Note: Candidates ran unopposed for mayor and two City Council positions in Horseshoe Bay, and they will be sworn in without an election. Jeff Jones will become mayor, and Ruben Fechner and Frank Hosea will become councilors.
Note: Candidates ran unopposed for mayor and two City Council positions in Horseshoe Bay, and they will be sworn in without an election. Jeff Jones will become mayor, and Ruben Fechner and Frank Hosea will become councilors.
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Sunrise Beach Village voters will be asked to check “for” or “against” a new form of government on their November ballot. If passed, Proposition A would allow the hiring of a city manager at an estimated $120,000 to $150,000 to oversee the city’s day-to-day operations.
Election Day is Nov. 4. Early voting runs Oct. 20-31.
Currently, Sunrise Beach Village is administered by its elected and unpaid City Council, which consists of a mayor and five councilors who each serve two-year terms. In a city manager-council government, legislative decisions would be left to the council, while the actual running of the city would fall to the hired hand.
Some residents of the small Lake LBJ community in Llano County think the price of a city manager is too steep and the need isn’t there, while supporters believe a professional leader could do a better job than the council.
One proponent is John Schwin, a former Sunrise Beach Village city councilor and the leader of Citizens for a Better Beach, which hosted an Oct. 15 town hall on the proposition that was attended by dozens of residents as well as Marble Falls City Manager Caleb Kraenzel, who explained his role to the audience.
“This is a full-time job to run the city,” Schwin told those gathered at the Sunrise Beach Civic Center on Wednesday. “We need someone who has financial acumen, knows how to get people working together, and can manage the city professionally.”
Schwin justified the cost of the city manager’s salary—$120,000 to $150,000, including benefits—by saying that elected officials don’t typically have formal knowledge of city finances and municipal management, and, specifically, that the city needs a strong leader to carry it through an upcoming $10 million to $12 million water infrastructure upgrade project.
Several residents questioned the need for a city manager in a city with such a small population, staff, and budget.
“We’re not really going to need a city manager to manage growth or expansion or roads and infrastructure, other than the water system that desperately needs to be replaced,” said one resident in attendance. “So instead of a city manager, can’t we just hire a water specialist for the project?”
Sunrise Beach Village has an estimated 804 residents, according to 2024 U.S. Census data. Fully staffed, it has 12 city employees and an operating budget of about $3 million per year.
In contrast, the city of Marble Falls, according to Kraenzel, has an estimated population of 9,413, a full-time staff of 160, and an annual operating budget of around $22 million. Former Marble Falls City Manager Mike Hodge made $170,000 a year.
The Proposition A movement is being led by Citizens for a Better Beach, which got the proposal on the ballot by collecting 108 resident signatures on a petition. That’s well above the 74 needed to meet the state statute requirement for 20 percent of the number of total voters in the city’s last mayoral election, which was 370.
On its website, the Citizens group touts the perceived benefits of having a professional city manager, such as a clear separation of roles for leadership, municipal expertise, direct accountability, improved efficiency, non-partisan decision making, fiscal discipline, and continuity of leadership.
“We have outgrown our well-meaning and superb volunteer government,” reads a line from the group’s Q&A webpage. “We need a professional, full-time manager to navigate these issues and provide efficient results.”
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Josh Nugent was officially sworn in as assistant fire chief of the Granite Shoals Fire Department during the Tuesday, Oct. 14, meeting of the City Council. Fire Chief Tim Campbell administered the oath, with Nugent’s wife by his side for the ceremony. Staff photo by Maci Cottingham
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Dozens of firefighters have been in the field fighting the 321-acre Williams Road Fire in Burnet County since it sparked on the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 15. While the blaze is mostly contained, it could be days before it is totally under control, according to first responders on the scene.
The fire’s cause remains under investigation. No injuries have been reported and no structures damaged in the blaze. Nearby residents were prepared for evacuations, but none had taken place as of Thursday morning.
Every firefighting agency in Burnet County, a taskforce from Llano County, and the Texas A&M Forest Service have been involved in controlling the inferno.
The fire is burning in western-central Burnet County in the rugged hills northwest of the intersection of Hoover Valley Road and Williams Road, about 1.5 miles east of Inks Lake State Park. The Burnet Volunteer Fire Department, which is the lead agency on the scene, was toned out at around 5 p.m. Wednesday with reports of a “brushfire.”
