Archive for July 27th, 2009

Bastrop County hires development, planning, project director

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–Bastrop County commissioners sealed a deal July 27 to name a new engineer to guide the county’s development, planning and project management efforts.

Ronnie Moore, a civil engineer who grew up and lives in Elgin, will take the new post with a salary of $75,000 a year, slightly less than his predecessor, Joe Ternus of Smithville, was paid prior to his resignation last year.

Moore is perhaps best known around Bastrop for his engineering work for Sabine Investments, the company which developed the Hunter’s Crossing mixed-use project at Texas 71 and Texas 304 in Bastrop.

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Bastrop County outdoor burn ban extended

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–At a meeting July 27 Bastroop County commissioners extended a ban on outdoor burning for 90 days because of continuing hot, dry weather and tinder-dry natural fuels available to feed accidental wildfires.

In recent months commissioners have approved burn ban extensions for 45 days at a time in hopes weather conditions, chiefly rainfall, might improve. On Monday Bastrop County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Fisher recommended a 90-day extension, the longest provided under state law.

Last week children playing with matches were blamed for sparking a 40-acre wildfire near Bastrop which threatened rural homes, out buildings and farm equipment. A 10-year-old was charged with arson and released to the custody of his parents.

At the end of February a wildfire touched off by a dead tree falling across an electric transmission line burned some 1.200 acres, mostly in the Alum Creek watershed between Bastrop and Smithville, destroying homes, businesses, out buildings and vehicles in its path. The Wilderness Ridge Fire of 2009 was the worst wildfire disaster in two decades in Bastrop County.

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Man dies in wreck near Paige

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Paige, Tx–A one-car accident late July 23 on Old Pin Oak Road a mile south of US 290 claimed the life of a 25-year-old man.

Texas Department of Public Safety investigators identified the victim as James Aaron Cabera who lived at 568 Old Pin Oak Rd. The mishap was reported at 10:25 p.m.

The auto left the roadway, hit a culvert, rolled over and ejected Cabera, according to the DPS report. The driver was not wearing a seat belt, the report indicated.

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