Video: Watch it on the 4-26-10 newcast on ThePicayuneTV.com

HORSESHOE BAY —The 36-year-old Thomas C. Ferguson power plant — which supplies the energy needs of several Highland Lakes cities — could be replaced in just a few years with a more environmentally friendly plant next door, officials said Monday.

IN PHOTO: The Lower Colorado River Authority announced Monday it is studying a plan to replace the 36-year-old Thomas C. Ferguson power plant in Horseshoe Bay with an environmentally friendly facility. Area public hearings are planned for May and June. Courtesy photo

The Lower Colorado River Authority, which oversees the plant on Lake LBJ, will hold four area public hearings to discuss a study that’s just been launched to determine the viability of replacing the facility.

"The study will ask whether it makes sense to replace the old (Ferguson) plant with a newer, more economical, more environmentally friendly plant next to it," LCRA spokeswoman Claire Tuma said Monday.

The Llano County facility, built in 1974, is on the western edge of Horseshoe Bay and nine miles west of Marble Falls.

"As Ferguson ages, it makes sense to consider replacing it with a new plant that is cleaner, more efficient and cost-effective," LCRA General Manager Tom Mason said.

The Ferguson plant consumes natural gas to generate electricity for 100,000 homes in Cottonwood Shores, Granite Shoals, Highland Haven, Horseshoe Bay, Meadowlakes, Sunrise Beach and several other municipalities.

However, a new plant fed by a "combined cycle" of gas and steam may produce fewer emissions and use 40 percent less fuel to generate the same amount of electricity, Tuma said.

State and local officials applauded the prospect of a new plant.

“The Ferguson Power Plant location in the rural Texas Hill Country is important because it helps maintain reliable electric service in a region with limited generation resources,” said state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay. “A newer, more efficient power plant in this location will strengthen LCRA’s ability to provide this much-needed service to the people of Texas.”

Llano County Commissioner Johnnie B. Heck also welcomed the study, noting the Ferguson plant employs about 40 people and contributes about $2.5 million each year to the area economy.

“We welcome the economic benefit that a construction project like this would bring to the area communities,” Heck said.

Horseshoe Bay Mayor Bob Lambert also praised LCRA for its study.

“LCRA has been a good neighbor since it built the Ferguson plant in the 1970s, and I am confident that our good relationship will continue,” said Lambert, also a former LCRA board chairman.

LCRA staff will evaluate options for the Ferguson plant during the next 12 months, officials said.

The LCRA board will review staff recommendations by the spring of 2011.

If the board approves, construction of the new plant could begin by that fall near the current Ferguson plant, which will close after the new plant is completed. It may take about three years to build the new facility, according to officials.

LCRA will hold four open houses next month and in June to inform area residents about the study. The open house schedule includes:

• Horseshoe Bay, 1-3 p.m. May 14, Quail Point Lodge, 107 Twilight.

• Granite Shoals, 6-8 p.m. May 24, Granite Shoals City Hall, 410 N. Phillips Ranch Road.

• Kingsland, 6-8 p.m. June 3, Kingsland Community Center, 3451 Rose Hill Drive.

• Marble Falls, 1-3 p.m. June 10, Lakeside Pavilion, 307 Buena Vista.

raymond@thepicayune.com

WILLOW CITY —  Everything came down to one moment. The planning, the preparation — even the night with no sleep as the students went over everything again and again to make sure they go it right — all hinged on a small electric jolt hitting a solid-gas fuel mixture several hundred feet away from where Marble Falls High School aeroscience teacher Randy Guffey’s class stood.

LLANO — It’s not a dish one expects to find in the Deer Hunting Capital of the World.

Nonetheless, hundreds of Llano residents and crawfish enthusiasts are expected at this weekends Llano Crawfish Open, which organizers said will still go on despite threats of rain.

Proceeds benefit the Llano Special Opportunity Center.

The 21st annual event got under way Friday at the Llano Golf Club and County Park, 123 Robinson Park Drive, and continues Saturday, April 17, officials said.

The event will include hundreds — if not thousands — of pounds of crawfish for guests to enjoy in traditional tail-biting, head-slurping fashion.

Saturday’s events include a charity golf tournament with shotgun starts at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at the Llano Golf Course, followed by a washer-pitching tournament beginning at noon.

Crawfish races will be held for children throughout the afternoon, while a motorcycle fun run starts around midday Saturday at the park’s Ray House.

Music on Saturday includes Cajun music by Sean Virdrine Zydeco from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and Radney Foster & The Confessions 8-10 p.m. Both concerts will be held at the park’s pavilion.

The event began in 1989, according to the event’s Web site. A group of deer hunters from Beaumont held the first Crawfish Open as a way of thanking Llano residents for providing a home away from home during deer season.

Though the first crawfish boil wasn’t a huge success — 300 of the 500 pounds of crawfish went uneaten — the event continued, growing into a major fundraiser for the opportunity center.

The center, 206 E. Main St., provides services for mentally and physically challenged adults. The center receives some state funding, but must ask the community for the remainder of its operating budget, organizers said.

For more about the crawfish festival, call (325) 247-5354.

chris@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — Kids rule Saturday in Johnson Park as the community holds the 10th annual Children’s Day Celebration from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

The food and fun are free for children.

"It started 10 years ago by Ely Rodriquez and it’s just grown and become a tradition," said Barbara Bend of Harmony School of Creative Arts.

Bend was there for the first event as well.

"It’s this one day where we truly celebrate the children," Bend said. "Children’s Day gives them a positive and healthy event to have fun as well as learn new things."