According to the latest update from the Texas A&M Forest Service Incident Viewer, as of 8:39 a.m. Thursday, the fire is still burning but at 55 percent containment and stuck at around 321 acres.
Forest Service firefighter Collin Woodland explained to DailyTrib.com that “containment” refers to the level of confidence firefighters have that a fire will not continue to grow, whereas “control” determines whether or not a fire is completely extinguished. He attributed the fire’s rapid growth to dry conditions and its location.
“We really hit a super flash drought, in the 700-800 (Keetch-Byram Drought Index) range,” he said, referring to the KBDI scale, which is used to measure soil moisture and risk of fire. “All of the growth of this fire was due to dry fuels and topography.”
The 700-800 range is the highest, and driest, ranking on the KBDI.
Woodland added that once the fire reaches 100 percent containment, it will likely take days to completely extinguish it and confirm complete control.
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With the approval of a septic plan Oct. 14, the Burnet County Commissioners Court reluctantly gave way to a 53-acre manufactured rental home community in northeast Burnet County.
County leaders had concerns about groundwater availability at the Wild Wing Acres development’s site near the intersection of U.S. 183 and CR 211, just outside of the unincorporated community of Briggs. However, commissioners’ hands are tied due to the limitations of local groundwater management and state law.
The development already consists of 14 manufactured rental homes, which will be bumped up to 50 after the septic plan approval.
“(The Wild Wing developer) met all requirements from the county, (Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District), (Burnet County Emergency Services District No. 8), and the State,” wrote Burnet County Commissioner Damon Beierle in a Facebook post on Tuesday following the Commissioners Court meeting. “(The development) was held to every standard and statute we have in our tool box.”
Under Texas law, the county cannot impose any restrictions that go beyond or conflict with the state’s subdivision regulations. Going against those minimal regulations could open the county up to legal action from developers.
Beierle represents Precinct 2 and has a record of pushing for more county authority on regulating subdivisions in unincorporated areas, especially when it comes to groundwater.
“Everybody is worried (about groundwater),” he said during Tuesday’s meeting. “I just want it to be clear, and on the record, that this is one of the areas that is very vulnerable to low groundwater.”
Wild Wing Acres is exempt from a groundwater study or thorough regulation because it is only being permitted for 9.9 acre-feet annually, which is just below the 10-acre-foot threshold used by the Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District to require groundwater testing in Burnet County.
“There were no actual requirements on pump tests or hydrogeological requirements,” GCD General Manager Mitchell Sodek told the court on Tuesday. “The (groundwater use permit) has been issued.”
The development lies in a spot of concern to the groundwater district, which is currently seeking to form a special management zone to further regulate groundwater use near the Briggs-Oakalla area due fears of struggling aquifers.
The Wild Wing developer did voluntarily agree to allow annual testing of the site’s wells to see if local groundwater levels were significantly impacted by the proposed 50 homes, but this won’t be done until they are already built.
According to Sodek, the community will get its water from two wells: one producing 17 gallons per minute and the other 30 gpm for a combined 47 gpm, which is also just below the threshold of 50 gpm that would require further testing from the groundwater district.
The property is also not subject to Burnet County subdivision regulations and doesn’t require platting because the land isn’t being sold off, just rented, according to Burnet County Development Services Director Herb Darling.
“We cannot require a plat under statute,” Darling told the Commissioners Court on Tuesday.
Normal subdivisions require platting approval from the county, which comes with the need for roadways meeting specific standards, adequate drainage and rights of way, and groundwater availability studies.
Commissioner Beierle noted that county residents’ concerns about development and groundwater might best be served by contacting state legislators.
“I encourage you to reach out to our state reps if you think we need more tools to help protect our groundwater,” he wrote, closing out his Facebook post on Tuesday.
Reach Burnet County’s state representatives at the following links:
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The Horseshoe Bay City Council on Oct. 14 put a developer’s request on hold to make a slight change to plans for a subdivision, citing concerns about the project’s viability and the rough terrain on which it would be built.
The council’s Tuesday meeting was originally intended to address a simple variance request for the proposed Richter’s Ranch development. However, it ended with no decision as councilors postponed the item to the Nov. 10 meeting to give the developer time to address worries over steep grading of the land, infrastructure, and the project’s long-term success.
