presentation of county’s comprehensive annual financial report
discussion and action to allow the use of county equipment and manpower to assist the Burnet Rodeo Association in arena preparation for an upcoming fundraiser
accept donations from H-E-B for emergency services personnel during the April 8 total solar eclipse
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The Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District has spent the past 10 months developing dozens of amendments to its rulebook to modernize and streamline groundwater management policy in Burnet County. A public hearing on the proposed changes will be held during the district’s board meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 27, at 225 S. Pierce St. in Burnet.
The amendments vary in significance from minor changes involving the definitions of “large” and “small” wells to the doubling of fines for over-pumping during a drought. All of the changes can be viewed on the groundwater district’s website.
According to board President Ryan Rowney, the amendments are necessary to accommodate the ongoing drought in Central Texas and rapid population growth in Burnet County.
“We’re trying to manage our groundwater resources as best as we can with the resources we have,” he told DailyTrib.com. “Growth is ongoing, so that means we need to be really proactive, and our rules weren’t quite aligned with where we needed them to be with the drought.”
Burnet County has been under Stage 4 drought conditions, the most severe on the groundwater district’s scale, since June 2022. The district imposed its first-ever mandatory groundwater use restrictions in December 2022 and renewed them in December 2023.
The 11 stakeholders who participated in the policy development were volunteers chosen from a wide range of demographics in the county based on their specific interests or geographic location. This included representatives from agriculture, mining, conservation, construction, and residential.
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The Wirtz Dam Bridge could be completed as early as 2027, according to Burnet County Judge James Oakley.
“Don’t hold me to it, but about three years or so from today, hopefully, we will be looking at getting real close to driving over it,” Oakley said.
Oakley and Burnet County Precinct 4 Commissioner Joe Don Dockery gave a project update to the Cottonwood Shores City Council on Thursday, March 21.
The $35 million bridge to connect Cottonwood Shores to Granite Shoals over Lake Marble Falls has been in the making for almost 50 years.
“It was never a new idea,” Oakley said. “When I was elected in 1998 and took office in 1999 as your commissioner, it was brought to me as a project to get behind, and I did.”
The county put the bridge on the “front burner” due to growing traffic congestion in Marble Falls.
“When you have high blood pressure, in this case in the form of traffic, this is the way to add an artery to it so that it dilutes some of that pressure,” Oakley said.
The bridge would also shorten emergency response times in the area. The judge referenced the October 2023 fire at First Street Plaza in Marble Falls, which closed the U.S. 281 bridge for hours.
“If (the Wirtz Dam) bridge would have been here, you’d have had an alternative route,” he said.
Burnet County Judge James Oakley (left) and Precinct 4 Commissioner Joe Don Dockery presented an update on the Wirtz Dam Bridge project to the Cottonwood Shores City Council on March 21, 2024. Staff photo by Nathan Bush
“It’s been funded through TxDOT, which is your gas tax dollars not local dollars,” Oakley said.
He lauded Lower Colorado River Authority General Manager Phil Wilson for his continued support of the proposed bridge. The LCRA manages the Highland Lakes.
“He’s been a huge advocate for this project because he thinks regionally and deep into the crystal ball,” Oakley said.
Burnet County will rely on the LCRA to lower Lake Marble Falls for eight to 12 weeks in the early fall of 2025 to accommodate the bridge’s construction.
“You wouldn’t want to do it in the summer because recreation is out on the lake, right?” Oakley said. “You wouldn’t want to do it in the winter, either, because you never know when you’re going to have another ‘snow-clypse’ and need power during that time. Fall is really the best time.”
During the Cottonwood Shores meeting, Councilor Roger Wayson laid out his issues with the project.
“I worked for TxDOT for 15 years, and this doesn’t seem to be following the exact path,” he said. “Usually, there’s a traffic study and an environmental study before you go to final design. I was told we’d see those things, and we haven’t seen them.”
Wayson is specifically concerned over the bridge’s impacts on the city’s nature preserve.
“It’s important to us because you’re passing our nature reserve, which is going to increase (noise) by about 15 (decibels) from what it is right now,” he said.
Oakley said the project follows TxDOT standards.
“There are no shortcuts involved,” he said. “This is federal money involved with this, so you can bet everything is being done the way it’s supposed to be.”