The celebration features about 50 learning centers, said Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce Events Coordinator Kerri Roberts.

"I think that’s one of the things that makes this event unique — everything is free for the kids," she said. "Hot dogs, hamburger, drinks, a T-shirt — there’s no charge to the kids. The learning centers are all free as well. We’ve worked with the groups holding the centers to let them know that we don’t want them selling anything to the kids. It’s a great chance for kids (and parents) to come out and have fun."

The centers include music education featuring Cowgirl Sue; Become a Girl Scout by Girls Scouts of Central Texas; flint knapping by the Highland Lakes Gem Society; healthy eating by Seton Care-A-Van; potting plants by The Home Depot; a fun run by Edwards Risk Management; puppet shows by Victory Church and First United Methodist Church of Marble Falls; gymnastics and dancing by Stars Academy; Let’s Just Play by the Boys & Girls Club of the Highland Lakes; and many more.

Along with educational and fun centers, Children’s Day will have a talent show for kids interested in showing off their abilities.

To enter the talent contest, call (830) 693-1791.

Roberts said organizers expect 1,500-1,600 children to attend.

"So if you add at least one parent with each kid, we could get (more than) 3,000 people," she said. "That’s pretty good."

The park is at 230 Ave. J South.

If the weather doesn’t cooperate, like last year, organizers won’t postpone the celebration but simply move it to the Marble Falls High School cafeteria, 2101 Mustang Drive.

daniel@thepicayune.com

GRANITE SHOALS — A few good landscapers are needed to help an area gardening group with beautification duties at the new City Hall.

The Master Gardeners have agreed to landscape the municipal complex at 2221 N. Phillips Ranch Road, just north of RR 1431, but they could use some volunteers, Mayor Frank Reilly said during the Tuesday City Council meeting.

"Anybody you know who would like to come dig in the dirt (is welcome)," Councilman Dennis Maier added.

The volunteers are needed for two time slots on April 15, from 9-11:30 a.m. and 12:30-3 p.m., and also on April 17, Maier added.

During the meeting, the council also gave the go-ahead to begin work on a letter of agreement with Austin-based Grant Development Services to prepare a Community Development Block Grant application request for possible funding from the Texas Department of Rural Affairs.

The funding could be used for water-system improvements, said Gandolf Burrus with Grant Development Services.

He said the money could be used for any project that would benefit everyone on the water system; or for more focused projects such as a single waterline.

However, for the more focused projects, 51 percent of the affected residents would have to give the OK for the repairs.

"We’ve got waterlines that are atrocious, they’re just falling apart," Councilwoman Shirley King said.

Councilwoman Merilyn Nations also supported the letter but suggested some of the repairs could be beneficial to waterfront property owners.

"Everything that’s been approved has been for low-income areas, but the other waterlines need to be replaced too," she said.

Burrus said the grant could be up to $250,000.

andrew@thepicayune.com

POSTED 4-13-2010

A group of American black vultures gather for a meal at Marble Falls’ Johnson Park Tuesday morning — prompting parkgoers to shy away from the area while the birds feasted. The flock scattered about an hour later after the meal — a dead squirrel — was consumed. Despite their unappetizing habits, naturalists say the carrion-consuming birds play a key role in the ecological balance by getting rid of decaying remains. Staff photo by Chris Porter

POSTED 4-13-2010

MARBLE FALLS — What’s the biggest hurdle when it comes to convincing tourists to visit Marble Falls?

Convincing them the city exists.

Those were the results of a recent tourism survey conducted by Austin marketing firm Door Number 3, which presented the report at Monday’s City Council meeting.

And, while it was revealed that 68 percent of 200 Texas travelers were "not likely" to visit Marble Falls, Door Number 3 representative Suzanne Kyba said the situation is easier to remedy than most think.

"They’re not likely to travel to a place that they’ve never heard of," Kyba told the council, noting 42 percent of respondents haven’t heard of the city. "The No. 1 reason people won’t visit is unfamiliarity. That’s easy to overcome."

The council hired Door Number 3 in January, using more than $100,000 in hotel/motel occupancy-tax funds to pay for the survey and accompanying marketing that’s expected to begin this summer.

Kyba said the firm — which recently oversaw a successful advertising campaign promoting the Alamo in San Antonio — hopes to make Marble Falls an attractive proposition for overnight trippers from across Texas.

She said the proposed campaign — which must still be approved by the council once it’s ready — will likely focus on the area’s natural attractions, scenic beauty and outdoor activities.

"Nature needs to permeate everything," she said.

Kyba said Door Number 3’s marketing team is working to build the ad campaign piece-by-piece, adding ads will target Dallas/Forth Worth, Austin, San Antonio and parts of West Texas.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the council extended a measure allowing businesses to advertise with outdoor banners, temporarily suspending a rule that normally prohibits the signs.

The council also voted to refinance about $1.5 million in bonds from 1996 and 2000, opting to seek a lower interest rate for an estimated savings of about $71,000.

Council members also passed a rule regulating for-profit concessions at city parks and held a public hearing on an ordinance prohibiting alcohol sales within 300 feet of a school, church or hospital.

The next council meeting is set for 6 p.m. April 26 in council chambers, 800 Third St.

chris@thepicayune.com

POSTED 4-10-2010

MARBLE FALLS — Residents will get a chance to sound off when a proposal that limits how close bars can be to schools, hospitals and churches goes before City Council Monday.

The public hearing gets under way at 6 p.m.  in council chambers, 800 Third St.