Driftwood’s Self-Sustaining subdivision
School board filing begins in January
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Hetrick to fill interim TASB position
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News-Dispatch Volume XXXIX No. 12
Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982
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75¢
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Hall to contest Commissioner Pct. 3 election BY EXSAR ARGUELLO
Hall, a Wimberley area attorney, was defeated by The fight for Hays Coun- incumbent Pct. 3 Commisty’s Pct. 3 Commissioner sioner Lon Shell by a slim seat is now heading to 37-vote margin on Nov. court. 6. Results remained the Jimmy Alan Hall, the same after Hall petitioned Democratic candidate in and was granted a Nov. 28 the Nov. 6 Pct. 3 Commisrecount. sioner race, submitted a According to the pepetition to the Hays Coun- tition, Hall is contesting ty District Court to fight the the race on numerous result of the election. grounds, all of which will
be heard by a district judge in the near future. Parties expected to be present at the hearing are representatives HALL from Hays County and the Hall and the Shell campaigns. Hall
cites alleged voting mishaps and communication errors on Election Day as his reason for the petition. Hall alleges a number of eligible voters attempted to participate in the Nov. 6 Pct. 3 Commissioner race, but were not allowed to on “improper ground that these voters didn’t live in the proper voting district.” Hall also said voters who
reside and were registered in Hays County were given provisional ballots when they should have received regular ones. Hall alleged approximately 86 percent of those ballots were rejected, “disenfranchising those voters.” Other allegations include voters who were registered in Precinct 3 were given ballots for Precinct
2, along with confusion among voters and officials over where Texas State University students in Pct. 334 were supposed to cast a ballot Nov. 6. “I just want every vote that was entitled to be counted, counted,” Hall said. “Some students had to travel between precinct
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Worries grow after quarry cited for discharge violations
Becoming one with nature
New Wimberley ISD campus to include self-sustaining technologies
BY EXSAR ARGUELLO
BY EXSAR ARGUELLO The future of water conservation efforts in Texas might lie in a new Wimberley campus, which aims to conserve the resource through self-sustaining technologies. Wimberley ISD officials are calling the new primary school the “One Water School.” When it opens in fall 2020, the campus will reduce groundwater usage from the Trinity Aquifer by 90 percent of what a traditional primary school would use. Water conservation groups and Wimberley ISD officials are calling the project an engineering marvel. The campus will include its own wastewater treatment center and will be fully equipped with a rainwater collection system that will help fuel the school with its water needs.
Violations stemming from two separate discharges of sedimentary debris into Onion Creek in 2016 and 2017 led to citations for the Hays Quarry Rock Crushing Plant, according to a Barton Publications investigation. The investigation came after video and photo evidence of the discharge was submitted to the Hays Free Press and News-Dispatch, sparking outcry from local residents. The quarry, located south of RM 967 and west of the Ruby Ranch subdivision, was found to be in violation of sediment discharge in 2016 and 2017. Two additional investigations were conducted in 2018 with no violations discovered. According to an August 2016 and September 2017 investigation by the Texas Commission on Environ-
The campus will include its own wastewater treatment center and will be fully equipped with a rainwater collection system that will help fuel the school with its water needs. “Our community is devoted to keeping our natural resources green,” said Gina Fulkerson, WISD board member, after the board approved the construction of the campus. “The one water solution is going to do more for this district than just conserve. It’s going to teach our students, at
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a young age, what it means to be environmentally conscious.” Fulkerson said younger generations are growing up in a different world where natural resources have become scarce. By advocating conservation efforts lo-
cally, Fulkerson said she believes the district is setting a precedent for other campuses across the state. The campus, located on Ranch Road 12 and Winters Mill Parkway, has been planned, conceptualized and archi-
tecturally designed over the past six months. WISD worked with the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association (WVWA), the Meadows Center at Texas State University and other lo-
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De-annexation land on 290 allows multifamily project near Belterra BY EXSAR ARGUELLO
An approval by Dripping Springs city leaders to de-annex seven acres of land near the Belterra development off of west Highway 290 could lead to a future multifamily development. The decision to approve the de-annexation came after the Dripping Springs City Council realized the land was not going to become a commercial development, which would have allowed for the collection of sales tax. The sales tax revenue generated from the development would have been used for infrastructure improvements in the area. But a change of scope by Austin-based developer Endeavor means the prop-
Now that the 7.4307-acre parcel of land is de-annexed, future citizens of this development will not have the ability to vote in local elections and will not pay property taxes to the city.
erty will one day become a multifamily development. “We renegotiated that agreement, so when it became clear that the parcel was residential in nature, we knew the city wouldn’t collect sales tax off of it,” said Ginger Faught, Dripping Springs deputy city administrator. “It made sense to take the parcel out of the city limits but still have the development agreement included.” Faught said inclusion of the development agreement means that the city
Under limited purpose annexation, residents can vote in local elections but the city cannot collect ad valorem tax and can only collect sales tax. Now that the 7.4307acre parcel of land is de-annexed, future citican still regulate how the zens of this development proposed development will not have the ability could look, based off of the to vote in local elections city’s ordinances and vision. and will not pay property From the city’s pertaxes to the city. The land spective, this would allow does fall within Dripping for stringent development Springs ISD’s boundaries. standards. For Endeavor, “When it turned out the development agreethat this was not going to ment regulations are be a sales tax generating grandfathered despite the property, we decided it de-annexation. made sense to de-annex Originally, the parcel the property,” Faught said. had limited purpose Endeavor did not reannexation law attached spond for comment as of to it, which is primarily press time, however, the done by municipalities to multifamily development is collect sales tax. on the company’s radar.
Commission could pave way for 100 percent reuse of DS wastewater BY EXSAR ARGUELLO The creation of a Utility Commission in Dripping Springs earlier this month marks another crucial step for city leaders to have 100 percent beneficial reuse from its wastewater treatment plant. As part of closed-door negotiations between the Dripping Springs City Council and parties with affected status in State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) meetings, the commission will help ensure that the city does not discharge water into neighboring creeks and waterways, which was a major point of concern from local residents, water districts and environmental activists. The five-person commission will consist of two representatives from the
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