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The Granite Shoals Community Cat Committee is prowling the city, tackling the prolific feral cat population through the trap-neuter-release method. Forty cats have been processed so far and the committee plans to trap 80 more in April, but it’s unclear how many strays across the city need to be spayed or neutered.
The next set date for trapping is April 7.
The committee, created in January, has been humanely trapping cats using the TNR method, having them spayed/neutered and vaccinated and then releasing them back into their territory. Once a cat has been processed, its ear is clipped to identify it.
TNR was developed as an alternative to euthanasia, and animal welfare advocates cite it as an effective way to manage feral cat populations. Even after the cats are neutered and unable to breed, they will still defend their territory against incoming cats, stabilizing the population and decreasing it over time.
Community Cat Committee Chair Michele Landfield briefed the Granite Shoals City Council on the group’s progress during a March 5 meeting. She noted that the community had been generous, donating enough supplies to aid all trappings in the near future. Enough funds exist to proceed with a 20-cat trapping and a 60-cat trapping, both in April, and the committee would conduct basic population surveys at the estimated nine cat colonies in the city.
“We’ve had an overwhelming response for supplies. We have everything we need at this time, which is awesome,” Landfield told the council. “We have to keep going. We can’t just trap 60 cats and then quit. We have to keep the ball rolling.”
The committee is working closely with Hope Animal Clinic and PetPals to coordinate effective neutering programs. A small building at the Granite Shoals Animal Control Center is being used as a “kitty shack,” housing up to 20 cats at a time while they recover from their procedures. A larger numbers of cats can be kept at PetPals and other local animal welfare organizations.
According to Landfield, the neuter/spay procedures are drastically cheaper when you do more animals at once: $110 per male and $135 per females at Hope Animal Clinic for 20 cats at a time and $55 for males and $90 for females at PetPals for at least 60 cats at a time.
As of now, the money for these surgeries is coming from community donations.
Landfield told DailyTrib.com that the Community Cat Committee is currently conducting population surveys on the number of free-roaming cats in Granite Shoals and that nine colonies have been identified.
The Granite Shoals Wildlife Advisory Committee, once tasked with handling the feral cat problem, offered an initial count of about 400 felines. Hill Country Cats President Mary Ruwart estimated up to 1,600. Landfield is skeptical of the latter number but did agree that the city had “quite a few cats.”
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The Pedernales Electric Cooperative launched a new online and mobile outage map for members on March 20. It also includes weather news.
“The new map updates every 10 minutes with crew status and estimated time of restoration,” Ruth Verette, PEC creative services manager, told the Board of Directors at its March 22 meeting in Johnson City. “Full-screen interface is available for both computers and mobile phones.”
Members can report outages from the website by providing a phone or account number and ZIP code. The information goes directly to outage system operators, and restoration work begins immediately.
A publicity campaign blitz to explain the new system begins in April.
“We will focus on how to read the map, its new features, and how to report outages online,” Verette said.
Several board members who have already tested the system sang its praises.
“Speaking on behalf of people in my (older) age group, normally, when upgrades are made, it’s hard to adjust,” said District 1 Director Milton Rister. “This update is awesome. It’s easy to see where outages are, and I like that you have included the weather.”
SOLAR ECLIPSE PREP
In other business, directors heard an update on PEC preparations for the April 8 total solar eclipse, which will take place from mid-morning through mid-afternoon that Monday. Much of PEC’s service territory is in the direct path of the eclipse.
All PEC employees who can will be working from home on that day. Staff and crews that work in IT and power restoration will be staged throughout the service area in case of outages.
“We are treating this like a severe weather event,” External Relations Director Caroline Tinsley Porter told the board.
The Johnson City headquarters and district offices will be closed as will all PEC parking lots. The co-op will pause all construction work orders, AMI meter installations, and delinquency disconnects from Friday, April 5, through Wednesday, April 10.
Street lights will not be turned off for the eclipse.
“It’s a safety issue for us,” Porter said about keeping the lights on.
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The Republican and Democratic parties of Burnet and Llano counties are hosting their precinct and county conventions on Saturday, March 23. Attendees will vote on delegates and alternates to the parties’ state conventions, new chairpersons for local parties, and local party resolutions.