The proposed 54.5-acre development at the intersection of Mountain Dew and Rocky Ridge would include 123 single-family residential lots and seven communal lots, all on land with harsh elevation changes that could make construction challenging. The developer is seeking a variance from the city of Horseshoe Bay’s grading restrictions—which limit cut-and-fill to 4 feet in right-of-way areas and 8 feet elsewhere—so it can proceed with improvements to roads, drainage, and utilities.
An approval of the request would allow changes to the existing Grassy Knoll road and the creation of two water detention ponds to collect runoff, but the City Council’s sight extended beyond the variance.
Ultimately, council members agreed to postpone the decision and provide the developer with a clear list of remaining questions and concerns to answer before the Nov. 10 meeting.
“We don’t want developments in our city that aren’t successful if the lots don’t sell,” said Mayor Elsie Thurman, addressing members of the Richter’s Ranch development team who attended the meeting. “To hear the lots are (located in difficult terrain), I don’t want to set someone up down the road to buy a lot and it’s too challenging or not cost-effective to build there. I wish you would have brought more of a picture of what it is going to look like.”
The project has faced challenges since November 2024, when the Horseshoe Bay council denied its preliminary subdivision plat due to noncompliance with the city’s cut-and-fill standards. Since then, the developer significantly revised its approach to reduce drastic changes in elevation, preserve trees, and include a connection to the city’s trail system. However, the project cannot proceed without variance approval.
“We’re happy to put another presentation together,” development partner Andrew Brewer told the council on Tuesday. “I think part of the challenge, and where we’re a little confused, is that we feel like we’ve been asked these exact same questions. We went through multiple revisions with city staff to define an acceptable alternative that addresses the concerns as best we can.”
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Visitors can take aim during instructer-led archery and atlatl-throwing programs, drop a line in a pond stocked with over 200 catfish, tour historic campsites, and head out on a selfie scavenger hunt.
Also, game wardens will answer hunting and fishing questions, and overnighters can decorate their campsites for contest prizes. See a full list of activities at the link.
The event is included with park admission, which is $7 for ages 13 and older and free for children 12 and younger. No preregistration or reservations are required.
PARK HISTORY
Inks Lake State Park officially opened in 1950, and has been a popular Texas outdoors destination ever since. However, Inks Lake and the surrounding area have drawn people for over 8,000 years, beginning with the prehistoric peoples who lived along the Colorado River. The area was later populated by Apache and Comanche tribes.
In 1934, the Lower Colorado River Authority was created to manage the river and build a chain of reservoirs, which resulted in the Highland Lakes. Construction of Inks Dam, the structure that would form Inks Lake, began in 1936 and was completed in 1938. Inks became the Highland Lakes chain’s second lake, situated between Buchanan Dam to the north and Inks Dam to the south.
The Highland Lakes reservoirs were developed during the Great Depression, when economic relief programs such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps were in full swing. Launched in 1933, the CCC provided jobs, housing, and food for unemployed young men, many of whom sent most of their modest monthly earnings of $30—equivalent to slightly more than $700 today—home to their families.
Around the time Inks Dam was being constructed, CCC crews were also working on nearby Longhorn Cavern State Park, which was finished in 1940 and still has many of the CCC buildings on site. In the late 1930s, CCC labor shifted to building infrastructure for what would become Inks Lake State Park, including scenic roadways, stone bridges, culverts, and early park facilities.
However, with the approach of World War II, CCC operations were shut down and the Inks Lake CCC camp was closed in 1942 before the park could be finished. Today, remnants of the camp are still visible.
The Texas State Parks Board acquired the land, roughly 1,200 acres, in 1940 and later oversaw the completion of the park.
Inks Lake State Park has continued to grow and evolve over the decades. Its most recent improvements came in 2024 with the opening of a new headquarters building, upgraded restroom facilities, and expanded parking to accommodate increasing visitor demand.
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On Oct. 14, 2001, 46-year-old James Charles Schuessler was found dead in his Mason County home with mortal wounds to his head. Now, 24 years later, the Texas Department of Public Safety is hoping to bring some heat to the cold case with a $6,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
“The Texas Rangers, local law enforcement and the community have not given up hope of finding out what happened to Schuessler,” reads a DPS media release issued Oct. 14, 2025.
