November 5 2015

Page 1

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2015 VOLUME 105 ISSUE 27

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CITY

Memorial Day flood impact worth $7 million in damages By Rae Glassford NEWS REPORTER @rae_maybe

town.” Conley’s original goal was to have the bridge reconstructed by the one-year anniversary of the Memorial Day weekend flood. However, he said the project is moving quickly and may be completed before then. “You’re going to see a lot of activity (at the bridge site),” Conley said. “I’m very pleased with how it is moving along.” The Post Road bridge was lost in Commissioner Ray Whisenant’s, Precinct 4, jurisdiction. Whisenant is still pursuing the possibility of building a temporary bridge. Whisenant is waiting for Hays County officials to calculate the total cost of a temporary bridge. He expects to receive the estimated cost by the end of the week. After that, he will present the plan in Commissioners Court. The Precinct 4 commissioner said his goal is to have a temporary bridge built by Jan. 1. If it cannot be built by then, it will become illogical to construct the bridge at all because it would not be in place long before needing to be removed, Whisenant said. If built, the temporary bridge will be in place until the state of Texas finalizes plans for the new, perma-

During this year’s Memorial Day weekend, Central Texas was on the receiving end of flash floods that reached historically unprecedented levels. Nearly six months later, the financial and environmental extent of the damage has been calculated. The total cost of flood damage is $7 million for the region which includes Blanco, Hays, Guadalupe and Caldwell counties, said Kristi Wyatt, director of communications and intergovernmental relations for the city of San Marcos. “We can’t prevent flooding,” said Fire Marshal Kenneth Bell, emergency management coordinator for San Marcos. “That is nature.” However, there are flood mitigation and damage reduction techniques in place to help alleviate the adverse effects of flooding, he said. The safety measures include notification systems, drainage installation, construction of walls and dams and adherence to proper building codes. Electric substations were damaged, affecting electricity and related utilities across the region, he said. Infrastructure damage was primarily composed of drainage outfall, which destroyed roadways and residential homes. As a result of flood damage, city officials were prompted to issue substantial damage determination notices to residents whose properties were assessed as being fifty percent damaged or greater, Wyatt said. This was done in an attempt to alleviate repair costs for the most severely damaged homes. Damage to infrastructure inflicted by the Memorial Day weekend flood is expected to last anywhere from three to five years and affected areas within 43 miles of river, Bell said. Increased volume of water in the Blanco and San Marcos rivers due to flooding has likewise raised concerns regarding soil erosion, water quality and the impact floods have on the rivers’ natural ecosystem, he said. “During big floods, it is common to observe a greatly increased bacteria count in the water,” said Geary Schindel, chief technical officer and director of aquifer science for the Edwards Aquifer Authority. “During very high discharge events, you can see water quality degrade as human and animal waste discharges into the river.” Degradation of water quality during storm events is categorized into non-point source pollution and pointsource pollution, Schindel said. Non-point source pollution is runoff, whereas pointsource pollution encompasses any source of pollution that is more specific, such as a discharge pipe from a water treatment plant. For urban flooding events, Hays County typically receives primarily non-point source pollution washing into streams, Schindel said. Because San Marcos is a high-

See BRIDGE, Page 2

See FLOOD, Page 2

SAM KING STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Phi Mu Alpha sings Hallelujah at the Homecoming Talent Show Nov. 4.

Annual Homecoming Talent Show brings diverse performances By Madison Morriss NEWS REPORTER @themorrisscode

Bobcats showed up to the homecoming talent show to display their unique abilities, ranging from an elaborate stomping number to a performance with a Chinese yo-yo at Evans Auditorium Wednesday night. Mal Hall, a San Diego comedian, hosted the event that consisted of 14 acts. Eight winners were crowned, including Phi Mu Alpha, the overall winners of the show. “It’s crazy (that we won) because this is just some-

thing that we do for fun,” said Johnny Edds, Phi Mu Alpha member. “This is something that we’ll just be doing in the music hall in between classes and we’ll just start singing.” Nick Raul’s musical performance won him the prize for the solo category. Singers were a crowd favorite at the event, and Phi Mu Alpha were named the winners of the large group division and the overall champions of the talent show for their rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” “The one thing that we really wanted to make sure

