Bastrop, Texas Events, News & Stories

Bastrop, Tx–The public is invited to a session Saturday set by opponents of a plan to pipe large volumes of groundwater from Bastrop, Lee and neighboring counties to supply anticipated developments in the San Marcos and San Antonio areas.

The Jan 15 meeting at the Bastrop Public Library will feature speakers from Bastrop-based Environmental Stewardship, The Sierra Club and others beginning at 2 p,m. The library is at 1100 Church St.

Bastrop, Tx–On Oct. 26 the Bastrop City Council voted 4-0 to transfer $500,000 from a special city account to the museum building fund of the Bastrop County Historical Society. Some time ago the council agreed to set aside the money from hotel room tax revenues to support conversion of the present city hall into a new local history museum and visitor center operated by the society.

The agreement between the city and the society said the society must raise $250,000 from private sources for conversion costs before the city will release the promised $500,000. That’s now taken place.

The society had just over $330,000 in its construction account at the end of June and asked the city to fork over its contribution. That’s the request the council formally approved Oct. 26.

But the same 4-0 council vote (Council Member Julie Hart was absent) had another consequence which went unmentioned at the time. The vote effectively transferred half a million dollars from the city’s depositary bank (First National) to a rival institution (Frontier Bank) where the history society has its building fund account. What went unmentioned is that Mayor Terry Orr (who, as mayor, did not vote on the issue) and Council Member Joe Beal (who did vote) are both Frontier investors.

So is anything wrong here? Not that I can tell, really. The city has an agreement with the historical society. The society met its goal. The city kept its promise of matching funds.

Still, it looks odd. If there’s no shame or shady self-dealing in this transaction, why the silence of Frontier investors who sit on the city council? Sunshine on public affairs has a cleansing effect, like drying your laundry on a line in the back yard. Transparency breeds public health and civic confidence.

Maybe we could use a little more of both.

Bastrop, Tx–At a special meeting Tuesday the Bastrop City Council endorsed a deal which will give up to $700,000 in sales tax payments over 10 years back to a proposed Buc-ee’s Travel Center at the corner of Texas 71 and Texas 95 in the city.

The council did not revisit its previous decision not to offer the convenience store chain an additional one-cent sales tax rebate. The approved incentive represents the half-cent local sales tax earmarked for economic development, and it does not include the penny per dollar sales tax which helps pay for basic city services.

Buc-ee’s, which is planning a 41,000-square-foot store valued at some $9 million, will also pay all assessed property taxes to the city, school district
and county. The company also said the store will employ more than 100 workers.

At the end of a meeting Monday, the Bastrop Economic Development Corp. board recommended the incentive package for council consideration. On Oct. 12 the council rejected an incentive proposal for the city’s share of sales tax collections from Buc-ee’s but left the door open to consider a proposal from the economic development board.

Tuesday’s council vote endorsing the incentive was 4-0. Council Member Julie Hart did not attend the meeting.

Representatives of other convenience store owners in Bastrop addressed the council Tuesday to oppose any tax incentive for Buc-ee’s, saying it would amount to an unfair competitive advantage.

Bastrop, Tx–On Oct. 14 Bastrop Community Access Television (Time
Warner cable chanel 10 in Bastrop) will broadcast the first on-air debate between candidates for the Texas House Dist. 17 seat, incumbent Tim Kleinschmidt (R) and challenger Pati Jacobs (D).

The live television broadcast, BCAT’s first, can also be seen live on the Web at www.upstartbastrop.com beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday. BCAT will rebroadcast the event, staged with an invited audience, until the Nov. 2 general election. It will also be available on demand at the Upstart website.

The debate will be moderated by Davis McAuley, retired Bastrop Advertiser editor and a member of the Upstart board of directors. Upstart, Inc. operates BCAT, a public assess television chanel, on behalf of the City of Bastrop.

Kleinschmidt, a Lee County lawyer, is seeking his second term in office. Jacobs is a rancher and business owner in Cedar Creek.