According to DPS reports, investigators believe Schuessler was meeting with someone at his home when an altercation broke out between them, leading to the life-ending injuries.
The DPS’ Texas Rangers investigative branch is offering $6,000 for any tip leading to the arrest of those responsible for Schuessler’s death. The money will be available until the publication of DPS’ next featured cold case, which is typically mid-month and end of month.
Tips must be submitted via the following methods:
Call the Texas Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-8477.
Go online and select “Cold Cases Featured” and “Cold Case-Texas Rangers” in the type of crime and offense type sections, respectively.
“Schuessler’s case is actively being investigated by the Texas Rangers, and as technology has advanced in the time since his death, evidence has been retested and submitted for analysis,” the media release continues. “Several witnesses have been interviewed and provided information over the years, but no arrests have been made.”
Schuessler was a husband and a father of two. He was also a farmer, rancher, avid hunter, and a local business owner who was well-known in the Mason County area. He was last seen alive the evening before his body was discovered. He would be 70 years old this year.
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Protesters surrounded a busy intersection in Burnet on Oct. 11 in objection to a massive state transmission line project that would erect dozens of 15-story towers across rural ranchland in northern Burnet County. All had the same question on their minds: Why is this happening?
The group of around 20-30 residents stood on the corners of Texas 29 and U.S. 281 on Saturday morning, written messages in hand, to call for a halt to the proposed 765-kilovolt lines, the largest power line project in state history. The lines would stretch between power stations in Bell and Schleicher counties, roughly 200 miles apart, to supply reliable power to the Permian Basin, a vast oil- and natural gas-producing region in West Texas.
While the exact route has not yet been determined, all possible paths cut through Burnet County.
“Why can’t (the state) think of other ways to give power to the Permian Basin without destroying our ranches?” Burnet County resident and protester Marylynne Norman posed to DailyTrib.com. “Why is our government not looking at all the solutions?”
She and others might get answers when an official from the Public Utility Commission of Texas arrives for a town hall Oct. 21 at 9 a.m. at the Burnet Community Center, 401 E. Jackson St.
That plan is not set in stone. The LCRA and Oncor will likely file their proposal to the PUCT in late November or early December.
Burnet County did not become fully aware of the transmission line project until June, when leaders received notice from the LCRA that the ball was already rolling. However, the county Commissioners Court was reportedly told about it in January, but the correspondence was lost in the shuffle following the resignation of former Burnet County Judge James Oakley.
COMMUNITY CONCERNS
One of the project’s proposed paths cuts by the entrance of the Ranches of Blackbuck Ridge subdivision off of CR 108 in northern Burnet County, which is where Norman and several other protesters live. The residents are worried about the project’s impact on property values, groundwater, emergency services, health, and local wildlife.
“My husband and I built our forever home (at Blackbuck Ridge) five years ago,” said protester Frada Nelson, who moved with husband John to Burnet County from Leander. “We wanted to move away from the rat race and the city. This is not what we planned.”
The project would hit even closer to home for some.
“The 765kv is going to come across my front yard and split my ranch in two,” Jan Rose told the Burnet County Commissioners Court during the public comment period of its Sept. 23 meeting. “We’re an original Burnet County family, 1880s.”
Rose and husband Austin own the Taylor-Rose Ranch near Joppa, which has been in Jan’s family since 1886. They have been before the Commissioners Court on multiple occasions, asking county leaders for support in fighting the transmission lines.
“I know there is a lot behind this project, but I do hope you know that we are a community and we are going to be fine, however it goes,” she told the court in her emotional public comment. “We will remain and we will support.”
The Burnet County Commissioners Court has taken the community’s concerns to heart, hiring an attorney to navigate the situation and creating a thorough transmission line information page on the county website.
“Between now and (when the LCRA and Oncor file their proposal), the goal of this Commissioners Court, I feel like, is to keep the citizens updated and get them all of the info they need to prepare for the hearings and all the things that come with it and to really get that information out there,” said Precinct 2 Commissioner Damon Beierle during the Sept. 23 meeting.
CORRECTION: In a previous version of this story, DailyTrib.com reported that an official from Oncor Electric Delivery would be attending a town hall meeting in Burnet at 10 a.m. on Oct. 21. This was false, as the meeting will be held at 9 a.m. and it will be an official from the Public Utility Commission of Texas attending the town hall. The story was changed to correct this error in reporting.
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