potentially approve a $2 million construction contract for the Via Viejo High Service Pump Station Improvements project
consider and possibly approve a wildlife feeding ban on city property
possibly dissolve the Thousand Oaks Public Improvement District and potentially create the Thousand Oaks Public Improvement District II near the intersection of U.S. 281 and CR 403
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The Granite Shoals City Council on July 23 approved a new 40-year contract with the Lower Colorado River Authority to provide its municipal water supply. The deal comes with the stipulation that the city adhere to the river authority’s drought contingency plans.
Granite Shoals had been under another 40-year contract with the LCRA since 1983 until this most recent one. City Utilities Superintendent Josh Hisey said the biggest change is following the drought stages and restrictions put forth by the river authority.
“We are trying to align our drought contingency and water conservation plans with (the LCRA),” he told DailyTrib.com. “We’re trying to align our plans with LCRA so that we have a better working relationship.”
He explained that the main difference would be consistent, twice-per-week outdoor watering schedules year-round and once-per-week outdoor watering during drought conditions.
The new contract gives Granite Shoals access to an annual maximum of 830 acre-feet of water from Lake LBJ. The city has used an average of 440 acre-feet of water per year for the last five years, according to Hisey. The LCRA created the 830-acre-feet figure based on how much water the city could be using decades down the line if current growth trends continue.
“(The LCRA) does a calculation based upon our annual growth and they estimate how much water we’ll be using close to the end of the contract,” Hisey explained.
He went on to say that Granite Shoals pays for the water it uses and another fee for the water it reserves through its contract. He estimated the city spends an average of $5,500 per month on its water, depending on the time of year. The bill rises in the summer and falls in the winter, he said.
The money paid to the LCRA for the city’s supply only covers the rights to the water. The city has to facilitate treating the water to state standards, storing it, and distributing it to its residents. This is funded through utility bills.
Water bill rates are dependent upon the size of the plumbing in a home’s meter, how much water the home uses per month, and the current drought stage the city is under. A monthly bill can be as low as $36.86 for a three-quarter-inch meter that uses less than 2,000 gallons per month when there are no drought conditions.
According to Hisey, 50-60 percent of homes in the city fall under this rate. Rates rise as meter sizes and monthly usage go up. A breakdown of how water rates are determined can be found online in the city’s code of ordinances.
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About $46,000 will go toward the improvement of Timberhill Park in Granite Shoals with the successful sale of two small pieces of city-owned land that were once technically part of the little park.
The city had long debated whether to sell portions of fill land that were attached to Timberhill Park on paper but physically separated from it by a canal on Lake LBJ. These small pieces of land were literally in the backyards of residents, who were ultimately able to purchase the land from the city after the decision was made to declassify it as “parkland” in March 2023.
The combined value of the sales was about $46,000, according to city staff. The sale of a 0.14-acre piece from Lot 51 brought in roughly $36,000, and the sale of a smaller portion from Lot 56 made up the other $10,000.
The Granite Shoals City Council on July 23 voted to allocate the profits earned from the sales to Timberhill Park.
“Timberhill Park is not the prettiest park, and now it has the opportunity to be a really, really good park,” said Place 4 Councilor Steve Hougen prior to the vote.
Timberhill is located across the street from 504 S. Timberhill Drive, deep in the heart of Granite Shoals. It is one of the smallest and most modest city parks and primarily serves as a boat launch with an unpaved turn-around for trailers. It does have picnic tables, benches, trash cans, a swing set, and a single-stall restroom.
The decision to use the sale proceeds for Timberhill was not unanimous. Place 1 Councilor Brian Edwards was the lone objecting vote. He argued that the money should not be restricted to improving Timberhill alone but instead any city park.
“Does it all need to be designated for Timberhill Park?” Edwards asked rhetorically. “If we say ‘for parks,’ (the money) can be used at the discretion of what is needed.”
Edwards was voted down 6-1.
“(The sale of the land) has taken away something from the park,” Hougen said. “Yes, (the land) wasn’t used, but people could look at it.”