Bastrop-News.com recently asked Republican and Democratic candidates for Texas House Dist. 17 to answer questions of general interest to voters in the Nov. 2 general election. The questions were prepared and submitted by Doran Williams.

Both Republican Tim Klienschmidt, the incumbent seeking a second term, and Democratic challenger Pati Jacobs responded. Klienschmidt is a lawyer whose office is in Giddings. Jacobs is a partner in Bastrop Cattle Co. in Cedar Creek.

What follows are the questions and answers proved by Klienschmidt. The next set of answers are from Jacobs. In each case the questions are identical and in the same order.

–Editor Davis McAuley

GENERAL QUESTIONS

1. What are the most cr itical, or pressing issues for District 17? How do you propose to deal with these issues as a Legislator?

TK: The most critical issues the citizens of District 17 face today are:
a) the current recession, including job loss and loss of income—which should be addressed by controlling the spending of local, state and federal governments, as well as decreasing taxes and governmental fees on our citizens to increase monies available to families and the private sector for business growth and job creation.
b) the rapidly increasing cost of medical care—which should be addressed by defeating Obamacare, continuing to protect the medical profession from needless lawsuits, and expanding the availability of private health insurance.
c) controlling illegal immigration—which should be addressed by increased pressure on the federal government to fulfill its obligations and protect our borders and by increased action by the State of Texas, if necessary.
d) dealing with the growth of our area—which should address the wise use of our natural resources, including our land, water and protection of our air quality.

TEXAS ECONOMY

2. What actions would you urge the Legislature take to improve Texas= economy?
TK: SEE 1. A) above.

3. If you believe that cutting taxes will lead to improvements in Texas’ economy, which taxes would you urge the Legislature to cut? Specifically, tell us which, in your opinion, of the following taxes should be cut in order to improve Texas= economy:

TK: 1. Retail sales tax—No cut recommended
2. Gasoline/diesel fuel taxes—No cut recommended
3. Franchise taxes-Cut recommended
4. Ad valorem taxes-Cut recommended
5. Attorney occupation tax-No cut recommended
6. Other occupation taxes and licensing fees-Cut recommended
7. County fees for filing lawsuits and recording documents-No cut recommended
8. Tuition at Texas’ publicly funded colleges and universities-Cut recommended
9. Taxes on telephone and other electronic communications-No cut recommended
10. Tobacco taxes-No cut recommended

GROUND WATER AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF DISTRICT 17

4. What actions will you as a Legislator propose or support to assure the people of District 17 that they will continue to have access to sufficient ground water to support agriculture, domestic use, wildlife, and reasonable development in the District?
TK: I will continue to support legislative action that promotes the wise use of such an important resource as our water. I will support increased studies of our groundwater system to obtain more accurate information on the desired conditions of our underground aquifers, their use and the recharge rates of those aquifers so that our citizens have sound knowledge upon which to base their opinions of the use of such an important resource. I will use all available local, state and federal law to make sure that the rights of the citizens of District 17 are protected concerning water usage.

5. Do you flatly oppose export of ground water out of District 17?
TK: Here you propose a question that uniquely affects me as the elected State Representative of District 17. From an emotional point it is easy for me to state that yes, to any extent the export of ground water harms a citizen of District 17, I flatly oppose it. As your State Representative please remember that I, and not my opponent, have sworn before God and the people of this State to uphold the laws of this great State of Texas, our federal law and both the Texas Constitution and the U.S. Constitution, and to the extent those laws and constitutions make it legal to export water from a district I am duly sworn to uphold those existing laws and constitutions.

6. In your opinion, can the export of ground water out of District 17 limit economic development in the District?
TK: Yes, such is possible.

7. Do you think there is a conflict, or tension, between economic development in District 17 and maintaining the predominantly rural character of the District? If so, describe that conflict or tension.
TK: Yes—such conflicts exist involving competition for available resources, increased burdens on our infrastructure and school systems, and an increasingly faster pace of life that most of us would rather avoid. However, I have confidence in the wonderfully talented people of District 17 to deal with such conflict successfully to allow each of us, and the businesses of the area, to grow to our/its full potential while maintaining the quality of life we enjoy in rural Texas.

