Tigers earn honors at UIL meet
Start 2018 off right!
Top sports moments of 2017
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News-Dispatch Volume XXXVIII No. 13
Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982
with the Hays County Echo, see inside
75¢ Thursday, January 4, 2018
Utility agency lowers interest rate on $151M bonds
No injuries in New Years fire
STAFF REPORT
PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTH HAYS COUNTY FIRE & RESCUE
Several members of the North Hays County Fire Rescue crew assess a shed damaged by fire Jan. 1. No one was hurt after a shed caught fire in the 300 block of Timberline Road in Dripping Springs on New Year’s Day. Scott Collard, North Hays County Fire Rescue chief, said crews were dispatched to the scene around 11:45 a.m. Jan. 1 for the fire. No residential structures were involved in the fire. The incident was one of two fires North Hays fire crews attended to on Jan. 1. NHCFR also assisted the Kyle Fire Department with a major structure fire in downtown Kyle. No one was hurt in the Kyle fire.
LAGNIAPPE
Caregiver’s Support Group Meeting
This Thursday, Jan. 4, is the first Alzheimer’s Caregiver’s Support Group meeting of the year. Caregivers of persons with dementia are invited to meet and share the latest information as we travel the care giving journey together. We meet at the Wimberley Presbyterian Church Library, 956 FM 2325 at 1:00 p.m. For additional information, contact Linda Germain, volunteer for Alzheimer’s Texas, at 512-924-3661.
Trail Walk
Get out into nature together with the city of Dripping Springs at this “Healthy Parks Healthy People” event at Charro Ranch Park on Jan. 6 from 10 a.m. - noon for a trail walk and bird watching event. Special guest
LAGNIAPPE, 6
TOP LOCAL NEWS STORIES OF 2017 Dripping Springs OKs 700-home PID
A new 189-acre Dripping Springs housing development was approved this year, which will include additions to the city’s roadways and wastewater management capacity. On Nov. 14, the Dripping Springs City Council unanimously approved the creation of the Heritage Public Improvement District (PID). The agreement involves SLF IV - Dripping Springs JV, L.P. and Bobwhite Investments, LP. which includes the developer Stratford Land, based in Dallas. In June, Dripping Springs Planning and Zoning Commission gave the development its approval. The project encompasses 700 residential units on 189 acres and will lie in the heart of the city near Dripping Springs High School. The PID, a financing mechanism to help fund the project, allows the creation of reimbursement bonds, which will be paid by residents of the development over time through a PID assessment, said Ginger Faught, Dripping Springs deputy city administrator. The price of PID bonds can go up to $27.5 million and the assessment paid by residents cannot exceed more than 73 cents for every $100 in property value, according to financing documents obtained from the city. Mim James, Dripping Springs planning and zoning chairperson, said construction of infrastructure and utilities within the Heritage subdivision, which extends to roads, effluent lines and sidewalks, is estimated to cost $50 million. That figure excludes the value of homes. The project calls for developers to construct a road that extends Rogers Hanks Parkway. The road would go northeast to Ranch Road 12, creating an alternative route to the intersection of Ranch Road 12 and U.S. Highway 290, according to city documents. The road will create part of the loop the city has envisioned within its master transportation
Late last month, the West Travis County Public Utility Agency (PUA) completed the refinancing of $151.7 million of its Series 2013 Bonds. The new Series 2017 bonds will have an effective interest rate of 3.51 percent. The new rate is lower than the 2013 Series bonds interest rate of 4.95 percent, resulting in $17.4 million in principal and interest savings over 28 years, or $621,000 per year.
2013 BONDS, 3
DSISD board filing period begins SUBMITTED REPORT
BEST OF 2017
TIGER FOOTBALL MAKES HISTORIC RUN Dripping Springs Tiger senior wide receiver Johnny Hoyle gives a tearful hug to a coach after a season-ending loss at the hands of the Richmond Foster Falcons at Merrill Green Stadium in Bryan. Dripping Springs, which entered the game unbeaten, had its 2017 campaign end in the area round of the playoffs. See the top moments in Dripping Springs sports in 2017 on page 4.
plan that circles the intersection of Ranch Road 12 and U.S. 290, James said. The development will also support the city’s treated wastewater reuse goals, Faught said. In the city’s plan for wastewater treatment expansion, priority will be to use treated wastewater to irrigate parks, landscapes and medians, in order to avoid discharge of treated wastewater in springs or creeks as part of its agreement with Lower Colorado River Authority, according to the agreement. This side agreement, which the city approved on Nov. 1, extends to the city’s permit application with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to expand its wastewater treatment plant capacity to 995,000 gallons per day. The treated effluent line extends from the Caliterra subdivision and allows the city to
irrigate Founder’s Park and other city owned facilities, Faught said. The line has an estimated cost of $2.6 million and will be paid for by the developer, Faught said. James said an important aspect of the Heritage subdivision is the $200,000 price range for homes, which falls below the area’s median price of $370,000. The next step is for the developer to submit its preliminary plat, or construction drawings, for approval. No date has been set as to when those will be turned in, Faught said.
WIDER ROAD, LOWER SPEED LIMITS IN U.S. 290 PLAN Concerns over U.S. Highway 290 boiled in 2017 as residents repeatedly expressed their
TOP STORIES OF 2017, 2
The filing period for school board candidates in Dripping Springs ISD begins Wednesday, Jan. 17, and continues through Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. DSISD’s seven Board members do not represent places; they are all “at-large” representatives. Trustees serve three-year terms. The current terms of trustees Carrie Fontana-Kroll, Mary Jan Hetrick and Shannon O’Connor expire this May. School board candidates in Texas must: • Be a United States Citizen; • Be 18 years of age or older; • Not be mentally incapacitated (as defined in policy); • Have not been convicted of a felony; • Be a resident of Texas and the district for a specified period of time (see policy); and • Be a registered voter from the territory of office sought. An informational session on becoming a board member will be held Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, in the Board Room at 6:00 p.m. Early voting will run from Monday, April 23, to Tuesday, May 1, 2018. Election Day is Saturday, May 5, 2018. For more information on becoming a DSISD school board member, see: https://www.dsisdtx.us/site/ Default.aspx?PageID=207.