DECEMBER 27, 2017 TOP PICKS
UNDER PRESSURE
See the 2017 Hays Free Press top volleyball and football picks.
Stress management team works to help responders through hard times
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Vol. 121 • No. 40
HaysFreePress.com
Serving Buda, Kyle and Northeast Hays County, TX
Texas pop. tops 28.3M in 2017
Buda eyes more traffic studies BY SAMANTHA SMITH
BUDA ROADS, 12
PHOTO BY MOSES LEOS III
Under pressure in south Kyle
Unlike last year, a majority of the state’s growth came from natural increase – Texans having more babies – and not people moving to the state.
Several Kyle Public Works employees help dig a trench for installation of a 12-inch water line along Old Stagecoach Road near Opal Lane. The project is meant to improve water pressure in the south part of town.
Post Road bridge reopens BY MOSES LEOS III
BY ALEXA URA AND RYAN MURPHY
Under budget and ahead of schedule were phrases public officials used as they reopened a vital connector that quite literally bridges Kyle and San Marcos over the Blanco River. For Hays County Pct. 4 Commissioner Ray Whisenant, the impact of reopening the Post Road bridge marks one of the last few steps in the county’s effort to recover from the devastating Memorial Day 2015 PHOTO BY MOSES LEOS III floods. Two Hays County employees overlook the Blanco River on the newly built Post Road Rebuilding the Bridge. bridge also improves construction of the improve the condition TxDOT’s primary focus mobility and enhancPost Road Bridge, of highway bridges. for bridge improvees safety in the area, which suffered heavy In the off-system ments is safety. Whisenant said. First damage after the Meprogram, TxDOT ren“When we deterResponders will now morial Day flood, was ovates projects that mine a bridge needs have an easier way to are not on the state’s repair, such as this one access areas along Post completed roughly one month ahead of network of highways, here, we work with loRoad near the Blanco schedule. while also waiving a 10 cal officials to develop River. The roughly percent match require- a plan of action and “If it had not been $900,000 project to ment from participatrequest funding from under budget nor on rebuild the bridge ining entities any source available,” time, it still was an volved a partnership In return, entities McCoy said. important project for between the county agree to use an equivaMcCoy said TxDOT the issues of safety and the Texas Departlent participation dol- worked with its partand convenience,” ment of Transportalar amount to the 10 ners in Hays County Whisenant said. “Partion via its “off-system” percent to go toward and Capital Excavation ticularly the safety of bridge program. improving other defito complete the projthose that live along The program is part cient structures in its ect earlier than anticithis road and use it of TxDOT’s Highway jurisdiction. pated. daily for access.” Bridge Program, which Terry McCoy, TxDOT According to Hays uses federal funding to district engineer, said BRIDGE OPENS, 6 County officials, re-
Texas Tribune
After gaining almost 400,000 new residents in one year, Texas is now home to 28.3 million people. New estimates released Wednesday by the Census Bureau show Texas crossed that population threshold between July 2016 and July 2017 following years of steady growth since the 2010 Census when the state’s population topped off at 25.1 million.
POPULATION GROWTH, 12
Buda approves flood early warning system
COMING UP EmilyAnn Trail of Lights
Head to Wimberley to celebrate the 20th annual festival at EmilyAnnTheatre and Gardens through Dec. 28. Enjoy more than 100 lighted exhibits from 6-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays and 6-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Roast a marshmallow, listen to live music and meet Santa.
In preparation for the next flood to hit the area, city of Buda officials are planning the installation of new technologies to inform drivers of rising water. On December 5, Buda City Council members approved purchasing a flood early warning system (FEW) from Water & Earth Technologies (WET), according to City Engineer John Nett. The system entails installation of five pressure transducers into a stream or on a bridge
Splash in the New Year on Jan. 1, 2018 at Kyle Pool in this 14th annual tradition. Pool gates will open at 1 p.m. and the splash will be at 1:30 p.m. Pool gates will close at 2:30 p.m. until Memorial Day weekend. Rain-out make-up day will be Tuesday, Jan. 2 at the same time and place.
PREDICTIONS
Study says unemployment down, debt up in 2018 – Page 8
BY MARIA GARDNER
Polar Bear Splash
INDEX
Crafting solutions to traffic congestion in Buda was a topic the city’s Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission took up Nov. 28. The discussion was brought up via a presentation by city staff relating to the history of traffic congestion and possible ways to mitigate it. Chance Sparks, Buda assistant city manager, said prior to 2002, the city’s Unified Development Code (UDC) did not contain specific enough requirements for Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA), which are studies to determine the traffic impact of a development. Prior to rewriting its Unified Development Code (UDC) earlier this year, a TIA could only be triggered if a proposed project had an average of 5,000 daily trips, or vehicles traveling to and from the development. Sparks said that meant development projects could be split up into smaller ones that didn’t qualify for a TIA to move forward. Sparks said the oversight should not be construed as negligence on the part of city leaders at the time, but an unawareness of the growth the area would experience and the ability to use TIA’s as tools to manage growth. Sparks said Buda’s rewrite of its UDC could mean tighter requirements for TIAs to be done by incoming developers in the future. Implementation of Roadway Impact Fees could provide regulatory solutions for the current traffic issues on currently congested Buda roadways, Sparks said. Impact fees are imposed by cities and
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EARLY WARNING, 12
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