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2021
Volume 35, Issue 2
Pezold calls out Canady on residency status
By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer Council member Chris Pezold took the opportunity during closing statements of the Council meeting Nov. 22 to raise a topic he continues to be concerned about -- Council member Kathy Canady’s residency status. The residency of Canady was questioned by fellow members of the City Council in October -- more than a year after it was initially discussed -- when Council member Crystal Mancilla asked City Attorney Marianella Joseph to look into the legality of Canady living in her business. At that
See RESIDENCY, Page 4
LHISD Board backs RRISD candidate for WCAD
By KRISTEN MERIWETHER Staff Writer Liberty Hill ISD Trustees voted on Nov. 15 to use all 150 of their votes to back Mason Moses for the Williamson Central Appraisal District (WCAD) Board of Directors. Moses was nominated by Round Rock ISD in October. LHISD did not nominate a candidate. The appraisal district Board of Directors hires the Chief Appraiser and the Taxpayer Liaison Officer and also sets the budget. The directors have no authority to set values or appraisal methods and are forbidden from discussing values with the appraisal district. All six members of the board serve two-year terms and all are expiring at the end of the year. Moses currently serves as the Vice President for Executive Compensation with Trusted Capital Group, a HUB International Company, according to a bio provided to the LHISD Board. He has served as a member of the Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees, the Round Rock ISD Partners in Education Board of Directors, the CHASCO YMCA of Greater Round Rock and other community organizations. The LHISD Board chose Moses over Joshua (JT) Atkinson, a Florence native who serves on the Florence ISD Board of Trustees; Harry Gibbs, who currently serves as the Vice Chairman of the WCAD Board of Directors; Hope Hisle-Piper, a Leander mortgage and real estate business owner; Jon Lux, a Navy veteran who currently serves on the WCAD Board of Directors; and Lora Weber, a Round Rock small business owner. ©2021 The Liberty Hill Independent
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December 2, 2021 | 50 Cents
Liberty Hill couple leads fight against Corridor I-2 Project
By KRISTEN MERIWETHER Staff Writer In the corner of the entrance to the horse barn five handprints and two dogprints are pressed into a concrete slab. “Triple E Ranch 07.31.2021” is scratched above the prints, a reminder of when the slab was poured and dreams were realized for Travis and Kerry Redding. The Reddings purchased the 50 acres off of County Road 236 in 2018 after they outgrew their eight acres in Leander.
They were among the first to purchase a tract from the seller and secured their dream lot: one-third wooded, one-third partially wooded and one-third open. It meant Travis could finally have towering trees without the din of city noise. It meant Kerry could finally realize her life-long dream to own and ride horses on her land. And it was all within a reasonable drive to the kids’ school and their respective businesses.
KRISTEN MERIWETHER PHOTO
Travis and Kerry Redding enjoy the sunset on their land on Nov. 17. The couple is pushing back See LAND, Page 9 against a study that aims to construct a highway and connector in the center of their property.
With only four weeks left in the year, audit still incomplete By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer For the last several months, promises of a completed 2020 financial audit have been ongoing, but as of the Nov. 22 City Council meeting, the audit has yet to be completed. While most of the samples needed have been submitted for the audit, said interim finance director Misti Hancock, she is still reconciling some accounts that just aren’t adding up, which has caused some delays, as well as having to spend a lot of time on the dayto-day financial operations of
directors,” she added, citing the termination of the most recent finance director, Becky Wilkins, in August. “There’s a lot to document and do.” Hancock said as the City “gets out of this mess,” she and the other employees in the finance department have revamped the City’s procurement policy and are working on the investment policy as well as restructuring day-to-day procedures. “You do not want to be back in this mess again,” Hancock said. One of the issues, Hancock said, is that there are sever-
al funding sources that are in pooled cash, instead of separate accounts based on what the monies should be used for. “What are some areas that you’ve found as you’ve been digging that we as a City maybe need to hire somebody to look into?” Council member Angela Jones asked. “Are there questions that you might have on things that are not accounted for?” Hancock said the biggest thing she’s seen as she’s looked at the fund structure is that there
By KRISTEN MERIWETHER Staff Writer The Liberty Hill Independent School District Board of Trustees held a special workshop session on Monday to discuss the strategic plan and prepare for Superintendent Steven Snell’s annual evaluation in January. Sitting in the round instead of their customary board seats on the dais, Snell reviewed the strategic plan and invited open discussion and questions from the Board. The document was created in 2019 by the thenTeam of 8, which did not include recently elected board KRISTEN MERIWETHER PHOTO The Liberty Hill ISD Board of Trustees held a special workshop on Monday to discuss the strate- members Kristi Hargrove and Michael Ferguson. gic plan and prepare for Superintendent Steven Snell’s annual evaluation in January.
