Bastrop, Texas Events, News & Stories

Bastrop, Tx–At 9 a.m. Tuesday Bastrop County commissioners will hear some ideas from County Judge Ronnie McDonald about creating a unified rural road administration, a sharp departure from the historic practice of having each of four commissioners oversee separate precinct road maintenance and construction activities.

The June 16 session will take place in the Courthouse Annex at 804 Pecan St.

Later the same day the Bastrop City Council is expected to be present at the Kerr Community Center on Walnut Street to hear–with city residents–the latest report from a design advisory panel which has been working on the future appearance of a new City Hall on Chestnut Street and a companion structure across the street, the proposed Civic/Convention Center.

Project architect Mervin Fatter will be on hand to lead the presentation, and public input will be encouraged, according to Mayor Terry Orr and City Manager Mike Talbot.

In an interview this week, Talbot said he hopes work on the new city hall can begin by year’s end. Improvements aimed to complement the projects along Chestnut Street are also set to begin later this year. The street work will be paid for by the Bastrop Economic Development Corp. City bond funds will pay for the new city hall, and the convention center will be funded, according to present plans, by taxes levied on city hotel room rentals.

Bastrop, Tx–When the board of the Bastrop Economic Development Corp. meets Monday at 7 p.m. it will take up a proposal from developers of a 550-acre residential development immediately south of the BEDC Industrial and Business Park.

The Colorado Bend project lies in a bend of the Colorado River between Tahitian Village and Texas 304. When the city council agreed to begin talks aimed at bringing the project to Bastrop, it made clear that one condition would be including at two major entrance/exit routes to the project.

Developers said the chief gateway should be off Texas 304 and across a proposed new river bridge. At the time, council members said provision must also be made for a second route along what is presently Lovers Lane which skirts the western edge of Tahitian Village.

Now, however, developers are suggesting an alternate route which would avoid Lovers Lane and tie into Industrial Drive through the industrial park and onto Jackson Street before it intersects with Texas 71 at Texas 95, according to BEDC President Joe Newman. That’s the idea the BEDC board will discuss, said Newman in a Friday interview.

One worry is that creating a traffic artery from Texas 304 through the proposed subdivision and the industrial park could attract an unwelcome volume of traffic through both projects, said Newman. An engineering traffic impact analysis (TIA) to evaluate the likely consequences is already in the works, he added.

Bastrop, Tx–State and local officials appeared no closer at week’s end than at the beginning to understanding how and where a fire broke out June 5 in a house under construction in the heart of the city’s historic Church Street residential district.

The structure immediately south of 1508 Church St. was fully involved in flames when firefighters arrived minutes after the blaze was first reported at 8:01 p.m. The building, nearing completion, was gutted before the flames were extinguished.

When investigators from the state fire marshall’s office launched their probe on Monday, they said the structure must be shored up before it will be safe for them go inside looking for clues to the cause and origin of the conflagration. In interviews Friday, local officials said negotiations continue on who will pay for making the site safe for further investigation.

So far there is no evidence suggesting foul play in the incident, according to officials.