Archive for December, 2009

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BISD trustee vote was public, board president insists

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–Bastrop school board president John Eaton denied a report published today saying trustees voted during a closed door session to name a lone finalist for the vacant superintendent’s job. The vote was taken in public following an executive session Monday, said Eaton.

A secret vote would violate the state’s Open Meetings Act. The Bastrop Advertiser reported the Dec. 7 vote came “during a closed-door session of the BISD Board of Trustees.” Eaton said official minutes of the meeting will reflect the vote was taken during a part of the meeting open to the public.

The Monday vote did name Steve Murray as the lone finalist to succeed Roderick Emanuel as superintendent of the 8,000-student Bastrop school district. Emanuel has been acting superintendent since announcing his resignation as superintendent last summer.

Six candidates were interviewed for the vacant post beginning Nov. 18, said Eaton. The six were culled from more than 50 hopefuls who applied for the position, he said.

By law the school board must wait 21 days from naming a lone finalist before making a formal job offer. Eaton said trustees expect to take the next step on Jan. 4 and negotiate an employment contract with Murray so he can take the reins of the school district by Feb. 1.

Murray is currently superintendent of the Little Elm school district in the Dallas area and was formerly superintendent in LaVernia. Before that he was a deputy superintendent in Del Valle, among other public education jobs. He is a graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University and what is now Texas State University-San Marcos.

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Posted in Bastrop School District | 1 Comment »

State Rep urges Bastrop council to waive 1999 drainage ruling to favor private client

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–No one at the Dec. 8 Bastrop City Council meeting was bold–or rude–enough to mention the most unusual and glaring fact about an extended discussion about storm water drainage requirements for a commercial lot which a previous council laid down in 1999 when the lot was first platted.

Tim Kleinschmidt, a Giddings lawyer who represents District 17 in the Texas House of Representatives, asked the council to waive a decision requiring on site detention of storm water to protect some adjoining property owners. The House member was representing a private client, Mike McCrae, who bought the 1-acre lot at Hasler Blvd. and Agnes St. just west of Walmart in 2003.

House District 17 includes all of Bastrop County, meaning Kleinschmidt could exercise virtual veto power over any local interest law sought by the city during future legislative sessions. The lawmaker got a very polite hearing.

Kleinschmidt argued that despite a number of city records reflecting the detention requirement, McCrae bought the property while under the impression the condition did not apply to his lot, and some other development in the immediate area has been completed without on site runoff detention.

Following some discussion, the council agreed unanimously to waive the on site detention requirement if some alternate drainage plan can be devised to satisfy state laws. In general the law requires that runoff to neighboring property following development cannot be greater than it was prior to development.

“If there’s no impact to neighbors, okay,” said Council Member Bill Peterson. “Just make sure everything’s right,” he urged the staff. Mayor Terry Orr warned that devising a drainage plan without on site detention could be tricky.

Council Member Joe Beal, himself a civil engineer like the mayor, said developers should demonstrate that any alternate plan can work. “If there’s another drainage solution (not involving detention), if that can be shown, okay,” he said.

“Go back to the engineers,” Peterson recommended. Drainage in the area south of Texas 71 between Walmart and Texas 304 has been problematic for years now because of the flat terrain which generally drains to the south and west across presently undeveloped property.

City Manager Mike Talbot said amending the plat for the lot in question will require a public hearing which will give neighboring property owners an opportunity to comment on any proposed drainage plan.

Outside the meeting Talbot said during his career as a city manager he has never seen a case where a sitting state lawmaker represented a private client in a dispute with a local government unit in the lawmaker’s district.

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Posted in Bastrop City Council | 2 Comments »

Bastrop to share replacement cost of washed out Piney Creek crossing on Riverwood Dr.

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–At a meeting Dec. 8 the city council agreed to share 50 percent of the cost of replacing a low water crossing on Riverwood Drive at Piney Creek. The waterway forms part of Bastrop’s northern and western city boundary.

City Manager Mike Talbot estimated the total replacement cost at some $50,000, a number which elated some council members. “I’d jump on that in a heartbeat,” said Council Member Joe Beal. Some earlier estimates were much higher, starting at roughly $200,000.

The city council authorized Talbot to spend up to $35,000 in contributed services to cover half the cost of replacing the bridge. Bastrop County will design the replacement, supervise the work and cover the remaining expense, said Talbot.

The present structure, closed for safety reasons since just before Thanksgiving, was constructed some 20 years ago under a similar cost sharing arrangement between the city and the county’s Pct. 1, according to former officials.

Talbot did not suggest how long a replacement bridge will take to design and construct.

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Bastrop planning director resigns for new position

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–City Planning Director Stacy Snell will leave her post effective Dec. 18 to take up a new job as planning manager in New Braunfels. In an interview today, Snell said she will be working for a boss whom she came to know while working as a planner in Leander.

Snell has been Bastrop’s planning director since October 2005.

New Braunfels, a major tourist destination between Austin and San Antonio on the Comal River, now has a population of some 55,000. Bastrop’s current population is estimated at roughly 8,000.

