Archive for October, 2009

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XS Ranch development deal wins Bastrop okay

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–The Bastrop City Council gave possibly its final blessing Oct. 27 to a series of agreements to permit the development of almost 9,700 acres west of Texas 95 between Bastrop and Elgin for a mixture of residential and commercial uses, including some 7,000 residential units and roughly 300,000 square feet of commercial space.

The project will be served with wastewater treatment by the Lower Colorado River Authority and its water supplied by Aqua Water Supply Corp. of Bastrop. A fully executed service agreement with Aqua remains to be finalized.

If developed as presently envisioned and annexed by Bastrop over the next two to four decades, as the accords provide for, the project would more than double the city’s size and perhaps its population. The agreements provisionally approved by the city council
this week also provide for Bastrop to collect sales tax revenues from the project.

The entire development area, including the former 6,700-acre Steiner Ranch, either already is or will be included in Bastrop’s extra-territorial jurisdiction, an area where the city exercises some development controls, according to officials.

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Bastrop spray paint restrictions advance

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–A new city law to ban the sale of spray paint and some related materials to those younger than age 19 took a step forward Oct. 27 when the Bastrop City Council approved a first reading of the measure. At the same time the council called for some revisions which will be considered next month.

The law as presented this week cites a prime objective of preventing teens from gaining access to intoxicating substances including spray paint and related aerosol glue products as well as nitrous oxide gas, best known as an anesthetic used by dentists.

The measure was brought to council attention by the city’s parks board which cited the cost and labor involved in covering up graffiti which is typically sprayed in public park facilities in Bastrop, including park restrooms and beneath bridges along the riverwalk between Fisherman’s Park and Old Ferry Park.

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Borrowing process begins for new city hall, convention center construction

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx– The Bastrop City Council began the final process Oct. 27 for borrowing roughly $5 million to complete construction of a new city hall and convention center on Chestnut St. beginning early next year. When the council met Tuesday it authorized the publication of notice that Bastrop plans to issue debt to complete financing for the new projects which have been in the planning stages for more than two years.

In an interview Oct. 28 Bastrop City Manager Mike Talbot said the final bond issue amounts will not be determined until later this year after the city opens construction bids for the two projects Dec. 8 and and awards a contract before Christmas. Late last year the city borrowed initial money for the projects, chiefly to cover final engineering and design costs.

Construction of the new municipal builings should begin early in 2010.

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Bastrop Police Sgt. resigns during consideration of “sexual harassment” allegations

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–A city police patrol sergeant has resigned while the department was considering possible discipline connected to sexual harassment complaints.

Sgt. Burnis Bobbit’s last day on the job was Oct. 15, said Police Chief David Board. Bobbit, a four-year veteran of the Bastrop department, resigned following an administrative probe into complaints that he had acted in a manner “unbecoming an officer” of the department but before any disciplinary measures had been imposed, said Board in an interview today. No criminal law violation is under review, said the chief.

Bobbit joined the Bastrop Police Department at the end of August 2005. For much of his tenure he was the night patrol supervisor for the department.

City police began looking into the officer’s conduct early in October and interviewed “several women” who provided statements about Bobbitt’s behavior, according to a letter from an assistant to city attorney J.C. Brown dated Oct. 28. The letter is a request to the Texas Attorney General’s Open Records Division for a ruling on what parts of Bobbit’s city personnel file must be disclosed to the public.

Davis McAuley, editor of Bastrop-News.com, filed an open records request to inspect Bobbit’s city personnel file on Oct. 20. The city’s attorneys want to withhold information which identifies or “tends to” identify the women who spoke to police investigators about the case.

The city’s appeal is under review in the state attorney general’s office. No date for a decision has been announced.

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Teen to stand trial for murder of girlfriend’s mother

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–On Oct. 20 a state grand jury in Bastrop ordered an 18-year-old Smithville area resident to stand trial for murder in the August death of his 14-year-old girlfrend’s mother in McDade. In a separate action the Bastrop County District Attorney’s Office is seeking to have the juvenile’s case, also on a murder charge, transferred into the adult criminal justice system.

Those younger than 17 are generally considered children under Texas law and their cases handled under a separate set of criminal and family laws. In exceptional cases, however, juveniles may be transferred for adjudication under adult criminal rules.

Tuesday’s murder indictment names Joseph Douglas as responsible for the shooting death of Tracy Bellard, 42, “on or about Aug. 17″ this year. The grand jury action puts the defendant on formal notice of the charge he will face in court.
Douglas is being held in the Bastrop County Jail, apparently unable to post bail, pending trial. The victim’s daughter, identified in court records as Haley Bellard, is being held in a juvenile detention facility in Seguin.

Tracy Bellard was reported missing Aug. 14 after she failed to appear for work at her family’s restaurant, Mimi G’s, on FM 1441 that day. Douglas and the daughter were questioned Aug. 17 after Tracy Bellard’s auto was spotted at the residence where Douglas lived near Smithville.

Subsequently both the juvenile and another witness told investigators from the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Department that they had seen Douglas gun down Tracy Bellard at her McDade home with a 22-calibre rifle, according to court records.

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Bastrop EDC calls confab with city council

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–At a meeting Oct, 19 the Bastrop Economic Development Corp. board urged a Nov. 23 workshop session with the Bastrop City Council about funding for a new deep water supply well for the city in Bob Bryant Park. The city council has yet to confirm the date but could take up the issue Oct. 27.

