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2021
Volume 34, Issue 25
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Cross Tracks recognizes firefighters
By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer Cross Tracks Church Pastor Michelle Lott opened Sunday’s service with words of gratitude, honoring the firefighters who fought the fire that consumed one of the church’s buildings two years ago. “It was important for us to honor them and what they did for us that day. The fire was tragic and heartbreakCross Tracks Church honored Lt. Rowdy Bizzell, Lt. Charles Johnson, Lt. Matthew Selby, Jon- ing,” said Lott. “For a year athan Dunlap, and Anthony Rodriguez for their efforts fighting the fire that destroyed one of the See FIRE, Page 8 church buildings two years ago.
City Council cuts costs from wastewater plant project
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor The Liberty Hill City Council made some cost-saving cuts to the wastewater plant expansion project Monday, at least temporarily trimming $375,211 from the contract. The change order brought the construction project cost with Cunningham Constructors down to $11.96 million. What was deleted from the contract was some paving,
fencing and remaining work on the administrative building on the site. “These decisions were made to save these portions of the contract for a later date,” said Aaron Laughlin with Steger Bizzell Engineering. “It will allow the contractor to focus on the completion of the plant itself.” With the deletions, the plant is expected to be online sometime in June.
Council member Gram Lankford voted against the deletions, and preferred they just be completed at the end of the work on the plant itself, to get it operational faster. But Laughlin indicated there were issues between the contractor and the City. “The general contractor that is doing this work has presented a lot of resistance to wanting to complete this work,” Laughlin said.
He added that the change order amount needed to be kept where it currently sits. “We’re right at our 25 percent limit on our legal change order amount,” Laughlin said. In early March, the Council approved change order eight on the plant expansion project, adding $70,641 to the project, in what it hoped was the final addition before the
See COUNCIL, Page 5
Main Street Social sets sights on June opening
By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer James and Tambra Prince are the first to admit their new food hall, Main Street Social, has been a long time coming. Delays no one could have predicted—namely COVID-19— pushed their project back several times, but now they are just weeks away from opening on Loop 332 near downtown Liberty Hill. “Because there are so many moving parts, we don’t have an exact date set yet, but the community can plan on June,” Tambra Prince said. “We got pushed back several times, and we’ve had to get creative.” Finishing touches are being made across the food hall. Décor is already up on many of the walls, and necessities like the bathrooms are almost finished. The hall boasts a large arcade room with every wall covered in games—including vintage games like Pacman—
where families will be able to play together. Large garage-style doors to the outside will typically be open, weather permitting, to allow for fresh air to flow through the hall. In the center of the hall, a 42-seat bar is almost finished, with just mirrors and chandeliers left to install. The bar will have 18 beers on tap, ranging from long-standing classics to craft beers. Wine will also be served from the bar. “We were going to hire a designer but decided to do it ourselves,” Tambra Prince said. “We’re using a lot of architectural details from all over the world, like Mexico and India. We have even used wood from one of the oldest barns in Liberty Hill in the bar area and for an accent wall. The bar area is RACHEL MADISON PHOTO going to be elegant, and we are using vintage barstools from Tambra Prince, co-owner of Main Street Social, and General The Frisco Shop, which was Manager Natalie Harbison stand together in the entryway of the soon-to-open food hall. Main Street Social will offer dinSee SOCIAL, Page 8 ers a variety of different food stalls to choose from.
By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer Veronika Hyska spent the first six weeks of her senior year at home. She was a remote learner. When she returned to campus, things felt different. “A lot of things have changed education-wise, like with teaching styles. I was remote my first six weeks, and it was hard to keep up,” she said. “I managed, but it was difficult. When I came back in person, everything seemed disorganized. Not to say that in a bad way, but you could see that the teachers were having a rough time adjusting just like the students.”
