City of Double Horn elects first mayor, aldermen
By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor
Cathy Sereno made history Tuesday, Feb. 12, becoming the first mayor of the newly incorporated City of Double Horn in final but unofficial election results.
Sereno received 85 votes to top a field of nine candidates who ran in a special election held at the Spicewood Community Center to choose a mayor and five aldermen for the city. As the top votegetter, she is automatically elected mayor.
The five people elected to the Board of Aldermen include R.G. Carver, who received 71 votes; Bob Link, who received 60 votes; James E. Millard, who received 58 votes; Larry Trowbridge, who received 57 votes; and Glenn Leisey, who received 42 votes.
Other candidates included Jeremy Faiman, who just missed out with 41 votes; Gwen Stirling, who got 31 votes; and Dave Johnson, who received 24 votes.
Meanwhile, John Osborne was the only candidate for city marshal and received 61 votes. A total of 103 people cast ballots in the election.
Double Horn, a 20-year-old development community of about 180 residents, voted Dec. 6 to become a General Law Type B municipality with more than 53 percent voting in favor of incorporation.
The city's two-square-mile incorporation boundaries — which includes four entryways east of Marble Falls and just off Texas 71 — also encompasses the site of Spicewood Crushed Stone, a planned rock crushing and mining operation on 280 acres adjacent to Double Horn.
The Spicewood Equity Protection Alliance (SEPATX) petitioned the Burnet County Commissioners Court in 2018 to create a new municipality when Spicewood Crushed Stone applied for an air quality permit.
As many as six mining-related companies operate along the Texas 71 corridor in the Spicewood area. Opponents cite concerns about air quality, water quality, truck traffic safety and noise from the plants. Incorporation is expected to assist the community in fending off more rock crushers, batch plants, quarries and asphalt companies in the future.
Becoming a city not only will set parameters on future mining, but allow for collection of property taxes. However, at the current time, it is believed the Double Horn Improvement Association will remain responsible for maintenance of roads and right-of-ways, while the city's drinking water system, the Double Horn Creek Water Supply Corporation, is a cooperative established by residents.
