TOBYVILLE — A “suspicious” fire that heavily damaged a manufactured home in the 100 block of Meador Road July 8 is being probed by the State Fire Marshal’s Office, officials said.

“The fire was suspicious in nature,” said Burnet County sheriff’s Capt. Dwight Hardin.

State investigators opened their probe July 9 after being contacted by local authorities.

No injuries were reported.

The blaze, which was turned in at 8:26 a.m., caused extensive damage to the home despite firefighters’ best efforts, officials said. 

“The home was extremely damaged,” said Terry White, chief of the Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department. “When we arrived, it was fully engulfed.”

In all, 21 firefighters and six vehicles from three different departments responded to the blaze at a home off FM 1980.

“After the initial dispatch, the dispatcher came back and said (the home) was fully engulfed,” White added.

The other agencies providing assistance included the Granite Shoals Fire Department and Cottonwood Shores Volunteer Fire Department.

The structure was a manufactured home with a pier-and-beam addition attached to it, White said.

Officials said they believe the blaze started in the kitchen, but the cause is still under investigation.

Fire crews cleared the scene around 12:30 p.m., White said.

daniel@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — Funding allocations for city agencies, basic services and tourism are all on the table July 10-11 as city leaders roll up their sleeves to consider  the 2012-2013 fiscal year budget.

The annual budget workshops begin each day at noon in the council chambers, 800 Third St. The sessions are open to the public.

“This workshop is a refining process,” Mayor George Russell said. “It allows for a real open discussion among the council and staff about the budget.”

City Manager Ralph Hendricks has discussed giving municipal employees a cost-of-living increase, the first since 2010.

The city must adopt a tax rate and budget by Sept. 31. The current city budget is $21.5 million, which includes the general fund, debt service and water/wastewater fund.

The city property tax rate is 64.35 cents per $100 valuation. The city also levies a 2 percent sales tax to support the budget.

On July 10, the council and staff will consider:

• Marble Falls Economic Development Corp. budget

• Capital Improvement Plan Committee recommendations

• Hotel Committee ordinance possible amendments

• Hotel Occupancy Tax Committee recommendations for funding

• Outside agency funding requests

During the July 11 budget workshop, council and staff will discuss:

• Marble Falls budget

• health insurance

• employee compensation

• preliminary budget (general fund, utility fund, special revenue fund and capital projects fund)

• overall budget and tax rate

Hendricks said residents are welcome to view the workshops.

“So it’s a very open process,” he said.

While city officials don’t see any major projects for the coming fiscal year, the workshop gives them a chance to fine-tune the community’s needs, the mayor said.

“There are still a lot of things that need to be discussed,” Russell said. “We have capital improvement projects — nothing really new — but still have to look at things such as roads and other infrastructure.”

daniel@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — Highs that hovered near 100 degrees last week will give way to increasingly cooler temperatures and higher chances for rain all this week, officials said. 

A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms is predicted for July 9. Skies will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 92, according to the National Weather Service. Rain chances drop to 40 percent the night of July 9, with a low around 74 degrees. 

A cooling front is expected to lower temperatures in the Highland Lakes by as much as 89 degrees July 10 and bring a 60 percent chance of rain, according to forecast models. 

There is a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms the night of July 10, diminishing to 40 percent that night with a low of 73. 

By July 11, rain chances are forecast at 40 percent, with a high near 87. The low that night is expected to be 73, with a chance of rain at 30 percent, according to the weather service.

There is a 30 percent chance of precipitation July 12, with a high at 91 degrees. No rain is forecast for that night, which should see a low of 72 degrees.

By the weekend, rain chances drop to nil and temperatures for the Highland Lakes will remain in the low 90s.

editor@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — Just like the Mustang athletes have no offseason, neither does the Marble Falls Athletic Booster Club.

With a golf tournament scheduled for July 28 and a membership drive under way, officials said fans of Marble Falls Independent School District athletics now have more opportunities to get involved.

COTTONWOOD SHORES — For the first time since Thanksgiving, the city has a full-time police chief — and he is also a veteran of the Austin Police Department.

The city July 7 hired former APD Division Commander Harold Piatt.

Piatt, 65, had 28 years experience with the Austin police force before retiring in 2007. In 1997 he co-founded Piatt Services International, which provides event management and security services to a variety of clients.