Like Hyska, the rest of the Class of 2021 has been affected in dozens of ways by the pandemic. Forced to wade through uncharted waters, this class will stand uniquely apart from other seniors. While the class persevered through the year of twists and turns, the effect of such a stressful situation still takes its toll on students. Haley Polser believed optimistically that by spring, the state of things would be much better. “It’s not that way, and it’s been hard to stay positive and look forward to things. So much is unknown still, especially in January and February when things seemed to keep declining,” said Polser. “We’ve had some hope in the last months with the vaccine, but it hasn’t been easy, especially not seeing friends and teachers that you’ve known for
May 13, 2021 | 50 Cents
LHISD shifts to new middle school model
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor A lot will be changing for the middle grade students in Liberty Hill next school year. Gone will be the intermediate school model of fifth and sixth graders on one campus and seventh and eighth on another. With the opening of Santa Rita Middle School in August, LHISD will officially make the transition to the middle school model where fifth graders will join the elementary campuses throughout the district, and sixth through eighth grades will be split between the new campus and Liberty Hill Middle School – currently the junior high. But this change involves more than a boundary line, new bus routes and shifting teachers, and Principals Josh Curtis and Travis Motal – at the helms of the two middle schools – are working hard with planners and staff to make a smooth transition. Each campus will be unique, according to the administration and staff, but the philosophy is one of providing the same quality education to all middle schoolers across the district – “two campuses, one goal”. “The district put the middle school design team together
to try to create a focus across the middle school curriculum,” Motal said. “Both of us are anticipating our campus will have its own identity, we’ve talked about that back and forth, and we will do some things the same, but we don’t have to be the exact same.” The first step in setting up LHISD for success with the new middle school plan was to have the right leadership in place, and Superintendent Steve Snell believes Curtis and Motal are the right pair. “Both of those guys have that experience with that secondary middle level,” Snell said. “What I’m most excited about is our middle school design team because we don’t just say this is how we do school and you just do it with three grades now instead of two. Middle school has a specific concept with it and we want to make sure we have the two best middle schools in the state. We’ve gotten teachers and administrators involved, just talking about what it’s like to be a middle school kid, how we can support them, how we can make sure we have a service component to our schools, how we empower students to
See MIDDLE, Page 5
LHISD buoyed by higher tax valuations
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor With intense enrollment growth, Liberty Hill ISD faces steep cost increases from new facilities to equipment and staffing needs. Sharply increasing property valuations are expected to provide the increased revenue to accommodate the additional financial needs as the district begins formulating its next budget. The district received the news in April that valuations continued to climb, when the Williamson County Appraisal District estimated 27 percent growth in property values across the district. “It was shocking to say the least,” said LHISD Chief Financial Officer Rosanna R. Guerrero. “Alvin Lankford, who is the chief appraiser with the Williamson Central Ap-
praisal District, said in his entire history he has never seen that value growth from year to year.” The growth for the current year was at 19 percent. “Double-digit growth is pretty massive, but to look at over 20 percent growth is definitely more than what we ever anticipated,” Guerrero said. The final certified appraisals will be announced July 25. The total market value for all properties within LHISD has tripled since 2016, from $2.6 billion that year to $6.18 billion in 2021. Single family residential property makes up the bulk of local property values at 78 percent, while commercial makes up only 4.74 percent. “One of the things we’ve been talking about, not only with our Long Range Planning
See BUDGET, Page 10
Seniors face challenges, share hope in 2021
©2021 The Liberty Hill Independent
such a long time.” In-class at home The most jarring adjustment that students across the district dealt with was the pivot to online and digital-centered learning. “There was a lot of self-reliance,” Hyska said. “You had to get yourself to be motivated and sit down and do your classes instead of being forced to go to school. That was the big hurdle to get over at first.” Abigail Janicek, a member of the soccer team, took the time management she’s learned on the pitch and applied it to her remote learning experience. “I made a schedule for myself. I would wake up at the same time every day and do a certain class for some time and then the next one,” said Janicek. “With the leftover time, if
See SENIORS, Page 10
From left, Colton Harbour, Veronika Hyska, Cassidy Sudekum, Anissa Garza, Abigail Janicek, and Haley Polser have experienced a senior year like no other with their fellow 2021 classmates. As graduation approaches, the group prepares for the next phase of their lives. (Courtesy Photo)