We are thankful
for the Liberty Hill community!
TEXAS CUT MULCH (2 cu.ft bags) 6 for $10 | Liberty Hill location only. Delivery not included.
Mon-Sat 7 7am-5pm am-5pm • 14775 W SH 29, Liberty Hill • (512) 515-1336 • www.989Rock.com
2020
Volume 33, Issue 52
www.LHIndependent.com
News@LHIndependent.com
No decision yet in potential wastewater plant lawsuit
Branigan sworn in as next Mayor
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor Liberty Hill officially has a new Mayor after Liz Branigan was sworn in Tuesday evening at a special called meeting for the purpose of canvassing the election and swearing in new council members. Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Edna Staudt was on hand to administer the oath of office to Branigan, as well as Place 4 Council member Tony DeYoung and Place 2 Council member Kathy Canady. Former Mayor Rick Hall did not attend the meeting, and Council members Steve McIntosh and Gram Lankford were also absent. Branigan set a Liberty Hill City election record with 609 votes to Hall’s 506 despite being out-raised by Hall $19,300
November 19, 2020 | 50 Cents
MIKE EDDLEMAN PHOTO
Liz Branigan was sworn in as Liberty Hill Mayor by Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace Edna Staudt at a special called Council meeting Tuesday. Incumbent council members Tony DeYoung and Kathy Canady were also sworn in to a new term. DeYoung and Canady ran unopposed. to $1,380. DeYoung and Canady were not opposed on the ballot, and each was appointed by the Council in 2018 to finish their first term after the passing of Council member Wendell Mc-
Leod and resignation of Ron Rhea. A monthly salary of $1,000 for council members was budgeted for the current fiscal year and DeYoung and Canady will be the first to draw it. Branigan
has said she will not accept the annual salary of $40,000 budgeted for the Mayor’s position. After the meeting Tuesday, Branigan said she hoped to
See BRANIGAN, Page A4
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor The 60-day wait has come and gone since the City of Liberty Hill was notified of an intent to file a lawsuit on behalf of landowners along the South San Gabriel River downstream from the City’s wastewater treatment plant. According to attorney Amy Johnson, the lawsuit has not been filed and discussions are ongoing with the City, though neither side could elaborate at this time. If filed, the suit would be brought in federal court by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA), representing resident Stephanie Morris who owns property along the South San Gabriel River. The City Council first discussed the issue at its Sept. 14 meeting during closed session. The 60-day notice is a re-
quirement when filing a Clean Water Act suit. In September, Johnson said there is the possibility a settlement could be reached, but such a settlement, according to what is being sought, will demand considerable change in how the plant is operated. She said past violations are not the most critical issue, but future problems anticipated with the plant and its impact on the river. The primary issue is regular algae blooms that choke the South San Gabriel downstream from the plant, but do not typically appear upstream, leading residents to argue that the plant’s effluent is causing the algae. The City has argued in the past that the effluent is not causing the algae – often pointing to development
See LAWSUIT, Page A5
COVID spread raising concerns of new wave
LHPD Stuff a Cruiser
ANTHONY FLORES PHOTO
The Liberty Hill Police Department is collecting food donations to help local families during the holidays. On Tuesday, Sgt. Robert Fox, Lt. Jeff Ringstaff and Officer David Joiner were at Higginbotham Brothers Hardware. In three days, LHPD has collected 860 pounds of food and $510. They will be accepting additional donations at Dollar General on Nov. 19 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the parking lot at Prosperity Bank on Nov. 21 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Love of pecans translates to success for Florence family
By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer FLORENCE -- Bobby and Wanda Shelton have grown up around the farm, being a part of it all their lives. With a rich family history of farming dating back to before the Texas Revolution, the couple is working hard to make Wanda’s family farm and pecan orchard a success. “About five years ago we started looking at what we were going to do when we re©2020 The Liberty Hill Independent
tired and wondered what we were going to do to keep busy and generate a little income on the farm,” said Bobby Shelton. “We started revitalizing Wanda’s family orchard here in Florence.” Trying to revitalize and reinvigorate a decades-old orchard demands hard work and patience, something that Bobby understands is necessary to the couple’s success. “It is a long-term project. If you buy a small tree from a nursery, it’s about eight years before you actually make anything off of it,” he said. “You have to do a lot of hard work to get there. You can’t just plant it in the ground, and after eight years have pecans. Fertilizer
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor A recent spike in confirmed COVID cases locally and across the state have raised concerns of a new wave of virus spread. The recent increase in cases has had the biggest impact on area schools as well as the growing strain on hospital capacity. Liberty Hill ISD announced Monday that a spike in cases at the Junior High forced the closure of the campus for the remainder of the week leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. Over a four-day period beginning Nov. 12, the Junior High had 13 confirmed cases, 10 probable cases and was looking at needing to
quarantine 200 others. At that point, the temporary closure made the most sense for administrators. “That gives us four days going into the break plus another 10, and that puts everybody in that 14-day limit with only missing four days of school,” said Superintendent Steve Snell. “To us, we felt that was the best common sense decision to keep our students and staff safe. It is definitely not a decision we wanted to make, because it effects 900 families and 100 staff members.” The rapid spread on the Junior High campus made the biggest impact on the decision. “When you think about it, from July 1 until last Thurs-
day we had 23 cases total -staff and students,” Snell said. “As of last Thursday, we had one official case, an adult, and 11 kids quarantined, that’s it. All of the spread we had seen was from individual families with a sick family member, but we had no spread on campuses. What happened at the Junior High is we had a student case pop up Thursday and from Thursday to Monday we had 13 cases, 10 probable and it was going to put us over 200 kids quarantined at the Junior High.” No single number or indicator led to the decision on its own, he said. “We have a ton of procedures
See COVID, Page A6
and rain or supplemented water for irrigation are as important as anything else.” What makes a good pecan? Well, according to Shelton, there’s one thing he and commercial interests look for. “The number one thing for a good pecan is if it fills out fully in the shell,” Shelton said. “If you don’t have the rain or the fertilization, then that pecan will not be full, and you’ll get a dry powdery taste and appearance. In the business it’s the percentage of pecan meat versus the shell.” In the 2019 Texas Pecan show, the Florence couple took the top prize for the best Florence residents Bobby and Wanda Shelton will be entering the 2020 Williamson County Pecan Show after the couple earned the top spot in the 2019 Texas Pecan Show for their Shoshoni See PECANS, Page A5 pecan. (Courtesy Photo)