

Cari Herschap was buried Sunday afternoon amid a throng of mourners at a rural cemetery near Red Rock. One observers estimated the cemetery crowd at 300.