The Board spent considerable time discussing teacher and substitute pay, an issue the district has focused on in recent years. LHISD raised substitute and staff teacher pay last year and is giving all district staff a bonus stipend this year. No actions were taken on the issue of pay at this meeting, but board members, as well as Snell, agreed it is important to retaining top talent for the district. After a short break, Trustees reconvened to discuss district goals and creating the evaluation tool for Snell’s annual review. The district did not create new goals last year due to COVID, creating a unique
the City. “There were transactions that were not recorded, so we are submitting adjusted journal entries to the auditors to fix those,” she said. “There was [approximately] $487,000 not recorded, but all of it is just transactions that did not get booked into the internal system. I am going to be dedicated 100 percent to the audit for the next few weeks, so I can get the audit finished. We’re looking at wrapping it up before Christmas and having a presentation of the final draft for Council by then.”
Hancock added that her focus has been shifted to reviewing and reconciling the trial balance. According to a document listing the outstanding audit items still needed, which was provided to The Independent via the Open Records Act, there is a variance of $151,503 in pooled cash, as well as a few missing receipts, invoices and checks. Hancock said the City has had some weaknesses and deficiencies documented in past years’ audits, but not to the extent of the 2020 audit. “Y’all are losing momentum every time we change finance
See AUDIT, Page 4
Trustees review goals during special workshop
See GOALS, Page 4
Samsung chooses Taylor as site for new semiconductor manufacturing facility
By KRISTEN MERIWETHER Staff Writer TAYLOR -- Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd. chose the City of Taylor as the site of a new semiconductor manufacturing facility, Gov. Greg Abbott announced at a press conference on Nov. 23. The Williamson County location beat out New York and Arizona for the new facility. The company is expected to invest $17 billion including buildings, property improvements and machinery and equipment, making it the largest-ever investment by Samsung in the United States. “As we add a new facility in Taylor, Samsung is laying the groundwork for another important chapter in our future,” said Kinam Kim, vice chair-
man and CEO of Samsung Electronics Device Solutions Division, in a news release. “With greater manufacturing capacity, we will be able to better serve the needs of our customers and contribute to the stability of the global semiconductor supply chain. We are also proud to be bringing more jobs and supporting the training and talent development for local communities, as Samsung celebrates 25 years of semiconductor manufacturing in the United States.” The new facility, which is expected to span more than 1,200 acres, will manufacture products used in mobile, 5G, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence. The project is expected to create over 2,000 high-tech jobs, thousands of indirect jobs
and a minimum of 6,500 construction jobs, according to the Governor. A Texas Enterprise Fund grant of $27,000,000 has been extended to Samsung for their job creation. Samsung has also been offered a $20,000 Veteran Created Job Bonus. Groundbreaking will begin in the first half of 2022 with a target of having the facility operational in the second half of 2024. “Williamson County has again proven to be a leader in attracting the world’s top technology companies. To Samsung, I want to say ‘Welcome Home.’ We want to thank Governor Abbott for his amazing leadership and help on this project,” said Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell. “With the addition of Samsung on the east
Samsung Austin Semiconductor Austin Wafer 1 (Photo Courtesy Samsung) side of our county, Apple on the west side and Dell Technologies world headquarters in
the center, Williamson County is now home to the technology superhighway of the world.”