ELECTION

that we did tonight was just have fun,” Edds said. “We didn’t expect to win because we had a lot of technical difficulties, or just missing steps, and it’s just an added bonus that we won.” Harambee Dance Group won the artistic movement category with an energetic stomp routine. Morgan Stephan, French sophomore, performed with a Diablo, or Chinese yo-yo, and was rewarded with the variety category trophy. Alondra Garcia, interdisciplinary studies freshman, thought the talent show was entertaining and attention-

grabbing. “I really liked the step dancing group (Harambee Dance),” Garcia said. “It was very unique from all of the other acts.” Throughout the talent show, Hall introduced the performers with comedic delivery. “I think the event was awesome, the acts were incredible,” Hall said. “There is a lot of talent on this campus and the energy from the crowd was also really, really good.” The night hosted a diverse array of performers, including a sign language singer

known on stage as Victoria Is Redeemed. “I think that the talent show was really great,” said Brandy Cannon, interdisciplinary studies freshman. “They had amazing acts and it was great to see them showcase their talents.” Alex Puryear, the Pride and Traditions coordinator, said this year’s show produced the greatest turnout in the event’s history. “I think this show was the best one yet,” Puryear said. “I think it was a great turnout and we have had a lot more people here and involved than we have ever had.”

FLOOD

Voter turnout slightly Commissioners work to improve commute higher than last off-year after two bridges lost due to floods election By Darcy Sprague SENIOR NEWS REPORTER @darcy_days

By Darcy Sprague SENIOR NEWS REPORTER @darcy_days

At the start of election season, organizations and local officials rushed to help students register to vote in an effort to combat low turnout at the polls, which has traditionally plagued the city. The effort seems to have paid off. Voter turnout for the Nov. 3 local election was higher than it was in 2013, the last offseason election. “In San Marcos, a lot of us take voting very seriously,” said Councilman John Thomaides, Place 3. “We know it is the only way for there to be change.” There were 3,158 votes cast in the Nov. 3 election, according to data provided by Hays County. In 2014, when both the governor of Texas and the mayor of San Marcos positions were up for election, 7,539 ballots were cast in the city. In 2013, only 2,284 ballots were cast. Thomaides said low voter turnout is an issue across the country, but the situation has been improving in San Marcos. He said early voting numbers were up by approximately 30 percent. This year 1,496 ballots were cast during early voting, compared to just 1,001 in 2013, according to the data. Ted Breihan, San Marcos

resident and former city council member, said there are more active citizens now than there were during his term in the 1970s. “We didn’t have quite the issues in San Marcos that we do now,” Breihan said. He said issues created as a result of a large influx of college students in the city and inefficient infrastructure that complicates getting around town are causing more citizens to vote. This year, there were 28,103 voters registered in San Marcos. That is 529 voters less than last year, but still 151 more than 2013, according to the data. “If you want to see change at the national level, you have to start at the local level,” said Holly Hearn, mass communication freshman and deputy communication director of College Democrats at Texas State. As campaign season kicked into high gear earlier this year, the College Democrats tabled on the Quad to help students register to vote in Hays County. “Most of us spend four to five years here, and most of us are impacted by issues like student housing and the river,” Hearn said. Newly elected Councilwoman Melissa Derrick, Place 6, said the flash flooding that occurred Oct. 30 possibly

See VOTING, Page 2

Six months after two bridges were demolished in the Memorial Day weekend flood, Hays County Commissioners are searching for solutions to improve commutes that previously relied on the structures. Commissioner Will Conley, Precinct 3, the Fischer Store Road bridge was destroyed by the flood. Conley began looking at solutions immediately, including the possibility of building a temporary bridge. However, on Oct. 6 Conley released a statement saying he was no longer pursuing the construction of a temporary bridge. A temporary structure would have to be built partly on private land. Construction on the permanent Fischer Store Road bridge is moving ahead of schedule, meaning it is no longer economically justifiable to create a temporary structure for the shortened amount of time left before the permanent one is completed, Conley said. “We missed the window of opportunity,” Conley said. “It’s a good and bad thing.” Conley said he worked with private landowners for months to come up with a plan for a temporary bridge

that would suit all parties involved, but was unable to find one. “We would get consensus from one landowner, then when we crossed the river we would run into another problem,” Conley said. “Now, we are out of time.” Conley said he was in favor of creating a temporary bridge because the public deserves an easy route during the construction process of the permanent structure. “All of those problems and different issues are private to the owner and their lives,” Conley said. “Those people have been through a lot.” Gary Tucker, San Marcos resident, said the loss of the bridge makes his daily commute longer, but he feels Conley and other county officials have been proactive about the situation. “I lost my home and two cars in the flood,” Tucker said. “It was hard on the county to lose a bridge like that, but we are all doing to best we can with what happened.” Tucker said getting to Wimberley has become particularly difficult. “It makes a huge impact on quality of life and convenience,” Conley said. “Not having the bridge makes it harder to get to work, the doctor’s or even just into


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