Archive for November 16th, 2009

GOP governors head to Lost Pines resort

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–Drivers on Texas 71 west of Bastrop and residents who live in the vicinity of the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa should not be surprised by unusual police presence and security measures in the area this week. Beginning Nov. 17 local authorities are braced for the arrival of Republican state governors from across the US for their annual national conference at the Lost Pines luxury retreat.

The GOP conference of governors is scheduled Nov. 18-20, according to the organization’s Web site. Local officials, including the county judge and sheriff, were briefed Monday on preparations for the assembly of political leaders with an eye on the 2010 election season.

Each of the 20 Republican governors is expected to bring a special security detail to the sessions, and the Texas Department of Public Safety plans to assign extra officers to each delegation, according to sources familiar with the preparations.

The governors also plan to spend some time relaxing from the rigors of public responsibility and political ambition. They have reportedly reserved Cindi’s Gone Hog Wild, a biker-themed bar on Texas 71 near Garfield, for a gathering during their Bastrop County confab.

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County considers new building plans

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–Beginning next year, Bastrop County commissioners could begin a five-year, $28 million building and road improvement program discussed Nov. 16 during a workshop meeting.

Bastrop County Auditor Lisa Smith urged commissioners to adopt a formal capital improvement program, whatever projects it ultimately includes, because most of the work must be financed by borrowing. Lenders are reassured by long range improvement plans keyed to growth projections and economic forecasts, she suggested.

In the coming year some signal upgrades are needed at the county jail, estimated to cost just over $400,000, to meet minimum state jail standards. County development services department chief Ronnie Moore also called for hiring a design and engineering team to begin work on a new building for the planning and environmental enforcement department, now housed in rented offices in downtown Bastrop on Water Street. A rough estimate of cost for the new building is $3 million if it goes on county land on Jackson Street, said Moore.

The capital improvement plan also calls for borrowing roughly $5 million for road and bridge upgrades over the coming five years.

And near the end of the planning period, the county may want to consider building additional office space for the tax collector, courts and law enforcement administration on a 5.5-acre tract the county owns on Jackson immediately east of the present county jail, said Moore and Smith. By 2014-15 the jail itself may need some expansion, the planning documents suggest.

Smith, the auditor, urged commissioners to formally adopt a capital improvement plan before the county needs to return to bond markets for new borrowing, even if the plan needs revision year by year. Moore asked commissioners to begin the process of retaining design and construction professionals to begin planning new office space on Jackson Street.

Pct. 2 Commissioner Clara Beckett said the county should also consider buying the development services building and an associated parking lot in the 800 block of Water Street, immediately west of the Courthouse. The building and parking lot are presently being leased for county use.

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