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News-Dispatch Volume XXXVI No. 49
Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982
75¢
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Locals arrested for burglary Voters STAFF REPORT
A pair of Dripping Springs men have been arrested after they allegedly stole one vehicle and burglarized several others in a spree that spanned at least two subdivisions Sept. 1. Jimmy Von Tray Evans, 19, of Dripping Springs, was arrested and booked into the
Hays County Jail Sept. 5. Evans was charged with two counts of burglary of a vehicle and was arrested on an outstanding warrant. Bobby Trevino, 20, of Dripping Springs, was arrested Sept. 6 on a theft of a firearm charge and a felony theft charge. Both men are currently being held in the Hays County Jail.
According to a Hays County Sheriff’s Office press release, deputies responded to the 100 block of Glosson Road in Dripping Springs at 6 a.m. Sept. 1 for a report of a stolen vehicle. At approximately 7 a.m., the stolen vehicle was located in the area of Timberline Drive in
BURGLARY, 3
TREVINO
EVANS
Fruitful weekend at Dripping with Taste
back DSISD tax swap STAFF REPORT
An overwhelming majority of voters approved a proposition that allows Dripping Springs ISD to restructure its tax rate, this according to unofficial results provided to the district by Hays County. According to a DSISD press release, 863 of the 1,076 total early voting and Election Day votes, or 80.2 percent, were in favor of the district’s tax swap initiative.
TAX SWAP, 3
PHOTO BY MOSES LEOS III
Thirsty eventgoers cheer near the Treaty Oak Distilling Co. booth as they raise their glasses for a toast during the 2016 Dripping With Taste Festival on Saturday. Whether trying out a Texas-made wine, or sampling an assortment of gourmet foods, patrons made their way to Dripping Springs Ranch Park for the 9th annual Dripping With Taste Food and Wine Festival, which was sponsored by the Dripping Springs Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau. The festival showcased the growing number of local vineyards, breweries, distilleries and gourmet food establishments in the area. The 2016 festival included over 75 vendors.(Browse and buy photos at bartonpublications.smugmug.com.)
LAGNIAPPE Texas Heroes Day & Texian Navy Day
All Texans are invited to fly a Texas flag Sunday, Sept. 18 and Tuesday, Sept. 20 to honor Texas Heroes Day & Texian Navy Day. Honor the heroes who resisted the Mexican invasions of 1842, the Mier Expedition and the first naval engagement of the Texas Revolution, which occurred near Velasco. Sponsored by
LAGNIAPPE, 5
Effluent permit talks continue in Dripping BY MOSES LEOS III
news@haysfreepress.com
Negotiations will continue between Dripping Springs and a water authority over the city’s draft permit on discharging treated effluent. The continued concerns over the potential discharge of treated effluent stemming from Dripping Springs’ discharge draft permit will lead the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation (BSEACD) to continue negotiations with the entity. The BSEACD board of directors voted unanimously Sept. 8 to continue talks with the city in hopes of resolving issues that have surrounded the draft permit. John Dupnik, BSEACD General Manager, said the district is moving in parallel paths. “On the one hand, we’re preparing to make comments to be considered by (TCEQ) before they take action,” Dupnik said. “But we’re going to continue negotiations with the city.” The BSEACD took up the city’s draft permit, which Dupnik said gave the board a “sense” of what the TCEQ’s preliminary decision could be. Dripping Springs’ draft permit consists of constructing a new wastewater treatment plant facility that would discharge up to 995,000 gallons per day of treated effluent into Walnut Springs, a tributary of Onion Creek. The permit authorizes the city to discharge domestic
“On the one hand, we’re preparing to make comments to be considered by (TCEQ) before they take action ... But we’re going to continue negotiations with the city.” –John Dupnik, BSEACD General Manager
treated wastewater over a series of three phases. The draft permit includes an expiration date of Sept. 1, 2019, which the city requested as part of its ability to add comments to the TCEQ’s draft. The city’s planned facility is a Bardenpho-activated sludge process plant. According to the draft permit, the effluent limitations will “maintain and protect the instream uses” of Walnut Springs. In addition, the TCEQ conducted two antidegradation reviews on designated portions of Onion Creek, which would receive treated effluent. According to the draft permit, a Tier 1 antidegradation review preliminarily determined existing water uses in Onion Creek “will not be impared by this action.” A second tier review preliminarily determined that “no significant degradation
of water quality is expected in Onion Creek,” which has high aquatic life. But the TCEQ draft permit fell “well short” of the conditions the BSEACD helped craft within the Hays Water Control Improvement District No. 1 permit in Belterra, Dupnik said. Concerns were that standards within the draft permit were less stringent than the Belterra permit, Dupnik said. That conditional discharge permit, which was crafted after the result of “meticulous negotiations,” set the bar for what a future discharge permit would look like, Dupnik said. He added the board is planning to work with the city to see if it could offer more in terms of protections to “actually fulfill what it states is its intended purpose, which is to reuse all of its water.” In July, the News-Dispatch reported city officials estimating 35 to 40 percent of the treated effluent would go to reuse. Dupnik said the board must be convinced that the city has the infrastructure and the demand in place for reuse and eliminate any potential risk of discharge. “The Mayor says on many occasions that the effluent is a commodity and is valuable to them and they’d much rather use it than put it in the creek,” Dupnik said. “We agree with that, but we need some assurances that the permit would be structured to make us feel better that there would be a
WASTEWATER, 8
Gas rate increase possible for area BY MOSES LEOS III
news@haysfreepress.com
A “major” rate increase proposed by a natural gas company could drastically affect the average monthly bill for nearly 1,500 Hays County residents. The rate increase request, made by Texas Gas Services (TGS), has prompted several area cities to pass resolutions to suspend rate increases for the time being. The cities of Dripping Springs and Kyle joined Austin, Westlake and other local municipalities in enacting rate suspension resolutions as a response to TGS. In June, TGS made an official filing with the Texas Railroad Commission to increase rates for all customers in the Central Texas Service Area, according to an emailed response from Christina Penders, TGS communications manager. The TGS rate case is the company’s first since 2009. The CTSA includes approximately 430 households in Buda and Kyle, and roughly 1,000 homes in Dripping Springs. TGS requested a $4.49 increase for residential customers who live in city limits where TGS provides service. Residential customers in Central Texas outside city limits could see a nearly $11 increase in their monthly bill. Customers in Buda and Kyle could see a 23 percent jump in their monthly bills, while Dripping Springs customers would see their bills rise by 33 percent. Commercial customers in Central Texas would see their monthly bills go down by $3 per month. One of the main reasons for TGS’s
GAS RATES, 3