MARBLE FALLS — It won’t be a quick fix, but city leaders are hoping a new committee formed by the City Council Monday can create a long-term plan to bring the Historic Main Street district back to prosperity.

The council unanimously approved forming a committee to oversee a master plan for downtown at Monday’s meeting, where officials also received an update on a county transportation plan from Burnet County Judge Donna Klaeger.

City Manager Ralph Hendricks said the master plan project — a spinoff from a recently approved city comprehensive plan — is designed to create a 20-year outlook for the Main Street district, which in recent months has seen multiple businesses fail due to the hobbled economy.

“This is a long-term project,” Hendricks said. “It’s looking 20 years out. You start with your goal at the end and work your way backwards. We probably should have done this 10 years ago, so we’re a little behind it, but we’re ready to move forward.”

The council’s vote came less than a month after leaders voted to deny a request by Main Street merchants to extend alcohol-sales hours to 2 a.m. each day, a switch from current rules that cut off the taps at midnight on most nights.

Main Street business owners had said the measure was needed to keep the downtown district financially viable, but some council members objected to what they termed an assault on small-town values.

After that vote, Mayor George Russell urged the creation of the downtown master plan as a way of directing growth and business along Main Street toward a successful future.

Hendricks said the plan could have other financial benefits.

“It’s difficult to apply for some of the grants that are available (for downtown development) when we don’t have a master plan,” Hendricks said. “This will enable us to apply for a lot more grants that we might not be qualified for right now.”

Hendricks said the committee’s work could take up to a year to complete, adding the group will be comprised of members of the former comprehensive plan committee along with city staffers, downtown business owners, entrepreneurs from across the city and residents.

The group’s meetings could begin in April, officials said.

In other action, Klaeger gave an update on the county’s transportation plan, which she said gives state highway officials a better idea about  which road improvements are needed in the county.

“The state comptroller has named Burnet County the fastest growing exurban county in the state,” Klaeger said, adding the anticipated growth could mean as many as 90,000 vehicles using area roads by 2035.

County commissioners are set to vote on seven proposed transportation plans during their meeting today, which could include projects such as a pair of proposed bypasses on U.S. 281 around Marble Falls and a road connecting FM 2147 and RR 1431 near Wirtz Dam in Horseshoe Bay.

However, the projects — which so far have no state funding — won’t be enough to fully cope with projected growth.

“The scary thing we’re looking at is, even if we did all these (road) projects, we’re not going to improve on congestion all that much,” Russell said. “So imagine what it will be like if we don’t do anything.”

Klaeger said the plan will give the Texas Department of Transportation a list of the county’s road priorities in the future.

“If and when funding becomes available, we will have our plan ready to go,” she said.

Two public forums will be held before the county’s final plan is adopted in June, Kleager said.

The next council meeting is 6:30 p.m. March 22 in council chambers, 800 Third St.

chris@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — After serving as chairman of the board for Faith Academy of Marble Falls since 1999, dentist Stuart Nunnally — one of the private school’s founders —  is stepping down. Nunnally was one of the original six board members when the university-model school opened its doors 10 years ago. The board has appointed Curt Johnson to replace Nunnally.

Nunnally said that even though he won’t be on the board, he will remain involved with the school.

“I’m as involved in Faith Academy as I was 12 years ago,” said Nunnally, who added it was just time for someone new.

Faith Administrator Mark Earwood praised Nunnally’s dedication and leadership.

“The school is not what it is without Stuart Nunnally’s leadership,” Earwood said. “Stuart steps down as chair, but he doesn’t step out.”

In 1998, two of the original board members visited Grace Preparatory Academy in Arlington and decided to bring the university model back to the Highland Lakes. The system mirrors a collegiate campus.

At Faith, students attend classes three times a week at the secondary level and two times a week at the elementary level. On the days away from school, the students conduct independent studies under the eyes of their parents.

The original board members include Nunnally and his wife Rebecca Nunnally, Caressa and Boyd Gray, and Howard and Linda Worthing.

Howard Worthing is still on the board.

Nunnally said when one of the original board members steps down, he or she is named a trustee of the school for life.

Though Johnson wasn’t around when Faith opened its doors 10 years ago with 80 students, he and his family have been a part of the campus for the last seven years. Johnson, who works in the technology industry, has two children who attend the preparatory academy — a freshman and  a senior.

