Cedar Park & Leander - Community Impact Newspaper

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ANdERSON MILL Rd.
ZAMBIA dR.
N
Cedar Park
Ranch at Cypress Creek MUD
ZEPPELIN dR.
KIMRA LN.
SHAdY CREEK TRL.
SUN CHASE BLVd.
HEATHER dR.
FALL CREEK dR.
IRIS LN.
Group seeks donations to pay for K-9
A new police dog joined the Cedar Park
Police Department in early April, but the
department could not pay the bill.
The police department’s dog, 5-year-old
Scout, unexpectedly died Jan. 21 from
complications from surgery related to an
intestinal disorder. To fill the need for a
replacement, Cedar Park officials agreed
to allow the department to use money to
cover the $12,500 cost of a new dog.
To take the burden off the city’s budget,
members of the Cedar Park Citizen’s Police
Academy Alumni Association helped
raise about $7,800 in the past two months.
Group members hope to raise the balance
as soon as possible.
Dean Young, president of the
association, said the group has worked
with several Cedar Park organizations,
including chaplains from the Cedar Park
Police Department, to collect money.
Of the $12,500, about $10,000 went
toward paying for the K-9, named Rekon.
The remaining $2,500 covered the cost to
send Officer Erik Detlefsen to San Antonio
for the handler–K-9 bonding process.
Handlers work with several dogs and over
time form a strong bond with one dog
that becomes the foundation of the team’s
relationship while on duty.
Rekon, who is 3 years old, is on active
patrols in Cedar Park and will continue
to be evaluated and trained over the next
six months to make sure he and Officer
Detlefsen are a good match.
PAGEdALE dR.
CYPRESS CREEK Rd.
EL SALIdO PKWY.
Courtesy Cedar Park Police Department
SUN CHASE BLVd.
deer Creek HOA
Ranch at Cypress
Creek HOA
City of Cedar Park
ETJ
LAKELINE BLVd.
Source: City of Cedar Park
Money from the fundraiser will go to the
police department’s budget used to care for
officer dogs. Two K-9s serve the Cedar Park
Police Department to protect officers, help
with search and rescue, and find drugs or
explosive devices. Officer Jason Schmidt is
the handler for 6-year-old K-9 Ory.
A police dog can take the place of 12 or
more officers during a search, Capt. Jeff
Hayes said. The canines help neighboring
police departments during operations and
receive up to a year of training before being
released into law enforcement service.
Contributions can be mailed to
CPCPAAA, P.O. Box 1535, Cedar Park,
TX, 78613. Donors can also call 260-7475
or visit www.cpcpa.net.
Officer Erik Detlefsen worked with Scout from August
2007 until February 2009, when the K-9 officer died.
Annexation process ends
The Ranch at Cypress Creek
was placed on Cedar Park’s
annexation plan in 2008, but
the neighborhood was removed
from the plan at the April 22 City
Council meeting.
The Municipal Utility District,
MUD, board wanted time to
create a homeowners association.
The financial burden of debts
to the city and MUD were also
concerns.
Landscaping and covenants
The Ranch at Cypress Creek
has 16 sections; seven sections
are part of an HOA. Other
sections have different rules. The
MUD board, in charge of deed
restrictions and landscaping,
would be abolished if annexed.
The subdivision would need
an HOA in place; otherwise,
landscaping is done on the city’s
schedule—29 times a year—
compared to the subdivision’s
once-a-week schedule.
Jose Madrigal, assistant
city manager, said enhanced
landscaping is not provided by
Leander
the city anywhere else, while the
city cannot legally enforce deed
restrictions.
Two elections are required to
create an HOA: one by property
owners within the HOA to allow
other property owners in and
the other by non-HOA property
owners to join the HOA. Both
require two-thirds approval.
If that fails, a limited purpose
district (LPD), a taxing district,
could be created, but if it fails,
annexation will still take place.
“Without any mechanism in
place to maintain our current
landscaping standards and
enforce our deed restrictions,
there is no question whatsoever
that we will see a substantial
degradation in the quality of
life that we all enjoy in our
neighborhood,” said Max Moss,
president of the MUD board.
Financial burden
Money is a factor for the city
and MUD, as the subdivision
pays the cost—about $212,500—
to operate an HOA or LPD.
Moss said the MUD would
Leander quiet zone
Residents in a neighborhood near
FM 2243 and US 183 asked the Leander
City Council to establish a “quiet zone” at
the intersection because of the disturbance
of Capital Metro’s Red Line commuter rail
blowing its horn early in the morning.
The neighborhood presented a petition
requesting the quiet zone to the council at
the April 15 meeting.
A quiet zone, which can only be
established at intersections that have a
quad gate or a raised concrete median,
keeps the trains from blowing their horn
at the intersection. A quad gate was
installed at the intersection in 2009.
“I will work on this personally,” Mayor
John Cowman said. “Thank you for
alerting us to this situation.”
Leander designated Crystal Falls
Parkway and US 183 as a quiet zone in
2005, but the crossing at FM 2243 and
US 183 was not designated a quiet zone
because it did not meet the standards then.
This is the only intersection that meets
the requirements for a quiet zone, but it
does not have one in place.
Erica McKewen, communications
specialist for Capital Metro, said the
process to establish a quiet zone is lengthy.
The Federal Railroad Administration
requires a public comment period and a
notification period, making the process
take about 90 days to complete.
Community Impact Newspaper • impactnews.com May 2010 | 13
Compiled by Joseph M. de Leon and Jenn Rains
183
OLd 2243
need funding from the city to
establish either mechanism since
no funds would be available until
the beginning of 2012.
An analysis in November 2007
determined the city’s annual cost
for annexing the subdivision
would be about $178,631,
the difference between the
subdivision’s debt and the taxes
received by the city.
The MUD debt is $8.29
million and comes from bonds
that paid for the subdivision’s
infrastructure.
“We knew the costs when we
started this process, but now
these last two years have been
serious budget years for us and
we don’t have the funding we
thought we had,” Councilman
Scott Mitchell said.
Maintenance costs for
repairing the roads in the MUD
also adds to the city’s bill, he said.
Moss said the subdivision
wants to be annexed and plans
to establish an HOA and manage
the debt to prepare for voluntary
annexation later.
SOUTH WEST dR.
SONNY dR.
183
Crossing with a quiet zone
Capital Metro
Rail Station
Capital Metro
Park & Ride
CRYSTAL FALLS PKWY.
Neighborhood
requesting quiet zone
2243
Crossing without a
quiet zone
LEANdER dR.
183
CR 273
N