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2021
Volume 34, Issue 10
www.LHIndependent.com
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January 28, 2021 | 50 Cents
LHISD Council continues to avoid budget discussion Board mulling 4-campus bond proposal
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor When you grow, you build. When you grow fast, you need to build faster. The Liberty Hill ISD Board of Trustees drank from the firehose so to speak Monday night when it received the most recent demographics report projecting student enrollment growth as well as a recommendation from the Long Range Planning Committee that included a nine-figure bond proposal. “At the end of the day the demographics are staggering,” said Superintendent Steve Snell. “The amount of growth coming our way is staggering. This bond is going to be the foundation to start the preparation for all this growth.” This bond, to be ironed out at a special Board meeting Feb. 8, is proposed at $491,700,000 and would include four new schools, planning for two others, and a list of infrastructure improvements throughout the district. While he admits the dollar amount can be shocking, Snell said the proposal includes no frivolous spending and is the price of operating a district that has such steep enrollment increases. “What’s very, very important to us is that the entire community knows exactly what we’re asking for, what we plan to do and for the most part when we plan to do it,” Snell said. “That $490 million is an enormous number, but there is nothing frivolous in this bond election. We are building strictly to keep up with growth.” And like the last bond, approved at $98.6 million in 2018, the new proposal will not increase the district’s tax rate. The debt service tax rate is at the maximum allowed amount of $0.50 per $100 valuation, and the new bonding capacity is based on the district’s ability to borrow and pay off the bonds at the current rate over time. “The tax rate on our debt side will not increase,” Snell said. “The tax rate will not increase because it can’t by law.” What’s included As proposed, the bond on the table calls for additions
See BOND, Page 9 ©2021 The Liberty Hill Independent
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor The financial reporting struggle between the City Council and new Mayor Liz Branigan was brought to the forefront once again when Branigan added it to Monday’s agenda. But as has become habit, the Council once again shot down any potential changes. Branigan wanted to see a new financial report – detailing the monthly revenues and expenses of the City – as a regular monthly addition, in place of the current report that does not include any budget-related expense and revenue information. “I requested a different format of the financial for you to vote on to see what you think of it,” Branigan said. “I was going to request Ms. (Becky) Wilkins to provide that in a monthly council packet. I have
served three terms on the City Council and on every one of those councils the Council was meticulous with the budget and requested a monthly update. This is the same update which is easily generated with Encode. I think you should receive this report and study it.” But the Council had no interest in including the report as part of the packet. Council member Kathy Canady asked Wilkins and City Administrator Lacie Hale their opinion on the need for the report “If you want an expense and revenue report included in Becky’s financial report we just need that direction from Council,” Hale said. “Again, at the last Council meeting MIKE EDDLEMAN PHOTO we decided to move forward Mike Wilson (right) was recognized with a plaque by Mayor Liz Branigan (center) and Parks with the Transparency Stars Board Chair Mary Lyn Jones (left) Monday for his more than a decade of service on the Liberty Hill Parks Board, where he was influential in improvements to a number of City parks and projSee COUNCIL, Page 10 ects like the new swim center.
ASL instructor strives or cultural awareness in students
By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer Robert Nielson has taught American Sign Language (ASL) in some capacity for more than three decades. Today he can look back and admit that teaching is his true calling even though he resisted it for years. “I was serving a mission for my church. My companion and I were doing volunteer work at DCARA, an agency that serves the Deaf,” he said. “They asked me to teach ASL to deaf individuals who had immigrated to America from other countries. They knew no ASL and no English. So, I had to get creative in bridging the language barrier for them. That is when I realized I truly love teaching. I knew, however, that teachers just don’t make a lot of money. After my mission, I pursued other careers such as computer programming. About 18 years ago, I finally accepted that teaching was in my blood.
Rob Nielson has worked for 30 years teaching ASL in one form or another. Nielson heads the Liberty Hill high School ASL pro-
See ASL, Page 4 gram and will lead the ASL Panther Academy course. (Courtesy Photo)
Kent Walker wins Coach of the Year
By SCOTT AKANEWICH Sports Editor Kent Walker will be the first to tell you one thing. In no way, shape or form is he expecting to be able to fill the shoes of older brother Jeff Walker, the Panthers’ late head coach and athletic director, nor does he envision himself doing so. But, for the five games he took over as interim head coach at the end of the Panthers’ season, he certainly did a fine job of convincing people otherwise, leading the Purple-and-Gold to four wins in five playoff games and taking them to the brink of a berth in the Class 5A state championship game. As a result, Walker has been honored by Texas High School Football with its Coach of the Year award after easily outdistancing Shiner’s Daniel Boedeker with 64 percent of an online vote. Walker was characteristically
modest after the award was announced, deflecting accolades to those around him. “It’s an honor to be recognized for what I was able to do in a very difficult situation,” he said. “But, all credit goes to our kids and other coaches because they’re the ones who made it all possible. I was just the one who steered the ship.” Walker beat out nine other coaches who won state titles this season with their respective teams in the voting, including Todd Dodge of Class 6A Division I Westlake, Gary Joseph of Class 6A Division II Katy, Dave Henigan of Class 5A Division I Ryan and Tim Buchanan of Class 5A Division II Aledo. Walker added he felt a sense of responsibility to Panthers players to be strong in the face of the events surrounding his brother’s passing and the consequent effect they had on the program in moving forward.
ALEX RUBIO FILE PHOTO
Liberty Hill interim head coach Kent Walker was honored with Texas High School Football’s Coach of the Year award after leading the Panthers to the Class 5A Division II state semifinals after taking over for late brother Jeff Walker, who passed away from cancer on Nov. 30. “For me to lose my brother and then walk into the locker room,” he said. “I know all of them were looking to see how I was going to respond.” Walker said a simple formula
is what enabled him to prevail under such adverse conditions. “As long as you continue to put the kids first, you can overcome things,” he said. “I do what I love to do – it’s not like
a job to me when I get up every day and realize what a special community we have here in Liberty Hill.”