The discussion, whenever it takes place, will apparently focus on language to put before voters next spring in a referendum allowing BEDC sales tax money going into a water development project. At the Monday meeting BEDC board members said they can support a water development project if it does not permanently permit economic development funds to be diverted to support the city water system.

Bastrop City Manager Mike Talbot said he believes appropriate limiting language can be drafted for a May referendum in connection with city council elections.

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Probation handed down in child sex contact case

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–A Smithville area resident was sentenced to 10 years probation and a $5,00 fine Oct. 16 for improper sexual contact with a girl younger than 17 in 2003.

Moise Cruz Borja will also be required to spend 180 days in the Bastrop County Jail in a work release program.

A jury in Bastrop found Borja guilty of indecency with a child on Oct. 15 after hearing more than two days of testimony before 335th District Judge Reva Towslee Corbett. The same jury heard additional evidence relevant to his punishment Friday before returning a verdict on sentencing.

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Bid date delayed for new city hall, convention site

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–In a report to the city council Oct. 13, City Manager Mike Talbot said a date for soliciting bids for building a new city hall and Bastrop’s first convention center has been delayed until Nov. 16, roughly 30 days behind previous plans.

The two new structures on Chestnut Street immediately east of the Union Pacific rail line in the city will be bid as a single package in hopes of ginning up competitive interest from contractors.

Talbot said the city should receive bids for the work by Dec. 1, and he hopes to award a construction contract before Christmas, even if it means a late December council meeting to seal a deal.

The city manager also alerted the council to two different issues which may be headed their way before too long:

*Discussion among parks board members aimed at restricting the sale of spray paint and related products as a possible way to reduce graffitti in city parks.

*Discussion among the Historic Landmark Commission about a ban on hanging banners and related signs on the 1923 Old Iron Bridge. Such signs have been frequently used in recent years by local civic and community groups to advertise upcoming events and fundraisers. The bridge is a city historic landmark and part of Bastrop’s park system.

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Deal on Bastrop water well funding under discussion

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–Bastrop City Council Member Julie Hart and Bastrop Economic Development Corp. board president Gary Guiterrez may have reached a compromise on funding for a deep water development well in Bob Bryant Park. The deal still must win approval of the BEDC board and the city council as well as endorsement by city voters, perhaps in May city elections.

The BEDC board meets Oct. 19 and will take up the issue then, said BEDC President/CEO Joe Newman this week.

Hart and Guiterrez clashed in public on Sept. 22 during discussion of BEDC’s proposed budget for 2009-10, which required council approval by Oct. 1. Hart called for delaying construction of new roads in the BEDC industrial park in order to fund the new water well at an estimated cost of $675,000. BEDC funding of water development will require voter approval which cannot take place before the May 2010 city elections.

Guiterrez said expanding the BEDC industrial park is a top priority of his board but suggested that given the right conditions the agency could pay for both the expansion and a water project. The BEDC budget, including the road extension work as proposed, passed on a 3-2 council vote. Hart and Council Member Kay Garcia McAnally dissented.

Subsequently Hart and Guiterrez met and talked about ways to compromise, both have said since then. In broad terms the compromise calls for a city referendum in May allowing BEDC to fund the Bryant Park deep well, avoiding a broader measure which would permit BEDC funds to go into water development projects indefinitely.

At a public town hall meeting with citizens Oct. 8, Hart said she has discussed that approach with Guiterrez. In an interview Monday, Guiterrez said he would campaign for voter approval for such a deal, assuming it is endorsed by his board and the city council. He vowed to oppose a broader measure.

From the beginning of the debate, BEDC officials have argued the agency can afford both the deep well and industrial park road and utility extensions. Initially BEDC set aside more than $2 million in cash or debt for the road extension. Now the board believes it can complete the road work for $1 million or less because of grant opportunities and declining construction costs.

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New historic Bastrop cemetery rules in preparation

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–Later this month the Bastrop City Council could approve the first public law to govern operation of the city’s historic Fairview Cemetery, now more than 150 years old.

Rules for burying indigents or paupers and how to settle possible unresolved disputes over ownership of historic burial plots remain to be agreed on, however, before final approval of the measure, possibly on Oct. 27.

For a century or more the burial ground was managed by private organizations, but some two years ago the city was forced to take control. A city law to govern the cemetery has now been 18 months in the making, guided in part by a citizen advisory board, City Manager Mike Talbot said Tuesday.
The proposed rules call for the city to honor all prior sales of cemetery lots, despite the fact that many of those deeds have never been recorded in county records, said Talbot. Proof of purchase and payment in the past will be recognized, he said. In some cases even a sworn statement claiming ownership of lots may be acceptable.

Current records of purchases and burials in earlier periods are not complete, Talbot said.

But Council Member Ken Kesselus, a keen student of local history, said the descendants of earlier purchasers may, in a few cases, disagree about how those rights have devolved. Talbot said the new law can include a time period for the resolution of such disputes.
Council Member Kay Garcia McAnally objected to setting aside a special area for the burial of indigents. “I don’t like segregating the poor,” she said. “It just feels wrong to me.”

Mayor Terry Orr also called for identifying and marking the graves of paupers.

Talbot said he will tweak the proposed rules to address both concerns.

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