July 2010 - Community Impact Newspaper

Courtesy Lisa Murray
City and County Notes | Recent news
Travis County
Travis County will soon begin cleaning silt from Hamilton Pool.
Hamilton Pool cleanup settled
In spring 2007 a large amount of silt flowed into
Hamilton Pool, located at 24300 Hamilton Pool Road,
causing Travis County to investigate the source of the
sediment. The investigation showed construction at The
Lakeway Bee Cave
Funding approved for Lohmans Crossing
Lakeway City Council approved funding to make
improvements on Lohmans Crossing Road at its June
21 meeting. The approximately $453,000 bid will be
awarded to APAC-Texas Inc. The project cost went up
slightly since the council first approved the project due
to increasing asphalt pricing and drainage improvements
that must be added to the project. The city plans to finish
the road construction before school begins this fall.
City Hall
Cross Creek
Lakeway Dr.
Sailmaster St. Construction for Lohmans
Lakeway Police Dept.
Lohmans Crossing
Road bridge will have
minor repairs
Lakeway Blvd.
Lohmans Crossing Rd.
Lakeway Fire Dept.
Crossing Road Project
Project
Duck Lake Dr.
Pavement overlay 830 L. ft.*
Reconstruction 2,034 L. ft.*
Detours
* Indicates linear feet
White Sands Dr.
Lakeway City Council meetings
Council meets the third Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m.
in the council chambers at 1102 Lohmans Crossing Road. Visit
http://tx-lakeway.civicplus.com or call 314-7500.
N
Tiffany Young
Ranches at Hamilton Pool, about four miles upstream
of the swimming hole, to be the culprit: On-site controls
placed by the developers had failed, violating the Texas
Water Code.
A settlement between the defendant, Coldwater Development,
and plaintiffs—Travis and Hays counties, the
Texas Commission of Environmental Quality and landowners
downstream of the Ranches development—was
made mid-June. The defendants will pay $3.5 million,
divided among the plaintiffs. Consultants retained by
Travis County will remove a large amount of sediment
from the creek bed, and Hamilton Pool will be cleaned
using divers and high-pressure filter presses. The county
will award the project soon.
“I think we want [the quality of the pool] back as close
to the quality as it was before,” said Deece Eckstein, Travis
County intergovernmental relations coordinator.
Hamilton Pool, which has about 75,000 visitors annually,
was designated a preserve by the Travis County
Commissioners Court in 1990 and is home to the
Golden-cheeked Warbler, an endangered species that
breeds in Central Texas.
A large crowd made it out to The Backyard at Bee Cave’s opening event in May.
West Lake Hills
City signs agreement to allow developers to pay for
wastewater system
The City of West Lake Hills approved a wastewater
agreement, which would allow developers to pay to hook
up to the main wastewater system line through Lower
Colorado River Authority. Three separate developments
are looking to switch from septic tanks to using the city’s
wastewater system. In the past the city has paid for the
line and then had users pay connection and impact fees.
Having the developer pay to build the lines would not incur
a cost to the city. The developers and others wanting
to use the system would still need to get approval from
the city to use the wastewater system and the developers
will be allowed to subtract the cost it spends on the
wastewater system from impact fees owed to the city.
Community Impact Newspaper • impactnews.com July 2010 | 11
Rollingwood
City to consider wastewater rate increases
On June 16 Rollingwood City Council approved increasing
wastewater rates and established a rate stabilization
fund to balance Rollingwood’s wastewater budget.
At the end of May the city’s wastewater revenues ended
with a deficit of $137,000. The stabilization fund will allow
the city to make up the deficit by the end of 2012.
Residential wastewater usage rates will increase to
$10.29 per 1,000 gallons winter average water usage
increasing residents’ monthly usage fee from the current
rate of $5.95. Neither of the proposals would affect user’s
demand charge. June utility bills, which will be mailed in
July, will reflect these changes.
There will be no change in the monthly residential
capital charge of $65 or in water rates.
Visit www.cityofrollingwood.com.
Rollingwood City Council meetings
Council meets the third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m.
at Rollingwood City Hall, 403 Nixon Drive.
Visit www.cityofrollingwood.com or call 327-1838.
The Backyard gets temporary permit extended
Tim O’Connor, owner of Bee Cave’s largest outdoor
music venue, asked Bee Cave City Council to extend his
temporary special event certificate of occupancy. The
city granted an extension until Nov. 30.
The venue has approval from the Lower Colorado
River Authority on plans to finish the entrance to The
Backyard on Hwy. 71, which is expected to be complete
by the Willie Nelson Fourth of July Picnic.
Also, The Backyard has not laid grass pavers yet—the
company was advised to wait until after the Willie Nelson
Fourth of July Picnic because grass is hard to grow
this time of year and the crowds would likely damage
what had grown.
The Backyard was advised not to install grass unless
it has six weeks in between concerts to give time to
grow, but a concert has been booked for Bob Dylan
Aug. 4.
Visit http://thebackyard.net.
Bee Cave City Council meetings
Meets the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. at
City Hall located at 4000 Galleria Parkway.
Visit http://portal.beecavetexas.com or call 767-6600.
No overnight parking on Laurel Valley Cove
Laurel Valley Cove was added to the list of streets in
West Lake Hills prohibited from overnight parking of
vehicles. While daytime is defined as 30 minutes before
the sun comes up to 30 minutes after the sun goes down,
the code is unclear whether a car can be parked for short
periods of time during the night or what time night
begins and ends. The council debated defining nighttime
further, but decided to wait until a later meeting to
discuss the item since it was not on the meeting agenda.
West Lake Hills City Council meetings
Council meets the second and fourth Wednesday of
the month at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 911 Westlake Drive. Visit
www.westlakehills.org or call 327-3628.
By Tiffany young