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2020
Volume 33, Issue 45
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October 1, 2020 | 50 Cents
Council votes not to consider ethics complaint
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor For the second time in six months, the Liberty Hill City Council has decided against considering and investigating a complaint against one of its own. Unlike the grievance filed by former police chief Maverick Campbell in April alleging misconduct by Mayor Rick Hall, the City Council did not have the option Monday to ignore an ethics complaint filed against Council member Kathy Canady. Even though the Council was forced to hear the complaint because it met all the requirements for consideration under the City’s Ethics Ordinance, explained City Attorney Tad Cleaves. “What the Council needs to determine this evening comes from Section 1.02.076 of the Ethics Ordinance,” he said. “At this point, (Sally) McFeron has made a written complaint that does comply with the ordinance, that’s why we have it on here tonight. It’s the Council’s job, and let me just read this from the ordinance, ‘Once placed on the City
Council agenda, the scope of the Council review shall be limited to a determination of whether the complaint on its face presents a violation of this code of ethics and conduct
mittee, Sally McFeron following revelations that Canady falsified a loan document on which she declared a homestead in Burnet County in May of 2019, and she had been re-
“You are going to be opening the door to people who have businesses in the community that do not live in the city limits. If you’re allowing one, you’re going to end up allowing others. There’s no reason why someone else -- good people that run businesses and make money, and do things great in this city -- would not be able to just set up to live in their place of business so they can run for City Council.”
Sally McFeron Better Together Project PAC
for which sanctions such as reprimand, formal censure or loss of appointment would be appropriate in order to serve the legitimate goal of orderly governance, integrity and public confidence in the government.’” The complaint was filed by former City Planner, and founder of the Better Together Project political action com-
siding in her auto repair garage downtown Liberty Hill in violation of zoning restrictions. After about 20 minutes of explanation from Cleaves and a handful of questions by Council members, Mayor Pro Tem Liz Rundzieher made a motion to not consider the complaint further.
See ETHICS, Page A5
Senior Night in times of COVID
ALEX RUBIO PHOTO
Liberty Hill High School celebrated Senior Night on Sept 25 -- the first home game of the season for the Panthers. Socially distanced, the marching band kept spirits high in the stands. LHHS travels to Del Valle tomorrow. See more Sports, Section B.
$1.3 million is magic number on swim center
ANTHONY FLORES PHOTO
Sheriff Robert Chody (left) and his attorney, Gerry Morris (right), say the indictment by a Williamson County Grand Jury is an attempt to scapegoat him for failure to investigate the death of Javier Ambler.
Grand jury indicts Chody on felony charges
By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer GEORGETOWN -- A grand jury has indicted Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody on a felony tampering charge. The charge stems from the alleged destruction of video evidence related to the 2019 in-custody death of 40-yearold former postal worker Javier Ambler. The charge carries a punishment range of two to 10 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or probation and a fine up to $10,000. Along with Chody, Assistant Williamson County Attorney Jason Nassour, who was also at the scene of the incident, is facing the same charge. Both were arrested and released on $10,000 bond Monday afternoon. Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick and Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore opened a joint investigation in June after Austin media outlets uncovered ©2020 The Liberty Hill Independent
details surrounding Ambler’s death. “Pursuant to Article 2.03 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedures, prosecutors must bring notice to the grand jury of violations of the law and failure of duty on the part of any officer,” said Dick during a press conference on the eastern steps of the County Courthouse in Georgetown. “Together with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office and the Austin Police Department’s Special Investigation Unit, we’ve brought this information to a Williamson County Grand Jury. On June 19 of 2020, Ms. Moore and I released a joint statement informing the community of our shared purpose of obtaining long-deserved answers for the family of Javier Ambler.” Ambler died following a 22-minute pursuit by Williamson County Deputies J.J. Johnson and Zach Camden. The pursuit started because Ambler did not dim his headlights and continued into Travis County before ending in a North Austin neighborhood. Body camera video shows officers using Tasers on
See CHODY, Page A4
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor After another workshop Monday where Brian Binkowski with Halff Associates was peppered with questions on splash pads, pool houses, gate locations and restroom access, the Liberty Hill Council got down to the business of deciding what the City could afford to spend on a swim center. The answer is $1.3 million. The funding would come from a seven-year bond, that would actually be for $1.4 million, with annual payments that begin at about $220,000 and increase to $260,000 over the life of the note. The other option considered was a $1 million bond that would give the City $920,000 in funds for the project, and would include annual payments between $125,000 and $220,000 over the life of the note. “We could bond more or less, depending on what all is included,” said Finance Director Becky Wilkins, confirming that the City could sustain payments on the bond. “Anything below $1.5 (million) would be a palatable
