August 21 2014

Page 1

THURSDAY

AUGUST 21, 2014 VOLUME 104 ISSUE 6

Defending the First Amendment since 1911

www.UniversityStar.com

Back to School Issue CITY

Communications director retires after 29 years with city By Naomi Lovato NEWS REPORTER Melissa Millecam, San Marcos’ director of communications, retired Aug. 15 after a 29-year career with the city. Millecam has lived in San Marcos for 44 years. In the ‘70s, she was a newspaper reporter for the city. In 1985, the city manager asked if she could assist him with media relations. Three years later in 1988, she became a permanent employee. The job has evolved from writing press releases on typewriters and a second-generation Mac computer and mailing them out to using e-mail in the digital age, Millecam said. Mayor Daniel Guerrero said he has been “blessed” to work with Millecam. From funny pictures at the pool ending up on the front page of the newspaper to running into celebrities, Guerrero said he loved working with Millecam. “We have a great relationship,” Guerrero said. “We’re going to miss her, but I know that she has her husband, Art, and her children that will have more time with her.” Millecam has many activities planned for her retirement. Millecam said she plans to travel, take some classes at Texas State, stay involved in community organizations, continue mentoring in the school district, practice yoga and go to a retreat for a month. “I will miss my city colleagues, the city council and the staff, who have been wonderful,” Millecam said. “My husband and I have always been pretty engaged in the San Marcos community, and we’ll continue to do that.” City Manager Jared Miller said he is preparing for her replacement and will make the ultimate decision of who will be chosen for the position. A review committee comprised of representatives of different departments who have different and frequent communications needs will help

choose, he said. “It’s going to be a hard role to fill,” Miller said. “Finding someone in a communications position that lasts 30 years in a growing environment like this—that’s a feat to be noted.” Through her 29 years with the city, Millecam has been through countless events and seen San Marcos grow. Millecam said she’s seen floods, tornadoes and train derailments. Some big projects that stand out in her mind are the rebuilding of the Rio Vista Dam, the building of the Embassy Suites Hotel, Spa and Conference Center, the acquisition of 2,000 acres of parkland and green space over the years, the protection of the San Marcos River, the building of a new library and the formation of partnerships with the outlet malls. “A lot of people see her as our press person, but she is beyond that,” Guerrero said. “She is our director of communications. She deals with press and media relations, updates our website and social media, prepares our talking points, (is an) inter-governmental director and she’s heavily involved with different social services.” Part of Millecam’s job is to handle governmental relations on state and federal levels on legislative issues. These include grants, federal programs and support for the airport and public safety agencies. “Over the years we’ve got more that $16 million in federal funding for projects,” Millecam said. “I feel it’s been very rewarding for the city. I feel honored to have been a witness to a lot of these things and to help to whatever degree I can help.” Guerrero has declared Aug. 15 Melissa Millecam Day in recognition of her hard work and service over the years, according to the city’s website. “She is just well respected and talked real highly of by people,” Guerrero said. “We’re certainly going to miss her. She’s done a lot for us.”

DENISE CATHEY STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Melissa Millicam, director of Communications and Intergovernmental Relations, stands in the broadcasting room of City Hall. Millicam has managed the media output for the government of San Marcos since 1985.

UNIVERSITY

DENISE CATHEY STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A new bus sits parked Aug. 20 at a campus bus loop. The university’s contract with Transdev brought 43 new buses to campus.

Transdev brings new buses, route changes By Nicole Barrios ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

T

his fall semester students can expect to see new buses, drivers and route changes in the Bobcat Shuttle service as the university’s contract with a new provider takes effect. The contract with Transdev, the bus contractor that merged with

Veolia Transport in 2011, went into full effect Aug. 9. Transdev is now the official Texas State shuttle provider, said Steven Herrera, Bobcat Shuttle service manager. The previous contractor, First Transit, was replaced by Transdev after a bidding process for a new provider took place last year. Students passed a referendum in April 2013 to raise the bus fee from $78 to $95, and the increase

helped sustain the new contract with Transdev, according to a Nov. 20 University Star article. “(Transdev does) have all the new buses in on property, and they’re being readied for service,” Herrera said. Radios are being installed, decals are being put on the buses and driver training is ongoing, Herrera said.