8. What legislation would you support as a Legislator to assure that the predominantly rural quality of life in District 17 is not significantly degraded by developments?
TK: I will support the continued ability of our city and county governments to control growth through zoning and ordinances (which by the way already exist and are working successfully in many areas). Most counties already have subdivision ordinances which locally control development. I would continue to monitor the effectiveness of such controls. Utility districts (which are necessary for more complex developments) are already created by the legislature in order to monitor the need and appropriateness of the development of an area. I would support legislation to continue the reasonable, and within the sphere of our capitalist economic environment, control of developments as well as to increase the transparency to the local people of the processes involved in such development.

9. Do you think there is a need to change existing laws which have created and which regulate the activities and authority of ground water conservation .

TK: No, I believe the local control of groundwater is important and would trust a local group of citizens with such a duty rather than some bureaucratic board or agency from a distance.

10. In your opinion what are the most pressing issues regarding transportation in District 17– roads, railroads and aviation–and what legislation would you urge and support to address those issues?
TK: The improvement and maintenance of our road system is the most pressing transportation issue in District 17. In our rural setting we have 100s of miles of farm-to-market roads without shoulders, with inadequate passing lanes and narrow bridges that create hazards for our citizens. We have inadequate access to some of our school facilities which endangers our school children and creates inconveniences. We have many state and federal highways (FM 95 and US 21) that were never intended to carry the crush of daily traffic that such roads now experience.
I will support legislation that prevents the diversion of highway funds from the Texas Department of Transportation to increase funds available for the construction and improvement of our roads. I will support legislation that increases the transparency of TxDOT so that we the people can see how and where our tax dollars are being spent.

11. Are you satisfied with the performance of TxDOT?

TK: Not entirely—we have many dedicated and talented individuals working for Tx DOT, but to some extent TxDOT is perceived to be unresponsive to the needs and priorities of the people.

12. Did you support the Trans Texas Corridor?
TK: No, in fact I was not a member of the Texas House of Representatives when the Trans Texas Corridor legislation was passed. That was before my time. I have been one of the most outspoken opponents of the Trans Texas Corridor, and signed on to legislation to get rid of it.

13. Please tell us your definition of “mass transit” and let us know if you support mass transit as a viable alternative to more highways and roads.
TK: Mass transit involves the movement of people or good by means other than the individual transportation (ie. one at a time) of persons or goods.
I do not at this time support mass transit systems in District 17, other than those proven and efficient systems such as car pooling. The people of District 17 (myself included) are not, at this time, willing to give up the independence of our vehicles.

14. In your opinion, how should the construction of new roads and highways, and the acquisition of rights-of-way, be financed?
TK: By stopping the diversion of highway funds from TxDOT and the continued use of fuel taxes. Fuel taxes are one of the fairest means of financing roads because of the relation of the wear and tear on our roads to increased fuel usage.

15. Which do you support: Eminent domain or a market-based approach to acquire rights-of-way for the following:

1. Pipelines to transport water
2. Pipelines to transport natural gas, crude oil, and refined oil such as gasoline and diesel products
3. Pipelines to transport chemicals
4. Pipelines to transport waste water, sewage
5. Public roads and highways
6. Privately owned roads and highways
7. Electrical transmission lines
8. Airports and related infrastructure
9. Rail lines
10. Fiber optic and other information transmission lines
TK: I support a fair market based system of paying any citizen for the taking of their property by any governmental entity or subdivision of the government. I further support the payment of landowners for any decreased access caused by any act of eminent domain or condemnation. I support legislation to prevent any taking of private property for anything other than a public need. I do not want to see cities taking private property to increase sales tax revenues or allow development by means of other than a fair market sale between a willing seller and a willing buyer.
Specifically as to No. 6 above, I oppose any use of eminent domain or condemnation for the acquisition of privately owned roads or highways.