Registered local members are invited to attend and participate in their parties’ conventions. They must show proof of voting in their respective primaries or take an oath of party affiliation.
Delegates elected locally to the state convention will have the opportunity to vote on their respective party’s official stances on issues, select state-level chairs and vice chairs, and pick national delegates and electors.
The Burnet County Republican Party precinct convention begins at 9 a.m. Saturday in the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service building, 607 N. Vanderveer St. in Burnet. The precinct convention will be followed by the county convention. Contact party Chair Kara Chasteen at chasteen@hughes.net or 512-963-2856 to learn more.
The Burnet County Democratic Party precinct convention begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Burnet County Courthouse, 220 S. Pierce St. in Burnet. The precinct convention will be followed by the county convention. Contact party Chair Susan O’Brien at burnetcodemparty@gmail.com to learn more.
Llano County party conventions
The Llano County Republican Party precinct convention begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at American Legion Post 370, 200 Legion Drive in Llano. The county convention will follow. Contact party Chair Becci Mears at becci.mears.LlanoGOP@gmail.com or 512-234-0780 to learn more.
The Llano County Democratic Party precinct convention starts at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Kingsland Branch Library, 125 W. Polk St. in Kingsland. The county convention follows. Contact party Chair Richard Day at rd57md@gmail.com to learn more.
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The Lake Buchanan Communities Alliance is holding a town hall meeting on potential challenges that could arise around the April 8 total solar eclipse. The eclipse’s path of totality will pass directly over Lake Buchanan, giving lakeside communities the longest view of the moon completely blocking the sun.
Local leaders will brief residents and property owners’ associations on how to prepare for the expected massive influx of visitors during the town hall, which is 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 25, at Lakeshore Branch Library, 7346 RR 261 in Buchanan Dam.
This is the LBCA’s second meeting on eclipse preparation. The first was on Feb. 26 with standing room-only attendance, said alliance President Wayne Shipley.
“There’s so many little things that could turn into really big things if we’re not careful,” he told DailyTrib.com. “This eclipse is really a big deal. I don’t think it’s overkill that we’re spending two meetings on it.”
While the entire Highland Lakes region between Burnet and Llano counties will get its fair share of eclipse watchers, communities around Lake Buchanan could be especially impacted because the path cuts through the center of the lake.
According to Burnet County Emergency Management Coordinator Derek Marchio, it is impossible to tell how many people will visit the Highland Lakes to view the eclipse, but estimates derived from the 2017 total solar eclipse in Oregon show that tens of thousands of people might show up.
Marchio and Llano County Emergency Management Coordinator Gilbert Bennett will be guest speakers at the March 25 meeting. Both have been hard at work for months preparing for the eclipse and have spoken at several Highland Lakes eclipse town halls.
The LBCA meeting will focus on:
preparation for possible phone, internet, and utility outages;
dealing with trespassing;
setting up neighborhood watches and patrols;
eclipse watching safety;
and stocking up on essential resources like food, water, and fuel.
“We’re urging everybody to stock up (early) and get what they need for a week, fill up their gas tanks, and have a plan in place,” Shipley said.
To learn more about the Lake Buchanan Communities Alliance, contact info@lb-ca.org or 512-775-3689 or 512-441-5606.
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Granite Shoals has fallen in line with mandatory landscape watering restrictions imposed by the Lower Colorado River Authority due to the dismal state of Highland Lakes reservoirs. The city will be strictly enforcing once-a-week watering measures for households and businesses using its new Eye On Water digital meters, which allow for accurate tracking of water usage. Violators could be fined or face shutoffs.
All LCRA customers, including large wholesale users like the cities of Granite Shoals and Marble Falls, must instate once-a-week outdoor watering measures, but it is up to each entity to decide how to do that. Marble Falls has been under once-a-week restrictions since August 2023, months before it was required by the LCRA.
Granite Shoals adjusted its existing water restriction ordinance to outline who can water when in the city limits. The new rules state that even-numbered addresses water on either Thursday or Sunday between the hours of midnight and 10 a.m. or between 8 p.m. and midnight. Odd-numbered addresses must follow the same watering windows but on either Wednesday or Saturday.