The new chairman said he and his family were living in the Eanes Independent School District, which includes the highly rated Westlake High School, prior to moving to the area. The family made the decision to relocate to the area because of the students and families from Faith Academy they met when visiting during the summer.

“We were ‘wowed’ by the students and their parents,” he said. “In a lot of ways we moved out here because of Faith Academy.”

Earwood said Johnson’s selection fits well with the needs of the school.

“Part of our action steps is to put a major emphasis on our technology and science (curriculum),” he said. The administrator said Johnson’s background in those areas gives the school a good resource as it begins developing those two subjects.

Faith Academy currently has 210 students.

daniel@thepicayune.com

Marble Falls City Manager Ralph Hendricks (left) and Burnet County Precinct 4 Commissioner Joe Don Dockery chat during a reception at the site of a new 1 million-gallon water tank near U.S. 281 at Texas 71. Work crews were unable to raise the tower’s storage tank due to high winds, but officials said they hope to begin the process early Friday. Once completed, the new tower will serve the Lake of the Hills Regional Medical Center and the Flatrock Springs development. Staff photo by Chris Porter

MARBLE FALLS — With warmer temperatures comes spring cleaning — at least, that’s what officials with the city and Allied Waste hope.

Both groups are joining forces for this year’s Spring Clean-up, which begins with a volunteer trash pickup Saturday at 9 a.m. at Westside Park, 1206 Second St.

The trash pickup is the first event in a month-long spring cleaning campaign, City Manager Ralph Hendricks said.

“In the past, both the city and Allied Waste have had their own trash pickups and other events,” Hendricks said. “We decided this year to combine our efforts to make it a cohesive event for our residents.”

Hendricks said organizers plan to hold cleanup events each week in March, including curbside bulk-item pickups March 8-12 and bulk-item dropoffs at 2000 Colt Circle March 20-28.

“We’re hoping to make it easier for our residents to get their cleaning done,” he said.

For more information on the Spring Clean-Up, visit the city’s Web site at www.ci-marble-falls.tx.us.

To volunteer for this weekend’s trash pickup, call (830) 693-2551.

chris@thepicayune.com

HORSESHOE BAY — A Llano County woman who says a brush fire lit by city employees caused smoke and soot damage to her home plans to appeal a decision by a state district judge dismissing her case against Horseshoe Bay.

Maryah Sautter says the April 23, 2008, fire at the city’s reclamation center — which also serves as a storage and disposal site for residential brush waste — burned out of control, creating a huge smoke and ash cloud that left soot and burning debris on her home 200 yards north of the facility.

“We’re going to keep fighting it,” she said Thursday. “We should be able to win by showing that the city violated state law.”

Sautter and a neighbor filed suit against the city in 2009, seeking to recover $80,000 in civil damages stemming from the fire. The petition also sought to put an end to fires at the reclamation center.

The suit was dismissed Feb. 8 by state District Judge Dan Mills, who said state law protects municipalities from civil damages when carrying out governmental functions such as brush and solid-waste disposal.

However, the city did change its rules after a state agency found crews had not followed proper policy.

Since the city’s incorporation in 2005, residential yard waste has been collected and burned at the facility, along with limbs and debris cleared by contractors working on residential lots.

Sautter said the 2008 fire was caused after city employees lit a two-story pile of brush she believed was too large to burn safely.

“The fire was so hot, there was hot ash coming onto my house,” she told The Daily Tribune. “It burned part of the rubber off my front entry doors. We had to repaint our entire house.”

Other damages included heat damage to roofing shingles, scorching the front of the house and causing significant soot stains inside, she said.

In all, Sautter and her husband have paid $28,000 of their own money to repair the damage to their home.

“We had to have (repair crews) come out and wash the buildings down, because the soot from the fire is very acidic,” she said. “It ate away some of the wood on our house.”

Sautter said smoke from the fire was so bad, she and her husband had to stay at a hotel for three days while waiting for the air to clear.

Following complaints from the Sautters, the city was cited by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for the fire after TCEQ investigators discovered city officials hadn’t properly ensured the waste burned was collected from residential properties, according to documents from the agency.

TCEQ investigators said also the city failed to have a Fire Department employee on-hand during the fire, as stipulated by state law.

The city later amended its outdoor burning ordinance to take the state’s rules into account, and with the exception of a May 2009 fire caused by a lightning strike, no large-scale burns have been lit there since.

City Manager Stan Farmer said the changes were intended to bring the city in line with TCEQ requirements, adding local crews are now following an updated operating procedure when it comes to burning at the site.