MARBLE FALLS — City leaders are considering a tax-financing tool that channels incremental increases in property values so that “eyesores” in the downtown area can be revitalized.

The discussion at the July 5 Economic Development Corp. meeting revolved around the concept of tax increment financing, or a TIF, which is widely used in other cities to create funding to improve under-developed or distressed areas.

“We have some eyesores,” said EDC Executive Director Christian Fletcher. “One thing that’s called out specifically in TIF financing is inadequate sidewalks.”

Marble Falls is considering forming a TIF, said City Manager Ralph Hendricks. The downtown area would be targeted, according to officials.

A TIF is a funding tool used to repair and build infrastructure in a designated zone or district. As property values incrementally rise over a period of time, those taxes in that district are dedicated to paying down the project’s debt.

A portion of the taxes are paid by the businesses or residences in the zone.

According to models in other cities, as the site’s value increases, sales taxes and even the availability of jobs may improve.

“One reason to do a TIF is to draw in new business,” Hendricks told the EDC.

An approved TIF involves creating a board which would assess, identify and potentially fund improvement projects in the TIF zone.

TIFs exist in Taylor, College Station, Allen and Lewisville, Fletcher said.

Officials said a TIF does not have taxing powers, however, improvements made to a defined area could affect the amount of taxes paid by merchants or residents within the zone.

“Obviously, taxes will increase because the property values will increase,” EDC board member Judy Miller said.

EDC members voted to continue research on a TIF and what role the nonprofit arm of city government would play.

connie@thepicayune.com

COTTONWOOD SHORES — Escalating vandalism to city property comes at a cost — especially to parents if their children turn out to be the culprits, officials are warning.

Moms, dads and guardians will have to dig deep in their wallets if their offspring are implicated in the damage vandals have caused to Community Park and P-Squared Skate/Bike Park during the last three months, acting City Administrator Janet K. Taylor-Carusi said July 5.

HORSESHOE BAY — Estimates for a street-improvement project has risen from $16 million to $24 million due to costs associated with aging roadways, environmental factors and the fluctuating cost of materials, city officials said during a recent workshop.

Other factors that could drive up the cost of the Street Improvement Plan include topography, driveway tie-ins and construction, officials said July 2.

However, the new price tag — which is not set in stone, city leaders emphasized — will not result in a tax increase.

"It is just a guess, an estimate. (The $24 million figure) is not founded on anything other than we’re going to continue the program," Councilman Phillip Lee said.

City Council members during the workshop unveiled a status report on the first completed project: six miles of roadway in the Fairways subdivision north of FM 2147 and adjacent to Slick Rock Golf Course.

In a section titled Cost Data Related to Street Improvement Plan, officials presented a different set of "rough estimates" for the overall project, which totaled more than $24 million.

"We have 37 miles to go," Mayor Bob Lambert said. "We just don’t know."

One of the largest expenses in the Fairways project involved connecting roads to driveways and upgrading materials used as foundation for streets, which increased the cost per mile.

"When we went in, we decided we were going to do it right and it (will) last 25 years," Councilman Jeff Robinson said, adding that includes "tying in driveways and improving the base."

The cost of materials and fuel for construction adds more uncertainty to future costs, city officials added.

Despite the potential price tag, which will vary with each project, council members appeared determined to maintain the current tax rate.

"The proposed tax rate, which will not be proposed until September, will be the same this year, 25 cents per $100 (property valuation),  the same for the previous year as it was this past year," Robinson said. "Then, we will have to make some determinations about just what the future road construction is going to cost in the areas where we haven’t even got bids."

An example of a project plagued by cost overruns involved the recently completed Bay West Bridge. The construction cost was $670,000, but additional engineering fee estimates associated with three different bids raised that figure to $820,000.

"In the past, we’ve done some basic maintenance (on streets throughout the city), but we have certainly not ever built news streets," Robinson said. "It’s a young city with a bunch of real old streets that we now have to fix."

The city incorporated in 2005, but the original resort community was founded in the early 1970s. Roadway upgrades were handled primarily by the Horseshoe Bay Property Owners Association.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of the July 14-15 River Cities Sunday Tribune.

connie@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — The departure this week of Andy Reddock from Marble Falls Elementary School has led district officials to name Bruce Peckover the interim principal.

Reddock resigned July 2 after accepting the position of elementary school principal and assistant superintendent at the Coahoma Independent School District.