Sunrise Beach Village residents should conserve water until a 4-inch main line break can be repaired. The break happened Tuesday afternoon, and the city’s utility crews were still working on it as of Wednesday, Aug. 28.
The city issued its conservation request at 10:51 a.m. Wednesday. According to Mayor Rob Hardy, the 4-inch line is a primary vein of the city’s water distribution system. The break is reportedly causing reduced water pressure at higher elevations in the city.
“Due to the high volume of water loss (from the line break) we are asking citizens to reduce their water use for today,” Hardy wrote in an emailed letter to residents. “Please be patient as our city employees work to repair the line.”
Hardy told DailyTrib.com that the break was likely due to the city’s aging water system. Crews had fixed the line at around 9 p.m. Tuesday, but it broke again two more times after that.
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The city of Burnet has invested in the drug-detection system TruNarc, which allows first responders to identify dangerous substances without handling them directly. The almost $38,500 purchase is in response to a rise in fentanyl use in the Highland Lakes over the past few years, Burnet Police Chief Brian Lee told DailyTrib.com.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the synthetic opioid is 100 times more potent than morphine and a small amount in either liquid or powder form can be lethal, particularly the illegally made versions that are often mixed with other drugs.
“TruNarc is one piece of equipment that will enhance the safety of our first responders,” Lee said in an email in response to DailyTrib.com questions. “We see value in deploying it not only for police but also for EMS when they encounter unknown substances. We will have the ability to use it in the field and dramatically reduce our chances of exposure to any illicit substance.”
TruNarc is a handheld device that uses a laser to analyze and identify drugs through their packaging so the operator does not have to touch the substance. The device can identify 530 substances. It has a false positive rate of less than 0.1 percent.
The system cost $38,495.22, which includes a five-year warranty and on-site training for 12 officers, Lee said.
No direct exposure incidents have been reported locally, but a nationwide rise in fentanyl-related cases prompted the city and BPD to take safety precautions.
“It has become a significant issue among first responders across the nation,” Lee said. “Exposure can manifest in many ways from minor symptoms to having significant adverse effects.”
According to the DEA, 2 milligrams of fentanyl in powder form can be lethal. For context, 1 milligram typically resembles a grain of sand. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that synthetic opioids such as fentanyl are the primary driver of overdose deaths in the United States.
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The Burnet County Salary Grievance Committee sided with the county’s four justices of the peace over how their travel expenses are budgeted. The public hearing on Monday, Aug. 26, resulted in a recommendation to alter the county’s proposed 2024-25 fiscal year budget, which was ultimately approved by the Commissioners Court on Tuesday.
The change makes it so each JP receives $6,000 in travel allowances added to their salaries rather than to a budget line item that would force them to track their mileage to gain access to the $6,000. The mileage-tracking method would have been a departure from the way travel has been compensated for in recent years.
Justices of the peace use their own vehicles to conduct Burnet County business, such as responding to the 40-50 unexpected deaths each year, signing warrants for law enforcement, and covering for each other in the different precincts.
The county’s JPs—Roxanne Nelson (Precinct 1), Lisa Whitehead (Precinct 2), Jane Marie Hurst (Precinct 3), and Debbie Bindseil (Precinct 4)—each filed letters of grievances with Burnet County Judge James Oakley after a proposed version of the 2024-25 budget showed their travel allowance being moved from salary to a “travel/mileage” line item in their department. The JPs utilized Chapter 152 of the Texas Local Government Code, which allows elected officials to call for a public hearing on their proposed salaries or expenses in front of a county’s salary grievance committee.
Mediator and former 33rd District Court Judge Guilford Jones takes to the podium to speak on behalf of Burnet County’s four justices of the peace in a matter relating to their travel compensation for work. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
The core request of the justices of the peace was that the $6,000 be moved from a travel/mileage reimbursement line item to their salaries. The JPs chose to be represented by mediator and retired 33rd District Court Judge Guilford Jones during the Monday hearing. He argued that the change in travel compensation would harm their retirement benefits and force the inconvenience of keeping track of mileage on the job.
That request was granted by a unanimous vote of the present members of the Salary Grievance Committee, which is made up of nine members, including six elected officials and three residents chosen at random from a list of people who served on a grand jury in the current calendar year. The current committee includes Sheriff Calvin Boyd, County Tax-Assessor Collector Sheri Frazier, County Treasurer Karrie Crownover, County Clerk Vicinta Stafford, District Clerk Casie Walker, County Attorney Eddie Arredondo, and residents Melissa Corona, Gary Nave, and Carmen Pedregon.