He said problems related to the April 2008 fire were traced to wind.

“The problem with the April fire wasn’t that it was a big fire, it was that the wind shifted and started blowing to the north,” Farmer said.

Horseshoe Bay should be immune from the suit because employees were carrying out a governmental function, the city has argued.

“Collecting and disposing of brush by burning are directly related to the expressly identified governmental functions of waste disposal and fire protection,” according to a city filing. “As a result, the city of Horseshoe Bay is immune from any negligence arising from its conduct.”

Mills’ order concurred.

“The evidence did not establish any nuisance for which the city of Horseshoe Bay’s immunity was waived,” the ruling stated, noting the city could be held liable for out-of-control burns in the future.

Sautter said she won’t let the setback stop her from seeking damages from what she called the city’s “illegal” burn, adding insurance adjusters with the city at first promised to pay for the damages before reneging.

chris@thepicayune.com

BURNET — Local Republicans came out strong Tuesday during the Burnet County primaries, but Democrats say they now have a shot at a county office after a decade with few candidates.

One thing is certain — when Nov. 2 arrives, the race for the District Clerk’s Office will see a Democrat square off against a Republican.

Local analysts say that hasn’t happened in years. The last time a Democrat challenged a Republican for a countywide seat was 2002.

Democrat Cynthia Chisolm will run against either Sheila Frazier or Casie Wills of the GOP during November’s showdown. The two Republicans are in a runoff April 13.

Chisolm will get some help, a state party official said.

“We have a real quality candidate with Cynthia,” Burnet County Democrat Party chairman Richard Maddern said Thursday.

Overall, more than 6,900 voters turned out for the county Democratic and Republican primaries. There are about 25,000 registered voters in Burnet County.

In other words, about 27 percent of registered voters went to the polls Tuesday.

During the 2008 primary, more than 10,000 Burnet County voters turned out — or 41 percent of registered voters. That was the year of a presidential election, which traditionally brings more residents to the ballot box.

Still, local party officials are happy with the turnout in this year’s races.

“We had a great turnout,” said Burnet County Republican Chairwoman Linda Rogers. “It was one of the better ones we’ve had in a while.”

The Burnet County GOP fielded three contested local races — district clerk, county treasurer and Precinct 2 justice of the peace.

The district clerk’s race brought out the most challengers with three candidates including incumbent Dana DeBerry. Wills is an employee in that office, meaning she ran against her boss.

Rogers said having so many people seeking local offices on the Republican ticket shows how strong the party is.

“It’s definitely healthy for the party to have so many good candidates who want to run for county offices,” she said. “We also have so many young leaders coming up which, I think, shows the party has a strong future as well.”

The turning of the political tide marks a drastic change from a decade ago, political wags noted.

Through the late 1990s, Democrats held most of the Burnet County offices including every one of the county commissioners’ seats.

Now every member of Commissioners Court and all county offices are held by Republicans.

Maddern is well aware of the current political climate in the county. But it’s not stopping him from looking for qualified people interested in seeking public office, whether it’s in a county or state race along party lines or local offices that are nonpartisan.

“We’re always looking for people who would make good candidates,” he said. “I try to identify and encourage people to seek public office whether it’s to run as a Democrat or to run for one of the other local nonpartisan races.”

The Democratic chairman said the nonpartisan races such as school boards, city councils and groundwater districts need quality people on them.

“I think we often get comfortable and we have people in those positions for years who run unopposed — and then we complain that things never change,” he said. “Well, it’s up to us to run or encourage folks we think would do good jobs in those offices to run.”

Both the Burnet County Republican and Democratic parties aren’t done with their local events.

On March 20, the two parties will hold their county conventions at  the second-floor courtroom at the Burnet County Courthouse, 220 S. Pierce St.

The GOP will go first at 8 a.m. followed by the Democrats at 1 p.m.

The state requires all county conventions to be held on that date, Maddern said.

“The precinct and county conventions — that’s where it all starts,” Rogers said. “It’s truly a grassroots effort. At the precinct and county conventions, we elect delegates for the next level and send forth resolutions we want the party to consider for its platform.”

Maddern said the county convention is where they chose the delegates for the state convention but it also gives the local Democrats an opportunity to discuss issues they want addressed at the state convention.

In order to vote in the convention, an individual must have participated in his or her party’s primary election, officials said.

“But other than that it’s open to anybody,” Maddern said. “It’s really an interesting part of the process that very few people see.”