payment. If you go above that it starts eating into some other project money you may want to use for something else.” The Council ultimately unanimously adopted the first option as the budget. That $1.3 million, in conjunction with the $500,000 Texas Parks & Wildlife Grant gives the City $1.8 million to make the project happen. No final design was settled on and timetable was established for completion, but Mayor Rick Hall said it would not be a project that could be completed for summer 2021. Binkowski said the new plan would come with additional engineering and permitting costs, some of which had been already covered under the original plan. The original plan was approved and the process set in motion by the Council in spring 2019, with a groundbreaking that June, but a delay in the awarding of a $500,000 grant. The approved project – which never went out for bid – had an estimated price tag of $1.35 million after factoring in a $500,000 grant from Texas Parks & Wildlife. Hall said
that project now has a price tag of $2.19 million, an estimate also provided by Halff Associates which designed the project. With the grant, that would mean the City would be funding about $1.7 million of the new projected cost. No explanation was given on how the estimate increased more than $300,000. The Council has also implied there was never funding officially allocated for the project, but those involved in the original planning say that’s not true, and funds were earmarked for the swim center. During the Aug. 20 joint workshop, Tim Dean, Recreation Manager for the City of Cedar Park, who has more than two decades of experience in municipal aquatics, spent more than 20 minutes talking about the pros and cons of both proposed pool plans. When evaluating the more recent proposal, shared with the Council in July by Hall, Dean said it was problematic in a number of ways. The square pool, with a kiddie pool, proposal has limitations on accessibility and practical
use for younger swimmers and those with disabilities. Because it would have a minimum depth of four feet, Dean said it would make teaching swim lessons more difficult and would require a chair lift to give those with disabilities access -- an expense not included in the proposal. Dean also said that while the shape of the pool might accommodate swim lanes for lap swimmers or swim team practices, the plan did not call for a heated pool, which makes it impractical for swim team use. He also pointed out that lap lanes take up a lot of space, and is not usually where most swimmers are, referring to Cedar Park’s Milburn Pool. The kiddie pool concept is one Dean said primarily serves as a cleaning challenge, collecting lots of sediment, and it only works for toddlers. While the price tag is higher, Dean said there are advantages to the original design with the popularity of a splash pad with a greater age range of
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor LEANDER -- Soon, shoppers in the Liberty Hill area will have another grocery and shopping option, this one to the east, as construction has begun on Bar W Ranch, a development with a new H-E-B grocery store as its hub. The 50-acre development is on the southeast corner of SH 29 and Ronald Reagan Boulevard, and was permitted for construction by the City of Leander Aug. 26. “This project will bring more than 200,000 square feet of grocery, restaurant, and retail oriented uses to a fast growing area of Leander,” said Leander Economic Development Managing Partner Cameron Goodman. “This not only creates new job opportu-
nities for our residents, but will also help to expand the number of shopping options and improve the overall quality of life for our residents – especially those located on the eastern side of Leander’s city limits. This project also signals to the business community and other retailers that the State Highway 29 and Ronald Reagan intersection and its adjacent area is an increasingly desirable location to operate a business.” The long-anticipated new grocery store will not be an H-E-B Plus, but is expected to be about 100,000 square feet, according to Goodman. “H-E-B has a long record of local community involvement and has earned its reputation as one of the very best grocers in the country,” he said.
“We are excited to welcome a second H-E-B location to Leander.” The development includes more than a dozen other retail buildings and pad sites for other businesses, and will include an H-E-B gas station. No other official tenant announcements have been made to date. “The developer of this project has very recently started construction and their leasing efforts, so there are not any additional tenants that can be announced at this time,” Goodman said. “In addition to the approximately 100,000 square feet H-E-B store, the site is planned to include more than 100,000 square feet of additional commercial space including retail and restaurant pads.”
No projected opening date has been shared publicly, but Goodman said opening the second H-E-B in Leander is an important sign regarding area growth. “Leander’s record setting growth has helped to make new high quality economic development opportunities possible for our community,” he said. “Companies that are of the size and sophistication of H-E-B have very defined site location requirements that must be met before they select a location and make the investment of building a new store. H-E-B’s decision to open a second location in Leander is a testament to the strong business environment and the quality of site options that exist for new businesses seeking to locate in our area.”
See COUNCIL, Page A3
Long-awaited H-E-B under construction