Most of the land sold came from Lot 51 across a small canal from Timberhill Park. The boundaries of Timberhill went across the water, according to lot lines from the 1970s, but that land wasn’t accessible without trespassing through the backyards of several homes or crossing the canal. The lot was also in the backyard of a nearby home, whose owners were ultimately able to purchase the land from the city. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
Hougen was referring to the fact that the land in question was inaccessible on foot without trespassing on private property or crossing a canal and climbing over a concrete bulkhead along the shoreline, but it was still technically public land and part of Timberhill Park.
The land across the canal was part of Timberhill, according to original lot lines dating back to 1973, but it is unclear if it existed at the time or was created by past landowners adding fill dirt.
Hougen clarified that the sale of the land, even though it was not part of the park, was still a sensitive issue in the city.
“Nobody wants to be on the record of selling a park,” he said. “You will have torches and pitchforks at City Hall if you dare breathe ‘selling a park.’”
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Save the World Brewing Co. in Marble Falls has one of the best beers in the world, according to the 2024 U.S. Open Beer Championship. On July 9, the brewery took home a gold medal and tied for bronze with two of its brews.
“This is so cool, and it puts Marble Falls on the map,” Save the World owner and General Manager Evan LeGarde told DailyTrib.com. “Every brewery wants to win these awards. It’s like the gold standard for our industry, and it’s obviously super competitive.”
Save the World is located in the Marble Falls Business and Technology Park at 1510 Resource Parkway and co-owned by LeGarde and wife Brittany. The couple purchased the business in 2022. It has been around since 2014.
Save the World Brewing Co. in Marble Falls recently won gold and tied for bronze in one of the most competitive categories in the 2024 U.S. Beer Open Championship. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
The gold medal went to Save the World’s Chasing Broncos Juicy IPA (India Pale Ale). The tie for bronze was for its Hunt for Hazy New England-style IPA.
This year’s U.S. Open Beer Championship received over 9,000 entries from more than 600 breweries with 170 different beer styles. According to LeGarde, the New England/Juicy/Hazy IPA category is arguably one of the most competitive brackets in the competition.
“This is sort of like the Big Kahuna,” he explained. “Every major brewery in the country wants to win the Hazy IPA gold.”
“Hazy IPAs, aka New England IPAs, remain a dominant force in craft beer in the U.S.,” wrote Forbes contributing writer Erik Ofgang. “Critics may mock ‘haze bros’ but if the IPA remains king of craft beer then hazies are the king of kings.”
The New England/Juicy/Hazy IPA style is described as an approachable beer with a balance of fruity and bitter flavors, soft body, smooth mouthfeel, and “hazy” appearance, according to the Beer Judge Certification Program.
Save the World’s Chasing Broncos beer is a New England-style Hazy IPA with an intense tropical fruit influence, a delicate citrus aroma, and notes of guava, pineapple, orange, and grapefruit. Save the World sources its Chasing Broncos hops from Australia and New Zealand, which are known for producing strong, fruity flavors, LeGarde said.
Since winning gold, the brewery has received requests for samples and distribution of Chasing Broncos from across Texas, the United States, and other countries.
“We’re getting pummeled by people in Houston, Dallas, and Colorado,” LeGarde said. “We’ve had people reach out to us from Canada and Europe. We’re getting emails from all over the world.”
LeGarde expressed hopes that the wins would help them beef up distribution and maybe even bring a certain level of beer tourism to Marble Falls.
“Save the World has a good reputation, but I think this will open that up to a whole different group of people,” he said. “I expect that we will have a lot more people from Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston coming out. People want to drink it from the source.”
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David Michael Justus, 20, of Lakeway died from injuries sustained during a July 14 party-turned-brawl at a home on Mesquite Drive in Kingsland. Two arrests have been made in the case so far and more are possible as the Llano County Sheriff’s Office investigation continues.
Francisco Reyes, 18, of Kingsland was arrested on July 23, and Ryan Moore, 19, of Marble Falls was arrested on July 29. Both have been charged with manslaughter in Justus’ death.
