COTTONWOOD SHORES — As expected, voters elected Mayor Janelle Long to serve a term in her own right during the May 14 City Council election.
Earlier this year, the council appointed Long as mayor after former Mayor Bentley Martin resigned for health and family reasons.
Long ran without opposition and will now serve a two-year term.
Also, incumbent Bill Plumley received 60 out of 107 votes cast to win re-election to Position 2 on the council.
He defeated challenger Howard Bostwick, who received 47 votes.
In the race for Position 3, newcomer Mary Ann Houser received 62 votes to defeat former Councilman Ray Whitis, who got 45 votes.
Houser will fill the unexpired term for Brad Kline, who recently resigned from the council. 
Incumbent Judy Pace won re-election to Position 4, as she squeezed ahead of challenger Frank R. Smith by eight votes.
Smith is Cottonwood Shores’ former police chief who earlier raised concerns about convicted felons working for the city.
The council has amended its policy to allow employment of felons 10 or more years after their convictions.
Pace received 58 votes, Smith got 50.
raymond@thepicayune.com

GRANITE SHOALS — Voters turned down a proposed wastewater treatment facility by 60 votes during the May 14 election.
Meanwhile, Councilman Dennis Maier is the new mayor.
Residents voted 346 to 286 against issuing $18 million in bonds to build a new sewage treatment facility. The plan called for the plant and associated lines to be built over several phases.
“Bond propositions are difficult to pass,” Mayor Frank Reilly said. “There was a lot of misinformation passed out by anonymous sources and other means and that’s unfortunate. I can’t think of a better (plan) we could have come up with for the facility.”
Reilly chose not to run for re-election so he could focus on getting the bond issue approved.
City leaders were poised to issue the bonds last fall, but residents delivered a petition with the appropriate number of signatures to have it placed on the May ballot.
Despite the defeat of the measure, Reilly said it was a close vote.
“It will be up to the new City Council and mayor to decide what they want to do now,” Reilly said.
Proponents said the plant is needed to attract new business and to prevent seepage from the city’s thousands of septic systems into Lake LBJ. Critics charged the details kept changing, such as moving the facility off city-owned land.
Meanwhile, the new council includes only one new face after the May 14 results rolled in.
Maier held off challenger Peggy Metzger in a close mayoral race, 320 to 287.
Maier had been the Place 3 councilman. Newcomer Eric Tanner will now fill that seat, beating Don Harrison, 351-228, to win.
Place 1 incumbent Shirley King held on to her spot by beating challenger Terry Hartman, 360-243.
Incumbent Carl Brugger ran unopposed for Place 5.
While the bond election didn’t go the way Reilly hoped, he was pleased residents took the opportunity to participate in the future of the city, he said.
“I’m pleased with the voters coming out. I’m glad they elected incumbents including picking Mr. Maier as mayor,” Reilly said. “I think that reflects well on the incumbents and the direction the city has been heading. Passing a bond during a recession is tough."
Reilly and other proponents fear the courts may someday order Granite Shoals to build a sewer plant to protect the lake, and he wanted residents to see it completed without outside pressure.
"We decided to push forward with it because the community has waited so long and any more delays would increase the costs of the project and put the city at risk for possible fines," he said.

MARBLE FALLS — Mayor George Russell turned back opposition by a wide margin as he won re-election to a second term during the May 14 City Council election. 
"It was a tough campaign with a good challenger," Russell said just minutes after learning of the victory.

Northland Communications manager Larson Lloyd (left), Burnet County Sheriff W.T. Smith and Cynthia Russell celebrate the re-election of George Russell (right) as mayor of Marble Falls May 14. Staff photo by Connie Swinney

