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2022
Volume 35, Issue 8
www.LHIndependent.com
City’s 2020 financial audit finally complete
2021 bond projects starting to take shape
By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer It took nearly a year longer than it should have, but the City of Liberty Hill’s financial audit is finally finished after months of struggles with missing invoices and other documents, as well as the termination of the City’s finance director in August 2021. Under best practices, the previous year’s financial audit should be completed by the end of March. Interim Finance Director Misti Hancock told the City Council for months starting in September that the audit would be completed the following month, but various hurdles kept the audit from being completed until now. Hancock told the Council during that time frame that she was spending time reconciling accounts that didn’t add up, searching for documents that were missing, and spending a lot of her time on the day-today financial operations of the City, which caused more delays. Lupe Garcia of Whitley Penn, the firm that conducted the audit, said the audit could have ended much sooner than it did, but it wouldn’t have received a clean, or unmodified, opinion. “Until we gathered all the information and corrected all the balances in the general ledger, we could not support that unmodified opinion,” he said. “I’m happy to report that’s the opinion we are issuing on the City’s 2020 financial statements.” Garcia added that the clean opinion means the report can be relied upon as being materially correct, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things in the City that can be improved. “We know there’s been challenges working through the audit for fiscal year 2020,” Garcia said. “We’ve documented those challenges in the form of a management letter that contains material weaknesses, significant deficiencies and some instances of noncompliance that we noted as a result of the procedures that we perform. Management can address those concerns going forward, so the City can issue timely financial
See AUDIT, Page 4
News@LHIndependent.com
By KRISTEN MERIWETHER Staff Writer Less than a year after voters approved a $481.7 bond, what those new schools and renovations will look like is starting to take shape. The Liberty Hill Independent School District Board of Trustees voted on Tuesday to approve the schematic design of two new schools and the renovations of two existing LHISD campuses. The schematic design helps determine the footprint of the campus and brings the projects one step closer to getting shovels in the ground. Here’s a look at the renderings and some details about the project:
Elementary School #6 This new elementary school, designed by Pfluger Architects, will be located in a grove of oak trees in the Bar W neighborhood. The approximately 120,000square-foot footprint of the building is designed to highlight and utilize oak trees, while also providing the same high-quality learning experience found at the recently opened Santa Rita Ranch campuses. With the campus technical-
The schematic design of the front facade of Liberty Hill Middle School was approved by Trustees this week. The construction was approved by voters in a 2021 bond election. (Graphic Courtesy Huckabee Associates) ly in the Leander ETJ, the district will have to work with the City of Leander on the project. The neighborhood is currently under construction—including critical road and infrastructure needed for construction—and with an expected open date of August 2023, this project has the least room for shifts in timeline.
©2022 The Liberty Hill Independent
Middle School #3 This will be a brand new approximately 194,500-squarefoot middle school designed by PBK Architects that sits on a large lot at the corner of U.S. Highway 183 and State Highway 29. The school will have capacity for 1,200 students, but is set up to use collaborative space as flex classrooms
to hold up to 1,300 students if needed. The two-story building uses a compact but efficient design with a focus on natural light and collaborative spaces. PBK designed the building to have the library at the heart of the campus. Both the gym and cafeteria are designed with dedicated entrances so access to af-
ter-school events don’t require access to the entire school. The school is expected to open in June 2024. The lot is big enough to build another elementary school adjacent to the new middle school. Plans and funding for that project have not yet been
See SCHOOLS, Page 3
Canady’s garage up for sale amid zoning, code compliance concerns
By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer Liberty Hill City Council member Kathy Canady’s Quick Service Garage in downtown Liberty Hill has been listed for sale at $1.2 million. This comes after monthslong discussions between fellow City Council members and City staff about the validity of Canady’s residency and the proper zoning of her business—as she has been living in her garage for the last three years—as well as potential code violations created by Canady living there. But, according to Canady, the reason she has decided to list her property is because the market is doing well. “The market is so good right now that it may be the time to relocate my business if the