“(The investigation) is definitely not going as fast as I’d prefer, but we’re trying to make sure that we get every party that was involved in this,” LCSO Chief Deputy Brad Evans told DailyTrib.com. “We pretty much know what happened and why, but we still have people to talk to.”
According to Evans, Justus was attending the party at a home owned by a friend’s family when a fight broke out. He explained that different friend groups that were unfamiliar with each other clashed during the party.
Evans didn’t share what exactly started the fight but did say Justus was involved and struck his head on the concrete during the chaos.
Llano County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the Mesquite Drive home at around 11 p.m. July 14 in response to a disturbance call and found Justus unresponsive.
He was transported to Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in Marble Falls and later moved to Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in Temple for treatment. Justus died on July 23.
Multiple people were involved in the fight that led to his death, Evans said, adding that the evidence so far points to Reyes and Moore.
The manslaughter charge each suspect faces is a second-degree felony that can come with sentences of up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $10,000.
Manslaughter is the charge when a death is caused by reckless behavior, according to Sec.19.04 of the Texas Penal Code.
Justus grew up in Lakeway and graduated from Lake Travis High School in 2023, according to his obituary. An excerpt from the obit written by his father, Dave, mother, Daya, and brother Dawson reads:
“Though his time with us was brief, his incredible passion for life and his unwavering charismatic spirit full of boundless curiosity and fun-loving energy will forever remain in our hearts. David brought immeasurable joy and light into our lives with his infectious love of adventure and 110 percent all-in approach to everything and everyone he encountered. He will leave an indelible mark on the hearts of all who were fortunate enough to know him.”
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A Tractor Supply Co. store under construction in Burnet could be completed in September and open as soon as October, according to a report from Burnet City Manager David Vaughn.
City officials announced in April that the farming and ranching supplies store would be built on the corner of Texas 29 and Richard Sanders Parkway by the end of 2024. The city’s Economic Development Corp. sold 5 acres to the nationwide company for a little over $800,000 to facilitate the project.
“(The Tractor Supply store’s) impact on city sales tax will be significant,” Vaughn told DailyTrib.com. “The EDC has worked diligently for years to create the types of opportunities and developments the community supports.”
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The city of Llano issued an apology July 26 after a large number of gravesite decorations were removed from the Llano City Cemetery and thrown away during a deep clean.
The city said the routine cleanup of the cemetery in late July went too far and steps will be taken to ensure residents know about future ones.
Officials attributed the removal of flowers, sentimental items, and grave decorations to poor communication among city staff and no communication with residents regarding the deep clean.
“While we believe the intent of our city crews was to do an excellent job of cleaning the cemetery, the result was less than optimal as some items removed were items that our citizens did not want cleaned up,” reads a city of Llano media release. “We pledge to do better in the future.”
From now on, the city said it will announce cemetery deep cleans in advance via its Facebook page and in notices included in utility bills.
Llano Mayor Marion Bishop told DailyTrib.com the parks staff tried to go above and beyond in their routine cleanup to prepare the cemetery for the funeral of Llano native Bradley Tatsch, a father and electric company lineman who was killed in a work-related accident on July 19.
“(Parks workers) were probably a little overzealous in their cleanup,” Bishop said. “There was some stuff that needed to be taken down, but it could have been handled better.”
According to Llano City Ordinance 1394 Section 30-58, which includes cemetery rules, decorations can be removed when they become “unsightly,” such as wilted or soiled artificial flowers, and they must be placed on the foundations of the graves. The city acknowledged that a portion of the decorations that were removed were likely in compliance with the ordinance, but some of them were not.
“We will re-educate our staff on the information from these (ordinance) sections, so they have a better understanding of what items are acceptable,” reads the city’s media release. “To help us keep your cemetery clean and presentable, we ask that each of you educate yourselves as well. Your compliance with these rules will make it easier for us to protect these sentimental items from erroneously being discarded by our staff.”
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Granite Shoals will pave roughly 2 miles of city streets in August, and, if everything goes according to plan, the work should be done by early September. The City Council approved a $720,000 bid for the projects on Tuesday, July 23.
