News

Special to The Highlander

Thanks to the Granite Shoals Police Department, a local child missing her best friend — a stuffed rabbit named “Bunny” — has a new stuffed animal and new police officer friends.

On Jan. 21, Granite Shoals Police Capt. Chris Decker was contacted via the Granite Shoals Police Department Facebook page by Debra, the mother of Victoria, the little girl who had last seen Bunny in Robin Hood Park in Granite Shoals that day.

Decker notified on-duty officers of the information and relayed a picture of Bunny. Chief Gary Boshears was in the area and searched without success.

Decker placed a picture of Bunny on all of the Granite Shoals Police Department social media forums. In a matter of days the posts had reached more than 21,000 people with more than 367 shares and 160 reactions, just from Facebook.

By Connie Swinney
Staff Writer

Requests from local city leaders, citing continued flood-damage repair, prompted the Lower Colorado River Authority to extend a drawdown of Lakes Marble Falls and LBJ for three more weeks, officials said.

The initial eight-week drawdown will go through March 18 with both waterways expected to be back to normal operating range by March 22.

Starting Dec. 30, crews began lowering Lake Marble Falls to reach its 7-ft. level today and Lake LBJ to about 4 ft.

“We jointly reached the conclusion that the drawdown should be extended three weeks to allow property owners more time to complete repairs and cleanup,” Marble Falls Mayor John Packer said in an LCRA statement.
Horseshoe Bay Mayor Steve Jordan added: “The close working relationship we have with LCRA allowed us to be a participant in reaching the decision to continue the lake drawdown period.”

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

By Savanna Gregg

Staff Writer

The Highlander

Many unanswered questions are circulating through the Briggs community in light of a recent decision by the Board of Emergency Services Commissioners for Burnet County ESD No. 8 to terminate its contract with the Briggs Volunteer Fire Department effective March 1.

In a statement issued by the ESD No. 8, “all operations by Briggs VFD within the District will cease effective March 1, 2019, and all Briggs VFD assets that have been paid for by the District...will be returned to the District at that time.”

ESD No. 8 plans to assign the District's emergency services to Oakalla VFD following the dismantling of Briggs VFD.

“The Board believes this change in service will benefit the entire District by enhancing the level of service across the community,” the release stated.

Briggs VFD Fire Chief Melinda Wessels-Renfro stated the VFD was not enlightened on the reasoning behind the ESD's decision.

By Connie Swinney
Staff Writer

From initial door-to-door response for evacuations to post-flood cleanup provisions for residents, the Town Hall meeting Jan. 29 crafted an assessment of how the community handled the response and recovery process of the October flood event.

Known as an “after-action review,” city officials devised the Town Hall held at the Marble Falls Public Safety Facility (police station and municipal court building) to gather input from citizens to determine what worked well and what could be improved in the aftermath of the flood.

On Oct. 16, flood water from storms in the Junction area produced runoff into the Llano River which eventually slammed into the Highland Lakes which caused temporary evacuations, submerged lakeside homes, deposited debris and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.

By Connie Swinney
Staff Writer

In the aftermath of the October flood event, Marble Falls resident Nancy Dunnam, who has a home on Buena Vista Drive, believes her family has faced a tough climb towards recovery.

“I can't get any information on how to get back in my home. I have a fence that was literally put around my house, no communication,” she said. “How many of you guys that had this happen to you had a fence put around your home? Anybody? Or is it just Buena Vista.”

Dunnam shared her concerns during the Marble Falls Town Hall meeting on Jan. 29, which assessed and gathered citizen input about response and recovery since the flood event.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

A new report from the Texas Comptroller's Office shows Marble Falls hotels generated a record $11.7 million in total revenue for 2018 — an increase of about seven percent above the nearly $10.95 million lodgers generated in the community in 2017, a local economic development official said.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

Sales tax distributions for Marble Falls for the month of January climbed more than seven percent above last year's total from the same time period, continuing a trend of sales tax growth for the county's largest city.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

Burnet County has a new county auditor and purchasing agent after 33rd District Judge Allan Garrett and 424th District Judge Evan Stubbs appointed Karin A. Smith to the position, effective Feb. 4.

By Connie Swinney
Staff Writer

The new executive director for the Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce will start his new job today, bringing with him extensive experience in managing hundreds of volunteers for large events, officials said.

Jarrod Metzgar, his wife Heather and their two children had already lived in the Marble Falls community for more than a year and a half when he applied for and earned the job.

“We did have some other great candidates who were local, but not with his experience level,” said Chamber President Taylor Smith.

Metzgar previously worked for 10 years with Extraco Events Center, formerly the Heart 'O Texas Fair Complex, where he served as vice president.

“He's got experience managing large events. They had a large event every year,” Smith said. “He was responsible for managing 450 volunteers.”