Archive for October 29th, 2009

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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