The road work includes Kings Circle Drive (1.68 miles), Hill Way Drive (0.37 mile), and the Granite Shoals Fire Department parking lot.
The city received two bids for the work: $720,034 from CK Newberry and $938,565 from Lone Star Paving. CK Newberry was awarded the project with a unanimous vote from the City Council after a recommendation from city staff.
“These particular projects were the highest priority for the city,” City Manager Sarah Novo told DailyTrib.com after the vote.
This map of Granite Shoals’ east side shows the stretches of roads that should be paved by the first week of September 2024. Kings Circle Drive runs about 1.68 miles north to south; Hill Way Drive about 0.37 mile west to east. Google Maps image
The two streets have been on Granite Shoals’ priority list since 2022 based on condition and usage. Kings Circle, specifically, was selected because it is a school bus route and a primary thoroughfare on the city’s east side.
Before the paving could begin, both streets needed extensive drainage and waterline work, which was completed in 2023.
“We had to do the drainage before we could do the paving,” Granite Shoals Streets and Parks Superintendent Shorty Corley told DailyTrib.com. “The road would have been washed away (without the drainage work). It would have been a waste of money.”
Corley said the paving work should begin the second week of August and could be done by the first week of September if the current schedule holds up.
Both streets are getting an asphalt hot mix, which should have a lifespan of five to 10 years, depending on traffic and weather.
Money for the road work will come from Granite Shoals’ street maintenance fund, which is allocated 1 percent of the city’s sales tax each year.
According to Novo, the fund accumulates about $200,000 per year with the city’s current sales tax rate.
“Ultimately, we recognize that streets are a big issue in this community, and we’re looking at alternative ways to fund these improvements, whether they be grants or setting aside additional funds,” she said.
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The city of Marble Falls is asking for input on a proposed wildlife feeding ban that ruffled the feathers of many residents, who shared their feelings on the DailyTrib.com Facebook page.
Marble Falls Parks and Recreation Director Lacey Dingman took note of the social media backlash and is asking concerned residents to email her or the City Council directly with feedback on the feeding ban.
“While I am suggesting (the ban) is a needed move … it’s not my park—it’s yours,” Dingman wrote in a social media post on Thursday, July 25. “I read all of your comments (on DailyTrib.com’s Facebook page), and I hope you choose to share them in an official capacity (perhaps, minus the ‘off with Lacey’s head’ sentiment).’”
The City Council is expected to vote on the ordinance at its Aug. 6 meeting. If passed, offenders could face a fine of up to $500.
Comments from people responding to the original story on the DailyTrib.com Facebook page included:
“So you are going to fine a child $500 dollars for feeding the ducks?”
“It is family fun and educational for the kids. People like to go to the park to see and feed the ducks.”
“We love the ducks, leave them alone and spend your time on something worthwhile for the city.”
“This is just another revenue scheme to put money into the city coffers. It won’t stop the wildlife from flocking into the parks, and it won’t stop people from feeding them.”
Dingman addressed the issue in an emailed response to questions from DailyTrib.com.
“While the spirit of the ordinance is not to target a family offering a few pieces of bread to a duck, it would allow us to educate those individuals and address the more serious concerns we currently have with people providing 50-pound sacks of grain in the park for wildlife and unwilling to discontinue that practice, even after multiple requests,” she wrote.
According to Dingman, the city has tried to manage the waterfowl population in its parks since at least 2020 but has had little success.
“(Feeding bans) seem to work well in state and national parks, and if passed, we hope the ordinance would encourage voluntary compliance from the majority of park visitors,” she continued. “We have tried over the past few years to change our reality through education but have been unsuccessful in changing behaviors. We are certainly open to having a dialogue for other suggestions.”
Dingman cited the mass gathering of ducks and geese in a small public space as one of the main concerns.
Marble Falls City Councilor Richard Westerman stated a specific issue he had with the birds during the council’s July 16 meeting.
“The real problem is the defecation,” he said. “It’s tremendous. There’s more defecation than there is grass down there (Johnson Park).
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