The ordinance changes only apply to those who are using city water, not groundwater users or households with a firm water contract with the LCRA. However, individual firm water users drawing water from any of the Highland Lakes will have to abide by the LCRA’s once-a-week landscape watering schedule on their own.
The LCRA restrictions went into effect when the combined storage capacity of lakes Buchanan and Travis dipped below 900,000 acre-feet. The authority’s Drought Management Plan triggered the change. The current combined storage of the two reservoirs is 848,423 acre-feet, which is 43 percent of maximum capacity.
If the reservoirs were to rise above 900,000 acre-feet, Granite Shoals can return to its normal twice-a-week watering schedule.
Councilors unanimously voted to make the changes during their regular meeting on March 12 after a short presentation by City Attorney Joshua Katz, who explained that the LCRA had given all of its wholesale water customers until May 1 to impose the restrictions.
“From time to time, the LCRA updates its drought contingency plan and requires that its customers then implement those changes in our ordinances as well,” Katz explained to the council.
The LCRA Board of Directors passed the new restrictions during a meeting on Feb. 21, requiring all of the river authority’s customers follow suit or face up to $10,000 in fines per day of violation. In this case, the term “customer” applies to wholesale customers, like the city of Granite Shoals, not individual households.
“This action is a reflection of the serious drought we’re in,” said LCRA Executive Vice President of Water John Hofmann in a Feb. 21 media release. “We don’t know when this drought will end, and we need to cut discretionary water use to help protect and extend our water supplies.”
Granite Shoals is also taking the drought and water violations seriously.
“We do have our smart meters installed,” said Utilities Superintendent Joshua Hisey during the City Council’s March 12 meeting. “I can check them every morning. They’re up to date, every 15 minutes, so we will be making lists all summer long, keeping tabs on who is watering and who is not. There will be fine levied, and also, we could be shutting the water off or locking you out until you comply.”
As it stands, violators can be fined $100 to $1,000 per violation.
The city installed its smart meter system in May 2023, bringing more than 2,800 digital meters online. The system allows the city to monitor household water use digitally. Users can also monitor their own usage through the Eye On Water system at eyeonwater.com/signup. For questions or concerns, call the city at 830-598-2424.
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Marble Falls councilors on March 19 approved over $60,000 to public relations firm Sigler Communications to inform residents about the city’s planned wastewater treatment plant. The new facility will use complex technologies to turn wastewater into potable water.
The subcontract with the public relations firm was part of a larger $519,519 amendment to the city’s existing contract with Plummer Associates to expand the purple pipe system for the wastewater plant project. Purple pipes transport recycled water.
“When you undertake a project like this, it’s challenging to get ahead of rumor and innuendo and negative things that might come out about the project,” Plummer Associates representative Robert Adams told the council on behalf of Sigler Communications, whose representatives were not present at the Tuesday meeting.
Adams was referring to direct potable reuse, or DPR, a treatment process that turns reclaimed water into drinking water. The technology is used by cruise ships, the U.S. Navy, and hundreds of other municipalities worldwide.
“The reason for bringing this group particularly on board is that they have unique experience in projects like this that involve direct potable reuse and casting and framing the message that needs to get out,” Adams said.
The wastewater plant’s use of DPR would set a precedent in the state, Mayor Dave Rhodes said.
“I believe Marble Falls will set the pace,” he said. “We could easily be ‘water central’ for all of Central Texas and beyond.”
The mayor also noted that while the city is seeking public relations assistance, the planned deployment of DPR has “not been a secret.”
“Nobody flinches (when DPR is mentioned),” Rhodes said. “There’s not a question or a look. They get it. It’s how you put it out there.”
The PR package will also help the city notify residents of roadway delays caused by pipe installations.
“We’re helping shoulder the burden with city staff and getting that word out so that people aren’t taken by surprise when a water line is going down across the street,” Adams said.
Highlights in the agreement with Sigler Communications include $6,625 for a PowerPoint presentation, $6,200 for a fact sheet, $5,700 for a frequently asked questions list, and another $1,850 for presenter coaching and “ongoing support.”
Councilors also voted unanimously to move forward with the annexation of about 7 acres of land across Texas 71 from Baylor Scott & White Medical Center. Councilors will complete the annexation process on April 2, per state law.
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