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Bastrop faces 50% of bridge replacement cost

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–The city might be half responsible for any repair or replacement cost of a bridge across Piney Creek on Riverwood Drive. The structure, essentially washed out by rains the weekend before Thanksgiving, has been closed to traffic for three to four months.

Piney Creek forms part of the north and west boundary of the city, and records suggest hat roughly half of the Riverwood Drive crossing lies inside Bastrop, according a Dec.c 1 memo to the mayor and city council from City Manager Michael Talbot. Most likely the bridge must be replaced, an opinion shared by county officials, said Talbot.

The city manager called any replacement effort “a very expensive cost to the City.” He asked the council to suggest at its Dec. 8 meeting how he should proceed. Talbot did not estimate bridge replacement costs.

One official familiar with the situation suggested that replacement cost for the structure could be at least $200,000 or more. The present ruined structure was built as a joint effort by the city and Bastrop County Pct. 1 about 20 years ago, according to former Pct. 1 commissioner Johnny Sanders.

Pct. 1 Commissioner Willie Pina said recently he also hopes to raise any new crossing four to six feet above the present road level.

But neither the city nor county budget for road repair or improvement this year includes funds for a new creek crossing.

Riverwood Drive, sometimes still called River Road, extends west from Carter Street in Bastrop roughly three miles across the creek into Bastrop County, mostly between the Union Pacific Railroad and the Colorado River. Some 50-odd homes rely on Riverwood for access to other areas, including the City of Bastrop. For now residents have access to the city by way of Reid Bend Road which also connects to Carter Street via another Piney Creek bridge.

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Bastrop County election season begins with a yawn

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–When the focus of political activity at the beginning of the 2010 election season appears to be the re-election bid of Bastrop County Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace Bill Weddle, can boredom be far behind?

Dec. 3 was the first day candidates could place their names on political party ballots for primary elections in March 2010, and three of the five hopefuls who put their names forward are seeking the justice of the peace post. Weddle, of course is seeking a second term in office. But already he has two challengers, Donald “Dickie” Henderson and Donna Van Gilder, who is already erecting campaign signs.

Henderson is brother to Pct. 3 Constable Matt Henderson and son of the late Pct. 1 and Pct. 3 Justice of the Peace Bill Henderson. Donna Van Gilder is married to Bastrop lawyer Derek Van Gilder who has previously sought election as Bastrop County judge–the county’s top administrative position–and twice stood for the GOP nomination for state district court seats. In 2008 he was the Republican nominee for the new 423rd District Court bench for Bastrop County but lost in November to Democrat Chris Duggan.

A second contested primary battle may also be emerging. Michael Flowers of Elgin has launched a bid for the Democratic nomination for the Pct. 4 county commissioner position. Veteran incumbent Lee Dildy is expected to seek re-election.

County Judge Ronnie McDonald, a Democrat, has also formally launched his re-election bid with no serious challengers in sight.

The other high profile county post up for election next year is for Bastrop County Criminal District Attroney. Republican incumbent Bryan Goertz said in an interview Dec. 3 he will be a candidate but has yet to file the necessary paperwork. Not even the rumor mill so far has suggested a potential opponent.

Posted in Bastrop County, Local Politics | No Comments »

Bastrop County to dedicate first park on Saturday

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Cedar Creek, Tx–Bastrop County officials and other dignitaries will gather at 10 a.m. Dec. 5 for ceremonies dedicating the first county-owned and operated park. It adjoins Cedar Creek Elementary School on FM 535, cost roughly $1 million and came to reality only after a decade of planning, controversy and compromise.

Among others to be honored in connection with opening of the project will be the late businessman and philanthropist James Voss, a Cedar Creek native and oil company executive, who contributed to the park’s development. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department put a $500,000 grant into the effort and the Bastrop school district made available the 44-acre park site bordered by Cedar Creek.

Perhaps appropriately, weather for the event is expected to be chilly. Weather forecasters are predicting the first hard freeze of the season on Friday night, with a chance of light snow before morning. From the time the park was first proposed by former Pct. 1 County Commissioner Johnny Sanders, it had enthusiastic supporters but also faced deep skepticism and doubt in some quarters, hence the much-delayed development process.

In later phases of development the park was championed by Bastrop County Judge Ronnie McDonald.

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Convicted ex-cop free on bail pending appeal

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Bastrop, Tx–Former Elgin police officer Orville Roger Miller Jr., 48, was released from Bastrop County jail Dec. 2 after posting $5,000 bail. Miller was sentenced to three years in prison and a $15,000 fine Nov. 13 for possession of child pornography by a jury in Bastrop.

Miller pleaded guilty to the charge but asked the jury to assess punishment. He was eligible to be released on bail pending the outcome of an appeal because his sentence was for less than 10 years in prison.

Miller fell under suspicion and was fired from the Elgin Police Department after he was linked to a portable digital storage device, or “thumb drive,” found by another officer in the department’s squad room.

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