Bastrop, Texas Events, News & Stories

Bastrop, Tx–Monday the Bastrop Economic Development Corp. board set some major spending goals to put before the Bastrop City Council later this year. The projects include more than $2 million to extend roads and add some 20 new lots in the board’s Industrial and Business Park.

Also on the to-do list is some $320,000 to replace existing street lights on Main Street between Farm Street and the 800 block of Main. That suggestion, from City Manager Mike Talbot, was greeted with enthusiasm by the board which has long contemplated such a project but expected the price to be much higher, possibly more than $1 million.

The board agreed to decide later how to finance the projects, either with new borrowing, cash reserves or current operating funds. That decision can be postponed, the board decided.

Any BEDC spending plan for the coming fiscal year must also be approved by the Bastrop City Council sometime in the next two months.

Last year the BEDC board also proposed expanding the industrial park, but the city council finally approved only funds for final engineering for the project.

The Main Street lighting effort would replace current street lights with antique-style lighting along the three-block section of the historic commercial district, said Talbot. As presently envisioned, the work also includes replacing underground electric lines in order to support additional holiday lighting displays which have long been sought by downtown merchants.

Bastrop, Tx–The best use for a city-owned site on Main Street is stirring an intense debate which is just beginning to surface in Bastrop.

In September last year the city paid $230,000 for the burned out lot at 923 Main St., mostly for the rear part of the property which extends to Water Street between Water Street Mill Works and The Bastrop Advertiser. The council has had its eye on the property for roughly 10 years because it was deemed key to improving downtown parking and traffic flow in the so-called Alley D in the 900 block between Main and Water Street. City voters approved borrowing to pay for such improvements in 2003.

Buildings which had occupied the Main Street frontage of the property since the 19th century were destroyed by fires in 1980 and again in 2003. Since then the historic street scape has exhibited a notable gap–a cement slab surrounded on three sides by historic brick walls–immediately north of what is now Baxters on Main, a restaurant.

When the city approved buying the property last year, some council members suggested that the Main Street frontage could be resold to a private developer for some commercial use, especially since some of them had been snooping out opportunities there for several years but had been unable to make a deal with the owner.

The current debate is sparked by a rival vision for the property. On Tuesday when the city council meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall, Main Street Project manager Nancy Wood will outline a suggestion to make the vacant area into a public plaza to attract and comfort downtown visitors and other shoppers with benches, shade and public restrooms. The site could also play a role in public festivities, supporters suggest.

Last week Mayor Terry Orr declared that he will resist any move for a council decision on the issue until after a full and open public hearing which has not been scheduled. Interest in the site from private developers remains active, said Council Member Ken Kesselus in an interview last week.

Also last week the Bastrop Economic Development Corp. board declined to take up the issue, though the topic was on its agenda for discussion and possible action. The board agreed to delay any consideration of what future the site might have until the city council has signaled the direction it wants to take.

The politics of a decision may be complicated, but the issue at stake or easy to grasp. Will the city be better served by developing the vacant space on Main Street as a public amenity or by selling it for private development to boost the property tax roll and stimulate new commercial activity?