Russell defeated Russell Buster, a former city councilman and restauranteur, by nearly 65 percent of 436 total votes cast.
Russell polled 282 votes, and Buster garnered 154, according to totals from the Burnet County Elections Office.
His experience and judgment were the keys to his re-election, said Russell, 65, who is the former city manager of both Marble Falls and Georgetown.
"In the long run, I think the experience I brought to the table and some of the things we did during the past few years was the right thing to do — and the people wanted more," he added.
During the campaign, Buster debated with Russell regarding when and where to build a new police headquarters.
Several months ago, the city could have moved the headquarters to the building owned by the Economic Development Corp. at 1701 Colt Circle, Buster maintained.
However, Russell supported EDC plans to rent most of the building to an eco-friendly sports-car manufacturer, as well as set aside additional space for a future vocational-technical training school.
Buster accepted defeat calmly.
"I guess we’ll go back to work tomorrow," said Buster, 59. "I want to make things go faster. I’ll still be involved. I wish George the best. I think he has lots of issues to address."
raymond@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — Two newcomers and one incumbent won their elections during a close race May 14 for three seats on the City Council.
Incumbents David Rhodes and David Ives both lost their spots, however.
Voters elected newcomers Ryan Nash and Jane Marie Hurst to the council and re-elected Councilwoman Sharon Pittard to another two-year term.
Nash, 31, is involved in construction and development. Hurst, 51, is a Realtor, business owner, investor and developer.
Pittard, 49, a customer-service representative. This is her second term.
Out of 1,039 total votes cast, Nash received 234 votes, about 23 percent of the total; Hurst polled 219, or about 21 percent; and Pittard received 208, or about 20 percent, according to figures from the Burnet County Elections Office.
Ives finished with 190 votes, while Rhodes had 188.

MARBLE FALLS — Some smart-sign technology developed overseas has come to City Hall, and it speaks volumes without any words.

City officials recently attached two Quick Response Code Signs to the outdoor bulletin board near the front entrance of the building at 800 Third St.

"Expect to see more of these wordless signs in the future," City Manager Ralph Hendricks said in a prepared statement.

Officials hope the signs will help usher Marble Falls into the digital age by catering to visitors and locals alike armed with smartphones capable of scanning and reading the signs’ encoded data. The signs themselves are very inexpensive, officials said.

At first sight, the signs appear to be just two 12-inch squares with several abstract, maze-like patterns drawn on them.

Actually, they are a pair of electronic modules equipped with two-dimensional barcodes built to relay all sorts of encoded information.

The information can be decoded and read through the use of camera-application software embedded into smartphones or other mobile devices that act as a handheld computer.

AUSTIN — Just hours after an ambulance rushed him to an Austin hospital, family and friends say the Rev. Max Copeland is on the road to recovery after an accident in the Marble Falls High School parking lot.

The 80-year-old Copeland — affectionately known as "Brother Max" after more than five decades of community and charity work in Marble Falls — suffered a fractured hip when an auto accidentally backed into him, friends and school officials said.

"He is resting comfortably now," his son Dathan Copeland told The Tribune the morning of May 12.

Surgery is scheduled for May 13 for the former minister of Marble Falls First Baptist Church.

"They are going to fix his hip tomorrow," Dathan said.

Doctors predict the outlook for his father’s long-term recovery is good, he added.

However, it is too soon to determine when the elder Copeland will be released from the hospital, Dathan said.

"We haven’t got that far," Dathan added.

Emergency medical services rushed Max Copeland to St. David’s South Austin Medical Center after 8 p.m. May 11.

MARBLE FALLS — Organizers of the annual Marble Falls July Fourth fireworks display still need about $6,000 to get the show off the ground, officials said May 9.

Meanwhile, there will be a new launch pad for the annual display during the festivities at Lake Marble Falls."It has become a tradition to celebrate our nation’s independence with a fabulous fireworks show over Lake Marble Falls, one of our incredible local assets," said organizer Judy Miller.

For the second straight year, Miller is spearheading funding efforts for the Independence Day observance.

"We are planning a huge show that will be visible from many places around the lake or the hills," said Miller, a director of the Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce.

So far, private donations of more than $11,000 have come through the Highland Lakes Legacy Fund and other sponsors to help support the celebration, she added.

However, organizers aim to raise at least another $6,000 for the event, Miller said.

Miller expressed optimism the money would materialize.

"Our community will come through," she said.

Miller and sponsors want to avoid the situation in 2009, when the show was canceled for the first time in years.

The Chamber — which had sponsored the display since it began in 2001 — was forced to discontinue the fireworks in light of a state attorney general’s opinion that decreed hotel-motel tax funds couldn’t be used for fireworks displays.

The cost that year was estimated at $12,000-$15,000.