property sells,” Canady told The Independent in an email. “I plan to continue living in Liberty Hill as this is my home.” The listing agent for the business is Kim Sanders of Keller Williams Realty. According to the listing, it will be “shown by appointment only to prequalified buyers. Zoned C2 Downtown Commercial. Great investment opportunity on the corner of RR 1869 and Loop 332/Main St. in historic downtown Liberty Hill. Land and building for sale without the existing business.” Zoning Concerns Canady’s residency was questioned by fellow members of the City Council in October when they asked City Attorney Marianella Joseph to investigate the legal-
Council goes after Executive Director, discuss election to end EDC
By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer Tensions were high at last week’s City Council meeting as members discussed the possibility of holding a special election to allow voters to decide if they want to keep or dissolve the City’s Economic Development Corporation. The discussion was raised by Council member Chris Pezold, who said when the EDC was initially voted into existence in 2003, it had more of a community focus. “It was very specific about
January 13, 2022 | 50 Cents
community-based service -- let’s say building baseball fields -- so that it would create economic impact through having tournaments, and then that would also benefit the community,” he said. “I have been asking for this for three years,” added Council member Kathy Canady. “The EDC is supposed to be working for us, and we should be telling y’all what we want to see. We don’t need an eighth of a cent going to the EDC. I think we can decide on our own where we want that eighth of a cent to go, whether that’s infrastructure or parks or transportation. We need y’all to understand that we are your boss, you’re not our boss. I think some of it is council’s fault, but if you
MATT POWELL EDC Executive Director don’t like it, we can let every one of the board members go and start over.” Pezold added that current EDC Director Matt Powell, who is paid $124,000 annually, isn’t
See POWELL, Page 4
ity of Canady living in her business. At that time, Joseph said she would examine these concerns for a definite answer, but the issue has not been addressed publicly since then. However, according to Canady, her residency has been verified by Joseph. “This past Fall was the second time in the past 2 years that the issue has been raised,” Canady wrote to The Independent in response to the newspaper’s questions she requested in writing. “There were no changes in where I lived, so this time it can be for no other purpose than to make a political attack on me and call into question an issue which was already resolved. The City incurred legal expenses again by asking Marianella Joseph to ‘investigate’ and she reached the same con-
clusion, I qualify as a resident of Liberty Hill to serve on the council.” The zoning for Canady’s garage is C2, which has listed uses of both residential and commercial based on the City’s Unified Development Code (UDC). According to the UDC, the C2 zoning category does allow for both business and residential use, but the property must be designated a business or residence and may not serve as both. The City’s UDC, which is posted on the City website, also contains a list of prohibited home occupations including “Automobile or mechanical paint or repair shops.” “Since 1994 I have never lived anywhere other than inside the city limits of Liberty Hill,” Canady told The Independent. “There is no zoning
issues with my living in the shop, regardless of what some people might claim. In April of 2021, I went so far as to request a zoning verification letter.” The letter Canady requested came from Pamela Mundo of Mundo & Associates, a Texas-based consulting firm that helps cities with civil engineering, planning and development processes. The firm has been working with the City of Liberty Hill since March, assisting the planning and development department on planning and zoning issues. In the letter, which was provided to The Independent by Canady, Mundo wrote, “the present use of the buildings are lawful nonconforming
See CANADY, Page 8
County narrows footprint for Corridor I-2 Study
By KRISTEN MERIWETHER Staff Writer Williamson County announced changes to its Corridor I-2 Planning and Rightof-Way Preservation Study on Friday. The County will also revisit existing safety improvements to County Road 200 and County Road 236 and identify opportunities to improve and connect existing roadways in the northwest region, per a press release. The study was originally planning for a new 7.3mile expressway that would run east/west between U.S. Highway 183 and the Burnet County line, and a 4.1-mile north/south connector be-
tween the new expressway and State Highway 29. That expressway was expected to start out as three lanes, but right-of-way was planned to be purchased now to accommodate up to six or eight lanes for future build-out. The County said in a press release the study would, “still consider connections for travel between US 183 and SH 29, but with a narrower ROW footprint and updated alignments.” Specifics were not given. Emails to Precinct 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long’s office requesting details went unanswered by press time this week. In mid-October the County mailed out 63 letters to
property owners in the study area, requesting sit-down meetings to discuss the project. Landowners organized a meeting at Main Street Social on Nov. 3 and nearly 75 residents showed up. The County paused the study on Nov. 11. “When planning for new roadways, it’s important to listen to the property owners and to take into account the regional needs of the area,” Long said in the press release. “After thorough conversations with the neighbors, discussions with Burnet County, and further technical analysis, we have adjusted the study to better address the current
See STUDY, Page 8