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2021
Volume 34, Issue 31
www.LHIndependent.com
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June 24, 2021 | 50 Cents
LHISD teachers to receive 2% pay increase
By SHELLY WILKISON Publisher Liberty Hill school trustees on Monday approved a 2 percent pay increase for teachers and an increase in the district’s contribution toward employee health insurance. The additional contribution of $50 for health insurance premiums brings the district’s contribution to $400 per month per employee. In addition to the pay increase, which includes targeted adjustments for all employees, teachers and staff could see an additional retention stipend pending approval of a federal grant. Under the plan, which was approved by a unanimous vote, returning teachers will receive a minimum of $1,100 with some of the more experienced teachers receiving as much as $2,500. “That’s where our largest gap is,” said LHISD Human Resource Director Bob Mabry, referring to those teachers with
Chief Financial Officer Rosanna Guerrero and Human Resources Director Bob Mabry (back left) presented trustees with a compensation package Monday that includes a pay increase. 20 years experience. As school enrollment continues to grow and more campuses are built, one challenge continues to be to attract and retain qualified teachers. Every year, officials consider salaries of neighboring school districts when making decisions about LHISD’s compensation levels.
“The larger districts will always pay more than us,” said Superintendent Steve Snell, adding that keeping up with that is difficult. “But we need to make it a priority to try to keep up. We wanted teachers to realize a gain, although this is still too small when you think about what they deserve.”
Mabry explained that with health insurance premiums increasing $32 per month, raising the district’s contribution for the 502 employees who participate was important. “Increasing the stipend for benefits isn’t huge to add that and goes a long way to help our staff,” he said.
The new pay package will cost the district $988,381, creating a deficit budget for fiscal 2021. Chief Financial Officer Rosanna Guerrero said the increase will create a $660,000 deficit. But district officials say anticipated growth in enrollment will close the gap before the end of the fiscal year. “For fast-growth districts, it’s not uncommon to have a deficit budget,” said Snell. “Our fear is not that the growth will come, but that it will come faster than we thought it would.” With a deficit budget, Trustees discussed the status of the fund balance, which best practices recommends should maintain a balance to cover three months general operating expenses. Guerrero said currently the fund balance has about two and one-half months of operating funds. However, looking at the past 10 years, it never reached the recommended three-month level.
See LHISD, Page 7
BUSINESS
Construction underway on Liberty Hill Pediatrics building
By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer The providers at Liberty Hill Pediatrics have been seeing local patients since 2015, and now, they’re preparing to bring the same small-town care to a brand-new building. Dr. Tiffani Scott, owner of Liberty Hill Pediatrics, said when she opened her practice on Jonathan Drive, the size of the clinic was fine, but now, because of the growth occurring in Liberty Hill, her practice needs more space. Scott, who is a board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner with her doctorate and a degree in psychology, said even though Liberty Hill Pediatrics is moving into a new building, the business will remain the same, complete with the small-town feel patients have come to love. “We are always going to have that small-town feel,” Scott said. “It’s very important to us
RACHEL MADISON PHOTO
Construction on the new Liberty Hill Pediatrics building began earlier this month. Upon completion, the new building will have separate entrances for both well and sick patients.
another. Now we are ready and we are building as fast as we can. We are hopeful there won’t be any more hold ups
EDC discusses incentives program revisions
By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer After the City Council decided not to make a motion on the Economic Development Corporation’s recommendation to condense and update its incentivization programs at its last meeting, it was back to the drawing board for the EDC. The Council’s concerns with the programs included the subjective nature of some of the requirements, such as “bringing something new to the city that enhances quality of life,” as well as the desire for wanting to meet with the EDC and Planning and Zoning groups for a joint workshop to discuss what is actually needed in the city. “At the last meeting the Council deferred action due to a few questions and were also interested in meeting with us beforehand,” said Matt Powell, executive director of the EDC. “I’ve had a few meetings since then, including with the Mayor and council members, about some potential revisions to simplify [the programs] and make them more understandable.” Powell added that all the revisions suggested by the city council have been well taken and are positive changes. “The idea is to have a simple program that’s easy to follow,” he said. “I’m having multiple conversations to get this to a point that our council will be more satisfied with it and I think [the EDC Board] will be as well. We lose nothing by striking those [subjective requirements] entirely, which will be part of my recommendation for you.”
that patients don’t feel rushed, don’t feel it’s a corporation, and that their provider takes their time.” Construction began June 8 on the new building located just
to the east of Liberty Meadows Plaza on SH 29. Gage and Cade Construction is the general contractor on the project. “Our patients have been asking for updates on the new
office for a long time,” Scott said. “It took a long time to get the permits we needed, and then once we got permits, COVID hit. Then the ice storm hit, so it was one thing after
“We learned quickly that people in Leander wanted to eat good food and they didn’t want to travel into Austin to get it,” Schaffner said. “Both Shelly and I are classically French trained, so it really worked out for us.” In 2019, Pogue decided to move on from Farm to Fork— she moved out of the country and opened a bed and breakfast—so Schaffner purchased the business with help from a new financial partner, Frank Riha. “Frank and his wife, Sue, started becoming customers of ours in Leander in 2016,” Schaffner said. “They came twice a week and ate the same thing. When Frank found out Shelly was moving on, he of-
fered to help me buy her out because he didn’t want to lose his favorite burger, so if that’s what it took, he’d do it. He is not a part of the daily operation—he is 81 years old—but he is still around often.” After the transition, Schaffner said Farm to Fork continued to grow in popularity. “We modified the menu a bit and made a few changes, but that was kind of that,” she said. “By that time, we had exceeded the amount of people we could feed in Leander. We only had eight tables, and there was sometimes a two-hour wait on Friday and Saturday evenings. We just didn’t have enough seats. We did our best to expand, and even tried to move into the suite next door
for us, but it didn’t work out. We couldn’t find anything that suited us and then the pandemic hit, which slowed us down.” Farm to Fork stayed open during the pandemic, providing to-go services to the community as well as feeing first responders, elderly citizens and school children, and once the dining room was able to reopen, they opened their doors again. But then the winter storm hit in February and created another major roadblock. “On the second day of the storm we got awakened to an alarm in our building that there was glass breakage and water,” RACHEL MADISON PHOTO Schaffner said. “Something inJim and Amy Schaffner, owners of Farm to Fork, are preparing side had frozen, ruptured and to open their new location, at the former Hobo Junction, on See FORK, Page 7 July 1. The new restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and be open seven days a week.
See PEDIATRICS, Page 3
See EDC, Page 4
Farm to Fork to open in former Hobo Junction location
By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer Things have come full circle for Amy Schaffner, chef and owner of Farm to Fork, as she prepares to open the doors to her restaurant at the former location of Hobo Junction—a place she enjoyed as a child. Schaffner, along with her business partner Shelly Pogue, opened the original Farm to Fork in Leander in 2015. What started out as a small venture with a couple of sandwiches on the menu grew into a casual fine-dining restaurant. ©2021 The Liberty Hill Independent