BERTRAM — If you want copies of official documents from City Hall, be prepared to pony up — even if you’re serving on the City Council.

That was the ruling by City Attorney Barney Knight at Tuesday’s council meeting, putting to rest a political dustup started when Mayor Pro-tem L.O. Pogue Feb. 9 moved to make copies of public documents free to council members.

Pogue said he was hit with more than $300 in fees by City Secretary Polly Krenek  after he requested several open-records requests related to overtime hours for Kreneck and another employee.

“Ordinances of the city of Bertram should be readily available to members of the city council upon his or her request so they can better serve the citizens of Bertram,” Pogue said Feb. 9.

However, Knight said local statues are clear on the issue, adding Krenek does not have the authority to waive such fees — unless the city changes its rules.

“If it is city business, generally, process and procedures are controlled by the city council, unless they conflict with state law,” Knight said.

Other councils have adopted ordinances to limit a council member to a certain number of copies at public expense before the member must pay for copies out of their own pocket, he added.

No complaint was heard from council members after Knight offered his opinion. The fee controversy erupted last month when Pogue and Mayor JoAnn Stephens held a heated discussion on the matter. The issue was later tabled.

Turning to another matter, the council decided to pursue funding for the future extension of a left-turn lane along Texas 29 to Castleberry Court, an area where an accident cost several lives months ago.

However, the Texas Department of Transportation estimates the extension will cost about $210,000, and Councilman Mike Richardson Jr. said the city does not have the money.

“That is a bunch of money — no doubt about it,” Richardson said.

Nevertheless, the extension is needed to improve traffic safety in the area, where an automobile accident claimed the lives of four people earlier, Richardson added.

“I really think we should pursue spending this money,” Richardson said. “I just know it has to be done. I would rather not wait until more people die.”

The council told Krenek to locate possible funding for the extension through grants, loans or other means.

Also related to roads, TxDOT engineers Louis Hernandez and Marisabel Ramthun told council members the department plans to extend the road from Henna Street to 29 later this year.

Construction of the extension will begin in June and last to the end of the year. Also, a new drainage culvert will be constructed near the 29 and Henna intersection, Ramthun said.

TxDOT will close part of Vaughan Street east of Henna, and barricades will detour traffic from Vaughan to East Street to 29 for about two weeks during the construction, Hernandez said.

In other business, the council approved the permit application Bertram residents must complete before they can participate in the residents-only bulk trash cleanup set for April 17 at the Bertram recycling center.

“The permit will be absolutely free,” Utilities Superintendent Charles Shell said. “We just have to know what we are looking at.”

Permit applications will be accepted 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday at City Hall, 166 Vaughan St. until April 16, he added.

raymond@thepicayune.com

BURNET — The City Council has awarded contracts to firms for needed repairs to some of the city’s water and sewer lines, as well as the construction of water tanks.

“Those are all projects previously approved by the city council that we are applying for, hopefully grants and, if not grants, zero-interest loans … from the Texas Water Development Board,” City Manager Michael Steele told The Daily Tribune Wednesday.

The city is seeking funding awards from the state board to cover the engineering costs of the projects, he added.

“All of the projects are projects that have to be done, and if we don’t get the grant and we don’t get the loan … then the engineering is still good and we’ll have the engineering done and we’ll just have to move forward,” Steele said.

The water line and water tank upgrades will be on the northwest side of town, Steele said, adding the water lines there are in very poor shape.

Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. firm was awarded the contract for engineering of the project during the council’s Tuesday night meeting, while Marble Falls Surveying & Mapping got the contract for the surveying work.

Another project involves aging sewer lines.

“(The project) is three sewer lines that are very old,” Steele said, adding one was located in the northwest part of town, another in the northeast portion and the last in the southwest part.

KC Engineering Inc. won that engineering contract, while Cuplin and Associates got the council’s nod for the surveying work.

Steele said projects in which the planning has been done fare better in receiving the TWDB funding for the work along with Burnet’s designation as a disadvantaged city.

“Disadvantaged city has to do with the number of people in our city that are below the poverty line, and that’s how that’s scored,” Steele said.

Basically, the poorer the city, the higher the projects are scored, he added.

Green uses can also attract TWDB funding, Steele said, such as in the sewer-line project.

“The green part of that project is we would be putting effluent lines in the ground with the sewer lines, so that if we have enough effluent, we could pump it to the high school or the 51-acre park we’re building,” he said.

The council next meets 6:30 p.m. March 23 at council chambers, 2402 S. Water St., which also is the air museum at the municipal airport on U.S. 281.

andrew@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — Marble Falls High School Principal Eric Penrod is moving to the Central Office as the new director of secondary academics.

Officials made the announcement March 9 about the grant-funded position. Penrod has been at the high school two years.

BURNET — A two-vehicle collision on U.S. 281 near Lake Victor Saturday claimed the lives of two Lampasas County men and sent a young girl to the hospital, the highway patrol said.

Stacy Kirk, 39, of Lampasas and Jimmy Wayne Meeks, 71, of Lometa died when their two vehicles were involved in a collision at 10:18 p.m. Saturday, according to the Department of Public Safety.

A DPS official said the accident happened on U.S. 281 near Mesquite Creek between Burnet and Lampasas.

Kirk was traveling south in a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado pickup when, for unknown reasons, he crossed into oncoming traffic.

The pickup was involved in a collision with Meeks’ northbound 1998 Ford Taurus, according to DPS.

A 10-year-old girl in the pickup was rushed to Scott & White Hospital in Temple.

DPS officials said they expect her to recover.

The accident is still under investigation.

The DPS report stated conditions were dry at the time of the collision, and both men wore seat belts.

daniel@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — News that nearly 14 percent of workers in the city are self-employed has prompted the EDC to add another goal to its strategic plan — help foster more of those jobs.

Charged with attracting and retaining businesses, the Economic Development Corp. wants to help create “entrepreneurial jobs” in addition to six other goals outlined in the Strategic Economic Plan.

MARBLE FALLS — The life of a fallen Marble Falls soldier will be remembered March 17 at the Marble Falls High School auditorium, officials said.

Services for Army Pfc. Payton Alexander Jones, 19, are scheduled for 2 p.m. in the auditorium, 2101 Mustang Drive, said officials with Clements-Wilcox Funeral Home.

MARBLE FALLS — The City Council approved a request March 6 to shift EDC budget money to fund more community marketing, a road extension in the business park and other efforts.

“It’s not moving money around for the sake of moving money around,” said Christian Fletcher, executive director of the Economic Development Corp. “It’s to present a more accurate picture of what our budget looks like.”

MARBLE FALLS — The U.S. 281 twin-bridge replacement project could be finished by the last quarter of 2014, the City Council heard during an update March 6.

“Everything looks good,” said Project Manager Eric Heimke. “We are progressing as expected.”

Mayor George Russell praised Archer-Western Contractors Ltd., which has tackled the $28.6 million project financed by the Texas Department of Transportation.

MARBLE FALLS — A verbal agreement to pay a Round Rock firm $50,000 to study the feasibility of a sports complex is on the table, Parks and Recreation commissioners heard March 5.

Now, the Economic Development Corp. will be asked to chip in to help with the cost, said Robert Moss, director of the Parks and Recreation Department.

Discussion about staffing concerns and delayed projects also highlighted the commissioners’ meeting.