All committee members were present except for Sheriff Boyd.
The Burnet County Salary Grievance Committee assembles for a public hearing on four separate grievances from the county’s justices of the peace concerning travel expenses. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
“(The committee) did very well,” JP Whitehead told DailyTrib.com following the hearing. “We feel that we are public servants, we are here to serve the people who elected us. We did not ask for a raise, we never asked for a raise. We asked for an increase in our vehicle allowance.”
Judge Oakley, who is the county’s budget officer, told DailyTrib.com the change to travel compensation for the JPs was the result of a misunderstanding.
“I’m fine with the change,” he said. “I think there was some confusion. I don’t think any of the (trouble) was intentional.”
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Granite Shoals police arrested Kishan Rajeshkumar Patel, 20, of Dallas on Aug. 24 on a charge of money laundering for his alleged involvement in an “elaborate scam” that targeted Granite Shoals residents.
Authorities say Patel is at least one suspect in a group of scammers who reportedly posed as federal agents and coerced a Granite Shoals resident into handing over a large sum of cash. The investigation is ongoing.
The money laundering charge ($2,500 to $30,000) is a state jail felony with a punishment of 180 days to two years in jail and as much as $10,000 in fines with a conviction.
“The suspects orchestrated an elaborate scam, posing as officials from a federal agency to convince the victim that their financial assets were at risk,” reads a media release from the Granite Shoals Police Department. “The victim was coerced into making large cash withdrawals, which were then handed over to couriers sent by the suspects.”
According to the release, the GSPD worked alongside other currently unnamed federal agencies to make the arrest, and more could come to light as the investigation continues.
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The story of how a 700-year-old bison skeleton found its way from beneath the soil of northeast Burnet County to a display case at The Falls on the Colorado Museum in Marble Falls can be heard in an audiobook recently published by Penguin Random House.
“Campfire Stories: Discoveries, Revelations & Near Misses” was released on Aug. 13 and includes a narrative by amateur archeologist Ryan Murray, who discovered the bones on his land near Briggs. The tale of Rockie the bison is featured in “Texas Cache,” one of 11 stories included in a collection by Steven Rinella, a TV show host and author more commonly known as Meateater.
“Campfire Stories” has been a No. 1 bestseller on Amazon since its release in the outdoors category of audiobooks, at least as of Aug. 26, when this story was written.
In the recording, Murray details how he discovered the bison bones and enlisted a group of friends to help slowly expose the rest of the skeleton. He sent bone samples to experts to identify and date. Eventually, one of those experts arrived in Briggs with a crew to finish the job.
“They saw features on the ground I never would have recognized,” Murray said. “He knew immediately the area was an Indian campground.”
Amateur archeologist Ryan Murray on his land near Briggs in northeast Burnet County. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
An avid arrowhead hunter, Murray recognized five pieces of flint found in the bison’s chest cavity. Fitting them together led to an educated guess as to how the animal died.
The pieces formed a Perdiz-style arrowhead, which can be identified by its small triangular blade and long stem. The arrowhead is named for Perdiz Creek in Presidio County, where the first ones were found.
“That changed the course of what we were doing,” Murray said. “Now, we were going from a vertebrate paleontological dig to an archeological dig.”
Rockie’s carefully wrapped and identified bones were stored in boxes in Murray’s attic for several years. On a visit to The Falls on the Colorado Museum, he met board member Dr. Tom Hester. They struck up a conversation, which led to Rockie.
“I told him about the skeleton and said, ‘Do you want it?’” Murray recalled in the audiobook. “He said, ‘Let me talk to the board.’ He emailed me a day or two later and said, ‘Yes, we want it.’”
Rockie the bison’s display was opened to the public in 2018 and can be seen anytime from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Saturday at The Falls on the Colorado Museum, 2001 Broadway in Marble Falls.
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Drivers should avoid Kings Circle and Hill Way drives in Granite Shoals for the next two weeks as long-awaited street repairs take place. Work began on Monday, Aug. 26, and should be done by early September if the project remains on schedule.
The city is paving 1.68 miles of Kings Circle Drive and a 0.37-mile stretch of Hill Way Drive. Each has been on a list of high-priority streets needing work dating to at least 2022 due to the extent of disrepair on both and the high traffic on Kings Circle, which is part of a school bus route.
Granite Shoals Streets and Parks Superintendent Shorty Corely recently told DailyTrib.com the project should be finished within the first week of September.
The City Council approved the repairs at its July 23 meeting following the recommendation of city staff. Construction firm CK Newberry was awarded the project with a $720,034 bid.