EDUCATION

16. What are the problems facing public education in Texas and what do you propose the Legislature do to solve those problems? In your response, please directly address how Texas should finance public education.
TK: Texas schools are faced with social problems primarily created by the continued and increased loss of the family structure. Social and economic pressures are making it increasingly difficult for single parent families to give their children the social skills and abilities to cope in a modern world. Such problems are evidenced by decreased discipline, truancy and an unacceptable dropout rate in Texas. I will support legislation giving teachers increased alternatives to maintain discipline in the classroom. I will support legislation providing teachers innovative means of supporting a learning environment for all children in the classroom.
Furthermore, many of the problems faced in public education have resulted from attempts to remove God from the classroom and school system. Let’s put God back in the classroom! I don’t mean to force a child to study and learn about God, I mean to permit a child to study and learn about God.
Texas should finance public education by a lesser, but continued, use of property taxes to provide a stable source of tax revenue until such time as a school finance system based upon sales tax can be developed, with a required and corresponding cessation of property taxes. Such would probably involve a cessation of property taxes on residential property with a continued property tax on business properties to some extent.

17. Please tell us which of the recent textbook selections by the State Board of Education you approve and which you do not approve.
TK: I have not had the opportunity to read the textbooks selected and feel that any comments I made would not be helpful to the public. There are literally hundreds of textbooks. The textbook selection process is a function of the State Board of Education in Texas. I will defer to their abilities to make the best decisions on instructional materials for our children and urge anyone interested in more detail to contact the State Board of Education members. They are elected officials and should be responsive to your questions.
I also urge anyone interested in examining the exhaustive textbook information available in Texas to go to the Texas Education Agency website (www.tea.state.tx) or more specifically to the textbook information at www.tea.state.tx/us/textbooks/materials.

18. In your opinion, are public school teachers in Texas adequately paid? If not, what legislation do you propose to assure they are adequately paid?
TK: Teachers are not adequately paid in Texas. We must increase teacher pay in order to attract and retain the most talented teachers available. Under the current conditions of an economic recession it may not be possible to increase teacher pay for the next budget period of the state in that we are faced with a potential 5-10% decrease in available state revenues. However, the long term goal should be to make teachers’ pay competitive with private industry.

AIR QUALITY

19. Are you satisfied with air quality in District 17? If not, state the nature of your dis-satisfaction and tell us what you as a legislator would propose or support to improve air quality in District 17.
TK: I will answer this question with a qualified “yes”, in that I feel that air quality in District 17 is currently acceptable. I definitely feel the need for continued monitoring of air quality, especially as technology and scientific data increase to determine more specifically what substances affect our health. I believe that as technological innovations are created to better monitor and clean industrial air pollutants that such should be efficiently employed to maintain and better our air quality. Primarily, as a legislator, this means continuing to support the efforts of our Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to make sure it has the resources to protect the State’s natural resources and to promote legislation that effectively protects those resources.

Pati Jacobs responded to the same questions as follows:

GENERAL

1.
A) Water
I am very much in favor of legislation to place a moratorium on inter-basin transfers. I am against the State of Texas and its tax payers financing pipelines that would allow private water marketers to profit from moving water across the state.
B) Agriculture
We should consider agriculture a 21st century industry and treat it as such. I believe there is a major shift occurring in how our food is produced, processed and distributed. This shift is to a regional structure which, if promoted and encouraged, could offer District 17 major opportunities in job creation and economic development.
C) Education
I would like to encourage more vocational training & apprenticeship programs in our district’s high schools. This could be promoted and financially supported through public-private partnerships with industry both already in the area and with industry encouragement to move here.
TEXAS ECONOMY
2.
Shift the Enterprise Fund from recruitment of “outside the state” companies to encouragement, promotion, and growth of farms already in the state. Use the funding for R&D done by companies already here.
3. I think the following taxes should be cut:
D. Ad Valorem
H. Tuition at Texas’ publicly funded colleges and universities

GROUND WATER AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN DISTRICT 17
4. See #1 Water
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. Not inherently; smart growth such as envisioned by Opportunity Bastrop County sees and examines development guided in such a way that our rural character can be preserved. I would like to see each of the counties in this district go through the same exercise.
8. I would like to see legislation increasing the power of County Commissioner Courts such that they could guide and encourage development that is supportive of our way of life. This could be done by allowing the County Commissioners to be able to promote, with some incentives, conservation subdivisions, rain water catchment, use of gray water energy conservation, etc.
9. Long-term we will see a redefining “right of capture”, “water rights” and the differentiation of surface water versus ground water. However, for now, given the water grab that is aggressively developing and all the lobbyists who see profit in “centralizing control” in the Texas Water Development Board, I think we should back up our current districts as the first line of defense.

