Goat time at DS Library
Celebrate ‘Fab Lab’ at DSHS
Lady Tigers fall to Mustangs
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News-Dispatch Volume XXXVII No. 15
Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982
75¢
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Citizens group takes stance on wastewater BY MOSES LEOS III
news@haysfreepress.com
Concerns over the method Wimberley city leaders should take to alleviate wastewater woes drove hundreds to the Wimberley Community Center last week to hear what one group feels is the best way to proceed. The Citizens Alliance for Responsible Development (CARD) held a town hall meeting to voice their support of a plan that would expand the city’s wastewater system to 75,000 gallons per day,
with the construction of a 500,000-gallon storage tank for reuse. Members of CARD opposed a separate plan, which would outsource the city’s wastewater system to Aqua Texas. Steve Klempfer, a Wimberley business owner and former mayor, said the plan of expanding the city’s wastewater facility was the culmination of a process that was “vetted by city council many times.” Additionally, Klempfer said the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality vetted and “backed it,” with support
from the Meadows Center and the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). Expanding the Wimberley wastewater system would cost roughly $4.5 million to implement. In 2015, Wimberley received a $1 million grant from the TWDB toward the project. “This is a shovel ready project. It’s ready to go,” Klempfer said. Longtime Wimberley resident Donn Lamoureux was concerned about the personal affordability for residents
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PHOTO BY MOSES LEOS III
Hundreds of residents packed into the Wimberley Community Center Jan. 12 to hear members of the Citizens Alliance for Responsilbe Development speak on the city’s wastewater woes.
LAGNIAPPE ‘My Fair Lady’ at DSHS
It’s show time!
Tickets are on sale to the public for this year’s Dripping Springs ISD musical: Lerner & Leowe’s “My Fair Lady.” This is the first time DSHS has worked with this beloved classic. Choose seats and reserve tickets online at www. dshstheatre.com. Tickets may also be purchased at the door for $10/students/ seniors and $15/adults. As always, DSISD employees are free. Performances will be held Jan. 26, Jan. 27, Jan. 28 and Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 29 at 2:00 p.m.
Scholarship opportunity
The Dripping Springs Women’s Club will award two $500 college scholarships for female students in May. Applications are due by April 10 and can be found at www. dswomensclub.com or by contacting womenofds@ gmail.com.
Call for auditions Do you think you can act? Wimberley Players will hold auditions for “By the Water” by Sharyn Rothstein on Monday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. at Wimberley Playhouse and Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. at St. Andrews Episcopal School. Actors may bring a monologue if they have one prepared, otherwise they will be asked to read from the script. Callbacks will be held Saturday, Jan. 28 from 12-4 p.m. at the Wimberley Playhouse. Please schedule a reserved audition time slot
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show,” Dodd said. Over the years, participation levels have ebbed and flowed, Dodd said. Participation roughly three to four years ago was higher than today. But the show has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 30 years, Dodd said, who himself participated as a youth in the 1980s. Nita Leinneweber, who is part of the board, said participation has grown “across the board” in nearly every category. That includes the
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PHOTO BY MOSES LEOS III
Livestock Show celebrates traditional skills BY MOSES LEOS III
Participating in the Hays County Livestock Show and Expo (HCLSE) is a tradition Dripping Springs resident Jeff Dodd passed down to his children. As the years went by, Dodd’s three sons, whose interest was spurred by Dodd, not only completed their projects and obtained money for college, but also gained life skills along the way. Now as a member of the HCLSE Board of Directors, Dodd hopes to continue advocating the show in order to hold on to the agricultural roots of the region. “I think we’re losing some of the agricultural background in Texas,” Dodd said. “This gives a lot of our kids an opportunity to see the process and to stay involved with the roots of the community.” The HCLSE, which official-
“I think we’re losing some of the agricultural background in Texas ... This gives a lot of our kids an opportunity to see the process and to stay involved with the roots of the community.” – Jeff Dodd, member of HCSLE board of directors
ly kicked off Saturday with the annual horse show, will feature 1,500 total entries that span multiple categories that include livestock, agricultural mechanics and home skills. Exhibitors come from only Hays County, Dodd said. Helping manage the expansive show is a 25-member board that Dodd said helps “divide and conquer.” Every species that is shown has a superintendent that helps set up pens, line out specific classes, and eventually run the show. “They are responsible for micromanagement of the
BY SAMANTHA SMITH
news@haysfreepress.com
A Dripping Springs woman was arrested earlier this month after she was suspected of assaulting her ex-boyfriend, which then led her to prevent him from calling authorities before she ultimately threatened BURNAM him with a gun. Suzette Burnam, 46, of Dripping Springs, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which is a second-degree felony, and theft of a firearm, which is a state jail felony. Burnam was also charged with interference with emergency request, which is a Class-A misdemeanor. According to a Hays County probable cause affidavit, a Hays County Sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to Hays Country Acres Road in Dripping Springs at approximately 12:32 a.m. Jan. 2 in reference to a verbal disturbance where a gunshot had been fired. According to the affidavit, Burnam, who called authorities, advised dispatchers she had grabbed a handgun belonging to Marty Williams, 48, whom she said was her ex-boyfriend. When the deputy arrived on scene, he made contact
Wimberley resident Ashley Wortham poses with her show horse prior to competing in the Hays County Livestock Show and Expo horse show at the Dripping Springs Ranch Park Jan. 14. The annual horse show kicked off the livestock show, which will take place Jan. 24-26 in Dripping Springs.
news@haysfreepress.com
Gunshots lead to assault arrest
$1.9M for low water crossing upgrades BY LOGAN MCCULLOUGH
news@haysfreepress.com
Hays County Commissioners recently authorized an agreement with Water and Earth Technologies for the installation of low-water crossing warning systems within the county. In a deal that will cost the county $1.9 million, Hays County Judge Bert Cobb said in a recent commissioners court hearing that he believes the project provides a better handle on how the county can manage low-water crossings in a timely manner for the utmost public safety. “There is so much lag time
between when an identified low-water crossing is flooding, and you have people there wondering if they can cross it safely or not when obviously, they can’t,” Cobb said. “Then we have to send an officer out there to officially close it and put up the barriers that are already sitting on the side of the road.” Water & Earth Technologies (WET) is a water resources and environmental engineering firm that provides engineering services in the areas of surface and ground water hydrology, flood warning, data acquisition, and data management systems.
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PHOTO BY MOSES LEOS III
A Kyle Fire Department truck carefully navigates through high water at a low water crossing near Five Mile Dam in San Marcos the morning after the 2015 Memorial Day Flood. Hays County officials selected a firm to begin updating low water crossings countywide.