See BUSES, Page 2

COUNTY

Overcrowding at Hays County jail forces transfer of some inmates By Carlie Porterfield SENIOR NEWS REPORTER A rising inmate population has forced Hays County officials to send inmates to the Guadalupe County Jail after the Hays jail facility exceeded its capacity. Hays County spent over $1 million on shipping inmates abroad and housing them between 2009 and 2011. When Sheriff Gary Cutler took office in late 2010, he was able to cut down on future costs by reforming the justice system. Different programs were implemented, like manual labor for jail time and fitting convicts with ankle monitors to leave beds open. As a result, the inmate population decreased dramatically, and for over three years, Hays County did not transfer a single inmate, Cutler said. However, as Hays County’s population increased, so did the number of inmates. On July 14, Cutler was

forced to make the decision to transfer 22 inmates to Guadalupe County’s jail, he said. The maximum capacity of the Hays County jail is 362 inmates, but it is considered “full” at 311. These figures are based on a recommendation from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards that says 10 percent of the facility’s beds should be kept open to serve as a “buffer,” Cutler said. “In July, the conditions got so crowded that we had to outsource,” Cutler said. “We can’t keep them in our facility because of the crowded conditions, so we don’t have an option on this. That’s the only reason they would be housed outside of our facility here.” Guadalupe County is charging $50 per day per inmate in exchange for its housing services, said Hays County Commissioner Will Conley, Precinct 3. Since the outsourcing began, beds have opened up in Hays County and

CITY

some inmates have been transferred back, Cutler said. “Now we’ve transported some back as we’ve developed space here, and we’ve got eight still housed in Guadalupe County as of today,” Cutler said. Of those original 22 inmates, 10 of were women. Cutler said all of the women that were sent to Guadalupe County are now back in the Hays facility. The decision about which inmates would be transferred was based on several factors. One of the most important was the length of their sentence. “We know which ones are probably going to be here for a while because of the nature of their charges, and those can be moved because they’re not going to go to court real soon,” Cutler said. “And also, we’re obviously not going to transport anyone with

See JAILS, Page 2

CITY

San Marcos to downsize trash bins to reduce landfill usage McCoy Foundation donates By Naomi Lovato NEWS REPORTER San Marcos will trade residential customers’ 96-gallon trash carts for 65-gallon units beginning Oct. 1 in order to decrease the amount of garbage flowing to landfills. The goal with the cart downsize is to divert as much trash as possible from going into landfills. The nearest landfill will close November 2015, said Amy Kirwin, solid waste program coordinator for the city. To continue using the 96-gallon trash cart, residents must pay a $3 increase in the monthly trash fee, according to the city’s website. The city’s landfill provider will begin raising its fee, something that has not been done since 2009, Kirwin said. The city will have to divert trash to other nearby landfills when the San Marcos location closes in 2015. “The majority of what you’re paying for is landfill airspace, so the more trash you’re putting into the landfill, the more you have to pay,” Kirwin said. “We have a finite number of resources, and when you recycle, you’re reusing materials.” During the last fiscal year, the total tonnage of waste in San Marcos was 1,805 tons of recycling and 6,288 tons of trash, Kirwin said.

This change may be a disadvantage to large or low-income families who will now have to pay attention to what they are throwing away, Kirwin said. However, taking the time to see how much is being sent to the landfill may help the city’s problem. “This change was more of a positive incentive for people who are recycling and diverting from the landfill,” Kirwin said. “People are becoming more mindful of what they’re purchasing.”

Green Guy Recycling will remain available to collect motor oil, tires, appliances, styrofoam peanuts and electronics separately from what is put into the single-stream recycling, said Kyle Hahn, owner of the business. There is not a specific landfill for San Marcos or Hays County, so the trash will affect other counties around San Marcos. Michelle Lombardo, San Marcos

See LANDFILL, Page 2

HARON SAENZ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

$1.2 million gift to CTMC

By Raquel Kimm NEWS REPORTER On July 18, the Miriam and Emmett McCoy Foundation announced it would be donating $1.2 million to the Central Texas Medical Center to help the hospital purchase its second da Vinci Surgical System. The robotic surgical system is a sophisticated machine designed to increase a surgeon’s abilities and present a state-ofthe-art minimally invasive option for major surgery, according to the da Vinci Surgery website. The McCoy Foundation is no stranger to helping the CTMC hospital leave its mark as a leader in the community. “The McCoys helped the hospital build its very first building in the 1980s,” said Sam Huenergardt, president and CEO of CTMC. “They are sustaining donors, and this year they decided they would help the hospital reach its yearly goals.” The hospital already had a da Vinci surgical system in its

possession, but it needs a second because the first one has become the busiest robot for surgeries in the central Texas area, said Erik Anderson, general surgeon. “We should be receiving the second one in 60 to 90 days,” Anderson said. “We just have to prepare to make room for its large size. The robot itself stands about seven feet tall and about ten feet side to side and has a six-by-six box that I operate it from.” The system can be used for multiple types of procedures, from gallbladder and hernia removal to weight loss surgery and hysterectomies, so the surgeons have been busy using da Vinci. “The robot takes away any chance of human error,” said Patrick Arida, Telemedicine medical engineer. “The robot does all the motions you would with your hands so it does it perfectly—no mistakes. I have had the chance to work with these robots multiple times,

See CTMC, Page 2


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