TRANSPORTATION
10. Roads
11. No
12. No!!!
13. Mass transit – light rail, inner-city rail – bullet trains, HOVs, buses. It will eventually be a viable option after we have exercised all others.
14. I don’t necessarily think we should be building new roads & highways. We should be repairing & upgrading the ones we currently have and this should be done with a “dedicated” gas tax.
15. Market-based approach
a. MBA
b. MBA
c. MBA
d. We should be recycling & reusing, therefore not transporting for disposal. We should be repairing and upgrading current pipelines in cities & that is a ratepayer issue.
e. Public roads and highways should thoroughly use their current right of ways before we use either approach to acquire more.
f. Private projects of any kind should never have recourse to eminent domain
g. MBA – the electrical companies need to get their acts together before they start asking the government to help them put in more transmission lines.
h. MBA
i. MBA
j. MBA

EDUCATION

16. Problems:
Too many children not graduating from high school
Too many children graduating without any skills and unable to pursue jobs
Curriculum that is too focused on tests and not to expand the minds and skills of our children

I would like to see more vocational training, apprenticeship programs and aggressive public/private partnerships to allow job development for graduating seniors.

I think there needs to be a more balanced approach on financing education. It needs to be less heavily dependent on property taxes. However, this is really a difficult issue as no one wants to pay for it, but they all want world class education.

17. I believe that the SBOE should stop being so consumed with fighting ideological battles and more concerned about making sure they are doing everything in their power to ensure that our children are receiving a world-class education.

18. No they are not, but this will be extremely difficult to address given the massive budget deficit we will be facing.

AIR QUALITY

19. I think our air quality is probably suffering in the western part of the district. This is due to urban-encroachment. I would need to study the issue further before I would suggest any possible legislation.

Bastrop, Tx–Assistant Police Chief Matt Wagner was effectively placed in charge of the 25-member department on Tuesday, according to City Manager Michael Talbot, and the status of Police Chief David Board is under review.

Board was arrested on a drunk driving charge in Austin Monday evening, according to media reports, and released on $5,000 bail. At a meeting with Board on Tuesday morning, the chief asked for some time off to address personal issues, and Wagner was placed in charge of department operations, acccording to Talbot.

The city manager has not made a decision on Board’s request, he said i Wednesday. He declined to say when a decision might be forthcoming.

Board has been a member of the Bastrop Police Department for more than 24 years. Former Chief Ronnie Duncan promoted Board to sergeant. The late Chief Bill Anderson made Board the department’s first lieutenant.

Board assumed the chief’s role upon Anderson’s retirement.

Bastrop, Tx–After a public hearing Tuesday the city council seems no closer to deciding what to do with a vacant lot it owns fronting 921 Main St. downtown.

As expected, the council heard competing visions of the best future use of the property which the city bought last year. The entire property extends from Main to Water Street, and the city has long planned to use most of the site for parking improvements. The 110 feet closest to Main is too narrow to use for parking, according to City Manager Mike Talbot.

The site was formerly home to the Texas Mercantile craft and antique outlet. That building burned in 2003 and was never rebuilt.

Speaking on behalf of the Bastrop Main Street Advisory Board, Steve DeWire laid out a vision for a downtown plaza and visitor comfort station on the site, including rest rooms, landscaping and shade trees. Such a public space would attract visitors to stay longer in the area and boost downtown sales, he argued.

He estimated the initial cost at $259,000 plus some $4,400 annual maintenance expense, chiefly rest room upkeep.

