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2022
Volume 35, Issue 7
Students head back to class as COVID cases rise By KRISTEN MERIWETHER Staff Writer When students and teachers left campus for their winter break on Dec. 17, COVID cases were low in the district. There were class parties and parents on campus for a variety of holiday events. Williamson County was holding steady with an average of 75-100 new cases per day, according figures from the County’s COVID dashboard. What a difference two weeks makes. A combination of holiday interactions, travel and the omicron variant have led to a widely different COVID picture as students headed back to Liberty Hill ISD schools on Tuesday. On Monday, 20 students self-reported testing positive for the virus, bringing the total to 25 since New Year’s Eve, according to the LHISD COVID Dashboard. Twelve teachers self-reported on Monday, brining the total to 24 since New Year’s Eve. On Sunday, Williamson County reported 1,864 new cases, smashing a previous pandemic record, according to the County’s COVID dashboard. The County reported over 1,000 cases in the first two days of the year, the last day data is available. Nationwide testing shortages have not helped. At-home tests sold out of many local pharmacies and large-scale retailers like Amazon and Walmart were not expected to be restocked until the first few weeks of January. LHISD did not send students home with test kits prior to the break and does not have kits to send home now, according to Superintendent Steven Snell. “One of the challenges for our community is with the spike in cases, testing options for our staff and community are limited,” Snell said Tuesday. “We are hoping to partner with the City of LH [Liberty Hill] to bring a testing site back to our area.”
See COVID, Page 6
www.LHIndependent.com
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January 6, 2022 | 50 Cents
Traffic survey shows respondents want to see lower speeds on SH 29
By KRISTEN MERIWETHER and RACHEL MADISON Staff Writers The City of Liberty Hill published the results of its Community Transportation Survey on Dec. 29. The feedback was given by residents during the annual Christmas Festival on Dec. 11. Of the 365 responses, 333 said they live in Liberty Hill. When asked, 44.3% of respondents said they experienced unacceptable congestion during their commute, with 31.8% saying they were unsatisfied with Liberty Hill roads. Respondents were asked to rank their top three priorities for roads inside the city limits. Safety at the entrance of the Liberty Parke neighborhood ranked number one, with 35% of respondents ranking it their highest priority. Lowering the speed limit on State Highway 29 ranked second. After reviewing and analyzing a Texas Department of Transportation study, the Liberty Hill City Council voted on Nov. 3 to reduce the speed limit from
What is the main cause of congestion you experience? Accidents 3%
Not Enough Infrastructure for Amount of Traffic 22.1%
4-way stop at RR 1869 & Loop 332 4.9% Not Enough Traffic Signals 4.9%
Toll Road Construction 6.2%
Lack of Turn Lanes 6.5%
School Traffic 16.2%
High Speed Limits 6.7% Liberty Parke 11.9%
55 to 50 miles per hour. City Administrator Lacie Hale said at that meeting TxDOT plans to do another study after all of the traffic lights scheduled for SH 29 are installed. “There will eventually be seven lights between CR 200 and Seward Junction,” she said in November. “Once we get those completed it will, by nature, slow down traffic.”
Speeding, running lights and distracted drivers were listed above 10% on all three priority lists. Forrest Street was cited as a specific road where respondents wanted to see better speed enforcement. In a Dec. 20 interview with The Independent, Hale said she was at the Christmas Festival on Dec. 11 receiving questions from residents for a
Traffic Signal Timing 10.5%
portion of the time. She said she enjoyed helping residents understand what problems the City could solve and which ones needed to be addressed by the County. “A lot of residents, they’re very passionate about projects outside of our city limits,” Hale said. “We were able to direct them on where they can get the best information.”
Toll road construction, County road maintenance and getting on and off of SH 29 were the top three priorities for roads outside the city limits, according to the survey. Respondents suggested repairing potholes, widening and adding lanes, adding signals for each subdivision and adding shoulders or turn lanes to existing roads.
Round Rock-based chemical manufacturer opening facility north of Liberty Hill
By KRISTEN MERIWETHER Staff Writer Round Rock-based Exfluor Research Corporation has plans to open a new manufacturing facility north of Liberty Hill in 2023. The company began in 1984, primarily doing contract research for NASA and the United States Air Force. In the early 1990s, the company transitioned to manufacturing specialty fluorinated chemicals. Today products made by Exfluor can be found in everything from satellites to televisions. The company holds over 25 U.S. patents covering its fluorination process and many of the fluorinated products, according to the company’s website. The company purchased a 36.07 acre parcel on County
Road 236, just west of U.S. Highway 183 in December 2019, according to Williamson Central Appraisal District records. The company has not finalized plans for the new Florence facility, but Vice President Tim Juhlke told The Independent that they hope to finish the facility and move equipment in sometime in 2023. He said as of now the company plans to keep the Round Rock facility for at least a few years. Williamson Central Appraisal District records show the company has owned the land the Round Rock facility is on since 1994. Juhlke said the company is currently going through the permitting process by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state agency charged with protect-
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ing public health and natural resources. “We’re permitting everything and doing everything humanly possible to have no impact on anything,” Juhlke said. The Independent reached out to TCEQ for a status on the permit and for clarification on the process, however, emails were not returned by press time. A search of the TCEQ
Compliance History database only showed one record for Exfluor Research Corporation. The rating was not given, with a rating date of Sept 1, 2021, and the classification was listed as unclassified. Juhlke said the Florence location would not have customer traffic in and out of the facility. He added that most of their products are small batches and
COURTESY GRAPHIC
can be shipped via FedEx, limiting the number of 18-wheeler traffic coming in and out. “We make small quantities of materials,” Juhlke said. “It’s not like a typical chemical manufacturing operation. We make specialty chemicals, very small amounts in comparison.” 12-28-2020
Golf Cart King’s new building goes vertical
By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer What’s that big, concrete building behind the QuikTrip gas station on County Road 214? That’s been the question on a lot of residents’ minds in recent weeks as the walls have gone vertical at the new location for Austin-based Golf Cart King. Golf Cart King is a family-owned business that started in Austin in 2010. The company was launched for golf cart owners who wanted more per©2022 The Liberty Hill Independent
sonalization options and access to a variety of parts to perform their own maintenance on their golf carts. Aaron Gouldie, founder and CEO, told The Independent he decided to relocate and build Golf Cart King’s new facility in Liberty Hill because geographically it worked well for him. “We didn’t have a footprint in the area of Sun City in Georgetown, and I lived in [Leander],” he said. “I was looking at somewhere in between my house and Sun City to open up a new headquarters. When I met with the staff with the City of Liberty Hill, it seemed like a good fit and everyone was welcoming.” The project broke ground in fall 2021 and is anticipated to
A rendering of the 12,000-square-foot Golf Cart King, which is under construction on CR 214 near QuikTrip convenience store. (Courtesy Graphic)
be completed by April 2022, Gouldie said. Golf Cart King will bring 23 new jobs to the community and anticipates that amount moving up to as many as 41 within the next decade.
While for now the 12,000-square-foot, two-story building looks intimidating as it looms just off State Highway 29, Gouldie said the finished product will be beautiful. “I am putting $250,000 into
the landscaping alone,” he said. “I will be planting over 50 trees there. There will be a glass façade in the front, and the building will be painted multiple colors and have lighting on it. It’s going to be really
nice. My intention was never to build an eyesore—it will be a very nice facility when it’s done.” Upon completion, the
See GOLF, Page 3