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Underage and unlicensed drivers cannot legally operate golf carts on public roads, the Burnet Police Department reminded Delaware Springs and Oak Vista residents during a community meeting. The Delaware Springs Golf Course Advisory Board hosted the Aug. 22 event.
The meeting was in response to several complaints about children driving golf carts on public roads near the municipal golf course. Around 100 people attended.
“There are some who shared frustration that their kids could no longer drive on the roads, and others had questions about the licensing and equipment requirements for the carts,” Burnet Police Chief Brian Lee said in an emailed response to questions from DailyTrib.com. “(Overall), the meeting was very positive.”
According to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, golf cart drivers must possess a valid driver’s license, display a license plate on the vehicle, and may only drive on roads with a speed limit of 35 mph or less.
Although there have been no reports of accidents involving unlicensed golf cart drivers, the BPD knows of several near-misses.
“We were told at the meeting of several close calls where the residents of the neighborhoods had encountered underage unlicensed drivers turning in front of them or not stopping in appropriate places,” Chief Lee said.
Since the meeting, the BPD increased patrols and has observed no violations or received complaints. Authorities note that residents are obtaining licenses and required equipment for their golf carts.
“We want our community to remain safe,” Lee said. “And when we can see something like this that we can prevent, we have an obligation to address it not only as the police department but as the community as a whole.”
News stories, staff photos, and other online content are copyrighted property of Victory Media. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without the express written consent of the publisher.
News stories, staff photos, and other online content are copyrighted property of Victory Media. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without the express written consent of the publisher.
All four Burnet County justices of the peace have filed official grievances over their proposed salaries for the 2024-25 fiscal year. A public hearing on the matter is Monday, Aug. 26, at 10 a.m. in the second-floor courtoom of the county courthouse, 220 S. Pierce St. in Burnet.
At the heart of their grievances is how JPs are compensated for travel expenses.
The four JPs—Roxanne Nelson (Precinct 1), Lisa Whitehead (Precinct 2), Jane Marie Hurst (Precinct 3), and Debbie Bindseil (Precinct 4)—sent their letters of grievance to Burnet County Judge James Oakley, who is also the chairman of the Salary Grievance Committee. The county judge is the chairman by state statute but is not entitled to a vote.
The JPs are evoking Chapter 152 of the Texas Local Government Code, which allows elected officials to protest their proposed salaries or personal expenses and request a hearing on the matter before the approval of the county’s budget.
The proposed FY 2024-25 county budget shows most elected officials, including the JPs, receiving around a 6 percent raise, the same as all county employees. The only exceptions to this are the sheriff, who is set to get a 16.41 percent raise due to a boost in state funding for rural sheriffs, and the county’s constables, who were the lowest-paid elected officials and now looking at a 17.95 percent increase.
The grievance letters cite various concerns of the JPs, particularly the desire to be compensated for travel on top of their base salaries.
Each justice of the peace had a $4,500 travel allowance tacked on to their salaries in the FY 2023-24 budget, and they had each asked for another $1,500, which would amount to an additional $6,000 for the coming year on top of the 6 percent raise that all elected officials and employees were set to receive.
Base salaries for the JPs were $85,352.27 in FY 2023-24. The proposed FY 2024-25 budget has their base salaries at $90,541.69, a 6.08 percent raise.
Burnet County’s proposed 2024-25 budget shows the travel allowance removed from their salaries and instead a $6,000 travel/mileage expense line item added to each of their budgets.
Under the travel allowance rules, JPs did not have to track their mileage; they received a lump sum of $6,000. Under the travel/mileage expense model, they will have to keep track of their mileage to access that money.
Three of the four letters of grievance, excluding Nelson’s letter, included the following written statement:
“There was never a discussion or representation of the travel allowance #1930 being eliminated from the ‘salaries and wages’ of my budget.”
Burnet County’s Salary Grievance Committee is made up of nine members, including six elected officials and three members of the public. This includes Sheriff Calvin Boyd, County Tax-Assessor Collector Sheri Frazier, County Treasurer Karrie Crownover, County Clerk Vicinta Stafford, District Clerk Casie Walker, County Attorney Eddie Arredondo, and three residents chosen at random from a list of people who served on a grand jury in the current calendar year.
The committee will vote during the Monday hearing to determine whether the grievances from the four justices of the peace have merit. With a unanimous vote, the proposed budget will be changed to meet the request of the JPs. If six or more members of the committee vote in favor of the request, than an official recommendation will be made to the Burnet County Commissioners Court.
The court is scheduled to hold a budget hearing and potentially approve the budget at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, at the Burnet County Courthouse.
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