The Bastrop Economic Development Corp. offered a different vision. The board is ready to work with the council to redevelop the space for commercial use, returning the property to the tax roll and generating salex tax income, said BEDC President Joe Newman.

For instance BEDC could buy the site from the city for market value and then negotiate with potential developers with far more flexibility than state law permits the city to offer, said Newman.

More than one potential developer is awaiting a city decision, he said.

At the end of public testimony, Council Member Joe Beal said he still has little evidence about the likely economic impact of either choice.

Mayor Terry Orr noted that grant funding could help pay for a public use project, and the site “looks like a festival space to me.”

Bastrop, Tx–The father of a teen murder suspect in the August 2009 death of a McDade mother and popular restaurant waitress was indicted March 22 for driving drunk last year with a juvenile passenger, a felony offense. The juvenile named in the drunk driving case, Haley Bellard, has been separately charged in the Aug. 14 death of her mother, Tracy Bellard, 42.

The indictment, handed up by a state grand jury in Bastrop, orders Kenneth Douglas to stand trial for driving drunk on June 18 last year with Haley Bellard, then 14, as a passenger. Both Haley Bellard, now 15, and 18-year-old Joseph Douglas are in custody on murder charges in the death of Tracy Bellard last August at her McDade home.

Investigators have alleged Tracy Bellard was shot to death and her body later transported to a site near Smithville where it was burned in a brush pile. Tracy Bellard was widely known in the Bastrop area in connection with her work at the family restaurant, Mimi G’s, on FM 1441 north of Bastrop. She had repeatedly attempted to thwart a romantic relationship between her daughter and Joseph Douglas, according to police and court records.

Officials close to the case have declined to comment on possible connections between the Kenneth Douglas indictment and the murder prosecution of Joseph Douglas and Haley Bellard. Prosecutors are seeking to have the case against Haley Bellard handled under adult criminal rules instead of juvenile law. A hearing on that move has not been scheduled in 423rd District Court.

Bastrop, Tx–Court documents obtained by Bastrop-News.com shed new light on the alleged fatal beating of a Paige cook last year at the hands of two friends and what happened to the dead man’s body, which criminal investigators now say may never be recovered.

Michael Vandyke, 23, had been employed as a cook at a Paige restaurant before his disappearance about Dec. 15 last year. On Dec. 30 relatives reported him missing to Bastrop County law enforcement. His body has never been found, but a roommate and another friend are both being held in the Bastrop County Jail on murder charges.

Dustin Dickman, 24, and Dennis Leetch, 25, are behind bars under $500,000 bail each. Dickman and his girlfriend shared a residence with Vandyke near Paige. According to a court document, Dickman told investigators that he and Leetch assaulted Vandyke early on Dec. 16 “to teach him a lesson on how to treat family and friends.”

The documents do not suggest what might have prompted this instructional session.

Investigators believe Vandyke died after Leetch knocked him to the ground with a beer bottle and was kicked both by Dickman and Leetch before being struck repeatedly in the head with a block of wood by each man. Dickman was arrested Jan. 25 after being interrogated by investigators. Leetch was arrested Jan. 29 in San Marcos and talked with investigators as well, according to court records.

According to court documents Leetch also told investigators that Vandyke was initially buried in a shallow grave near the Paige residence Vandyke shared with Dickman and his girlfriend, was exhumed early in January and taken to a rural site near San Marcos in Hays County. The body was placed in an metal tool box designed for the bed of a pickup truck, doused with gasoline and burned for “approximately 1 1/2 days” or roughly 36 hours, one document says.

Afterward the “ashes” went into “an old BBQ pit” and were discarded in a trash dumpster at a San Marcos apartment complex, the documents suggest.

Investigators told a judge they found a site near San Marcos where they believe Vandyke’s body had been burned . They later recovered from a separate rural location the tool box which may have been used to incenerate the corpse.

Sheriff’s Department investigator Mike Daniel said Vandyke’s remains are likely long buried in a solid waste landfill but that the tool box and other items recovered during the investigation are being examined for trace evidence by the Texas Department of Public Safety crime laboratory in Austin.