That left the Chamber without a funding source for the fireworks, which traditionally drew hundreds and even thousands of onlookers to watch the display.

In 2004, the Chamber paid for the entire fireworks display with hotel-occupancy tax

funds, but that was the last year. In 2005 and 2006, the Chamber paid half the bill and  more than half in 2007 before the attorney general’s opinion was issued.

The Chamber and its members also paid for the entire cost of the display in 2008.

After the event was canceled in 2009, there were complaints from businesses and residents.

Miller and other volunteers began organizing to bring back the fireworks display to Marble Falls.

In 2010 she persuaded more than 50 businesses and individuals to contribute about $19,000 to revive the event.

"I felt I really could not complain about missing the fireworks if I did not do my best to make them happen again," Miller said. "We do enjoy the opportunity for our community to come together for some incredible entertainment and relaxation."

Not only did the fireworks return, but a daylight carnival was held featuring a rock-climbing wall, a moon bounce, martial arts and dance demonstrations and a dunking booth.

This year’s Fourth of July celebration begins with live music about 5 p.m. at the Lakeside Pavilion, 307 Buena Vista Drive, she said.

Organizers plan to light the fireworks about 9 p.m., Miller said.

The fireworks also will blast off from a new location this year across from Lakeside Park and the pavilion.

"The LaVentana Property Owners Association will let us to shoot the fireworks from their Property Owners Park this year," Miller said.

During recent years, the fireworks were ignited at a private residence on Old River Road near Lake Marble Falls, she said.

"The new location will allow for a slightly different setup," Miller said. "It will still provide excellent viewing from Lakeside Park."

Donations can be mailed to Marble Falls Community Fireworks, c/o Judy Miller, P.O. Box 158, Marble Falls, TX 78654.

Call (830) 613-0083 for more information.

Miller and her husband Bob own two businesses in Marble Falls, Out Back Party Rentals and Out Back Patio Furnishings, both at 2000 U.S. 281.

raymond@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — Marble Falls High School senior Austin Sellers won’t get much of a break between graduation and his next assignment — life as a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Graduation is May 28.

"The U.S. Air Force Academy is a lot different than the typical college," said Sellers, who wants to be a pilot. "You have a whole military component that you don’t find at most colleges and universities."

Sellers learned this spring he had earned a spot in the next Air Force Academy cadet class, which starts June 23.

Sellers isn’t the only Marble Falls High student with academy ambitions.

William Nelson, who graduated May 2010, will start at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., this summer. Nelson graduates May 13 from the United States Military Academy Prep School at Fort Monmouth, N.J.

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COTTONWOOD SHORES — The Community Services Organizations of Cottonwood Shores honored the achievements of several residents and supporters during a banquet April 30.

Those recognized included:

• 2011 Katy Rose Memorial Scholarship: Jeronimo Aguilar of Cottonwood Shores

• 2011 Friends of the Library award: Ollie "Tootsie" Beyer and Junior Achievement award recipients Barry Sullivan, Katelyn Kiser, Samantha Blair, Taylor Clark, Saige Clark, Nicole Boyd, Jessica Ramon and Veronica Flores

• 2011 Cottonwood Shores Area Volunteer Fire Department: Chief Jim Fiero of the Horseshoe Bay Fire & Rescue and the Horseshoe Bay firefighters

• 2011 Cottonwood Pride: Richard Frazier and Junior Achievement award recipient Barry Sullivan

• 2011 Lifetime Achievement Awards for duty to community: Leonard Leming, Rebe Leming and Glenn Henderson

PHOTO 1: Glenn Henderson (right), with Cottonwood Pride president Janet Taylor-Carusi, was recognized for his 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award for duty to community at a banquet April 30 for the Community Services Organizations of Cottonwood Shores. Courtesy photo

PHOTO 2: Richard Frazier (right), with Cottonwood Pride president Janet Taylor-Carusi, was recognized for his 2011 Cottonwood Pride award at a banquet April 30 for the Community Services Organizations of Cottonwood Shores. Courtesy photo

PHOTO 3: Ollie ‘Tootsie’ Beyer (right), with Cottonwood Pride president Janet Taylor-Carusi, was recognized for her 2011 Friends of the Library award at a banquet April 30 for the Community Services Organizations of Cottonwood Shores. Courtesy photo