Grad rates remain high in D.S.
Hulon stays on path of success
Texas is tops in field of nursing
page 4
page 3
News-Dispatch Volume XXXVIII No. 33
Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982
page 6
75¢ Thursday, May 24, 2018
Drones to assist in appraisal surveys BY EXSAR ARGUELLO
Riding on a Dream PHOTO BY DAVE WILSON
A rodeo cowboy learned the hard way how a brahma bull handles business during a ride in the Bailey-Kay Hutson “Riding on a Dream” event held at Dripping Springs Ranch Park May 19. The annual bull ride is held to help Hutson, a Dripping Springs High alumna born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, fundraise to purchase land and build a facility that allows special needs children to have fun and escape from hospital rooms.
LAGNIAPPE HaysCo offices closed for Memorial Day
Hays County offices will be closed Monday, May 28, in observance of Memorial Day. Offices for the city of Dripping Springs and the city of Wimberley will be closed Monday as well. Offices will reopen at their regular times on Tuesday, May 29. Hays County Commissioners Court will be held Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the Hays County Courthouse in San Marcos.
Memorial Day program in Wimberley
On Monday, the VFW Post 6441 will have a Memorial Day program at the Veterans Memorial Plaza at the EmilyAnn Theater in Wimberley. The event begins at 9 a.m. and features a presentation of the colors by the Lehman JROTC.
LAGNIAPPE, 5
Residents protest proposed pump permit near Wimberley BY EXSAR ARGUELLO
Controversy continues to build over a Houston-based company’s proposal to pump 2.5 million gallons per day from the Trinity Aquifer. On May 16, roughly 100 residents gathered at the Blue Hole Regional Park pavilion in Wimberley in protest of Electro Purification’s (EP) permit with the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BSEACD). The gathering was part of a forum hosted by the Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association (TESPA). EP, which attempted to obtain water from the Trinity Aquifer in 2015, has seven test wells located between Kyle and Wimberley to monitor the amount of water the company can successfully pump. According to EP’s application, the company’s proposed avoidance actions include a five-year,
APPRAISAL DRONES, 2
PHOTO BY EXSAR ARGUELLO
Over 100 residents packed under the Blue Hole Park pavilion in Wimberley for the Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Agency (TESPA) public forum on a well production permit submitted by Electro Purification.
Executive director and general counsel for TESPA acknowledges that BSEACD is looking into the matter closely to determine if the permit will cause unreasonable risk to the aquifer. Phase I would call five-phase plan to pump for 273,750,000 gallons smaller amounts from of water to be pumped the aquifer.
in the first year with a gradual increase to nearly one billion gallons of water per year in Phase V, which is expected to be done by 2023. Vanessa Puig-Williams, executive director and counsel for TESPA, said she believes the permit may pass with
PERMIT PROTEST, 6
Austin looking to join Dripping Springs wastewater permit fight BY EXSAR ARGUELLO A decision on giving the city of Austin affected party status in the fight over Dripping Springs’ wastewater permit was deferred Monday by the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) to a later date. Dripping Springs’ wastewater permit calls for the authorization of discharge of treated domestic wastewater at a daily flow not to exceed 995,000 gallons per day into Walnut Springs, a tributary of Onion Creek. The permit has been at the center of community concern after research showed a direct
Recent advances in technology is helping Hays County officials to better accommodate the process of appraising properties. Every three years, every parcel of property in Hays County is reviewed by the Hays County Appraisal District (CAD) to assess the value of a property. With around 95,000 properties in Hays County, the appraisal district has turned to drone technology to assess properties. The service is provided by Eagle View, a company that specializes in property measurements using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, which allows appraisers to view a property from the sky with precise information. “The software allows us to properly measure the perimeter of a property, see what additions have been made to a property that could change the value, all from a computer,” said David Valle, chief appraiser for the Hays County Appraisal District. “The software does not reveal any private information and is strictly used to help appraise a property.”
Dripping Springs’ wastewater permit calls for the authorization of discharge of treated domestic wastewater at a daily flow not exceed 995,000 gallons per day to Walnut Springs, a tributary of Onion Creek. link between Onion Creek and recharge of the Edwards Aquifer. For the city of Austin, a conservation easement giving officials authority to monitor the environmental impact of Onion Creek was the key document in its hopes to receive party status. “The purpose of the easement is to maintain the health that exists on the proper-
ty, including without limitation, protecting native plant life and wildlife communities,” said Chris Herrington, water resource evaluation section manager at city of Austin watershed protection department. “The discharge point is at Walnut Creek and downstream to our easement.” Herrington said the city had conducted studies that analyze
a direct connection between the discharge point to the aquifers, which they believe gives Austin merit to be involved with the case hearing. However, the city of Dripping Springs’ legal team maintained the discharge point is not located within the Austin city limits or its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). Alfred Albert, who received affected party status, has land located near the discharge point, which also connects to the city of Austin’s conservation easement. David Groom, a real
WASTEWATER PERMIT, 6
Judge candidate settles lease dispute with San Marcos BY EXSAR ARGUELLO Roughly $13,000 owed in a leasing dispute by the Democratic candidate for Hays County Judge was partially waived by San Marcos city leaders May 1, but not without controversy. The issue centered on a dispute between Ruben Becerra and the city of San Marcos over his acquisition of the Dixie Cream Donuts shop in San Marcos. The San Marcos City Council approved waiving a part of what was owed in a 5-2 vote. The city of San Marcos claimed Becerra had failed to pay the city the $13,117.99 that he owed for lease on Dixie Cream Donuts from 2015 to 2017. San Marcos city leaders approved waiving roughly $11,000. Becerra bought the business in 2015 from Daniel Anderson, the original owner of Dixie Cream who passed away later that year. The property is on an approximately 1,400-square-foot plot of land which is owned by the city of San Marcos and Union Pacific Railroad Company. Tenants of the property have one lease and two landlords – the city of San Marcos and Union Pacific. Becerra, who was
LEASE DISPUTE, 2