For more information on the local parties, go to www.burnetcountydemocrats.org or www.burnetcountygop.org.

daniel@thepicayune.com

GRANITE SHOALS — The state Fire Marshal’s Office is probing a suspicious fire that destroyed a vacant manufactured home early Wednesday. The blaze in the 1300 block of Kings Circle was reported about 4 a.m., said Marble Falls Fire Marshal Johnny Caraway.

Caraway said state investigators have been asked to determine the cause of the blaze.

Firefighters from Granite Shoals and Marble Falls discovered a single-wide mobile home engulfed by flames when they arrived.

“It doesn’t look to be accidental,” Caraway told The Daily Tribune Wednesday. “The home wasn’t inhabited, and there was no electricity.”

Caraway said there were no injuries in the fire.

What caused the blaze remains under investigation, he added.

Neighbors reported seeing several people around the vacant house in the days leading up to the fire.

“I seen one guy one night go in there,” neighbor Joe Rodriguez said. “Other than that, your guess is as good as mine.”

Caraway said investigators have few theories on how the blaze began.

“It may have just been kids goofing off, or a transient person staying in there,” he said.

Anyone with information on the fire is asked to call the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office at (512) 756-8080.

chris@thepicayune.com

GRANITE SHOALS — From improving parks to preparing for growth, city leaders have drafted a blueprint for Granite Shoal’s future, emphasizing land use, transportation, housing and recreational spaces. The City Council fine-tuned the City of Granite Shoals 2010 Comprehensive Plan recently. Organizations including the Planning and Zoning Commission expect to use the document as a guide when determining the city’s development and infrastructure needs.

Future goals include improving the look and function of the city, Mayor Frank Reilly said, as well as a wastewater plant.

“The key to attracting new business is building a new wastewater plant,” he said. “Until that happens, we won’t be able to attract much in the business sector.”

Other categories include subdivision rules, citywide drainage and parks. The park system is addressed in the Parks & Open Space Plan chapter.

“The plan calls for linking the park system with trails,” Reilly added.

Beautifying and enhancing the residential and business quality of the city includes entryway signs to citywide cleanup efforts, all of which are addressed in the Future Land Use Plan and Housing Strategies chapters.

“Another step is handling substandard buildings and structures,” Reilly said. “We already have the authority … to condemn homes that are uninhabitable. It’s going to be a matter of budgeting.”

The plan also calls for determining future uses for the city’s 131-acre tract at RR 1431 and Phillips Ranch Road. The city’s newly purchased municipal building, which is located on the property, is undergoing renovations.

Along with the city’s planned wastewater system, the comprehensive plan calls for a regional sports complex, Reilly said.

“All of this will take time and a lot of money, but we’ll do our best to leverage our funds with grant opportunities,” Reilly said.

To read or copy the comprehensive plan, go to www.graniteshoals.org/plan.

GRANITE SHOALS — Residents may soon start seeing signs in a newly annexed area of the city, officials said. Officials want to start adding more traffic-control signs in certain areas and streamline the process of doing so, Mayor Frank Reilly said.

“We’ll be upgrading our traffic control ordinance,” he said. “We’ll be voting to give the city manager the authority to consult with the police chief and fire chief and put signs up where they are needed.”

In the past, administrators petitioned the City Council for approval to put up road signs, which sometimes lengthened the process before the markers could be erected.

If the latest measure is approved by the council, the new signs could be coming soon to the Kingswood subdivision, with workers erecting more signs along Valley View and Prairie Creek Road, Reilly said.

He added the proposal for quicker decisions on erecting signs arose after a minor collision occurred a couple of weeks ago on one of the roads.

In other business, the city’s newly renovated municipal building is a few steps closer to completion, Reilly said. The municipal complex is located at RR 1431 and Phillips Ranch Road on 131 acres.

During the past year, the building atop the hill at that location has undergone renovations including asbestos removal, handicapped-access upgrades, a parking lot overhaul and other aesthetic improvements. The city facility is expected to be finished enough to hold council meetings by March 9, Reilly said.

City departments, aside from police and fire services, could move to the completed site sometime in April.

“We were very cramped,” he said of the existing city hall, located at 410 N. Phillips Ranch Road. “The electrical system is overloaded. (The new building) will allow us to have upgraded communications.”

The facility ushers in a new day for Granite Shoals, Reilly said.

“It’s setting a new standard for the city,” he said. “This will provide a better working environment for everyone.”