News

Granite Shoals hires Townsend as interim CM

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Clearly feeling the pressure of impending projects and reassured by previous service, the Granite Shoals City Council on Tuesday, March 13, unanimously voted to hire Marvin Townsend to serve as interim city manager.

The city is about to embark on its $3 million road project and funds should be available next week to begin the three-phase restoration of Phillips Ranch Road, Prairie Creek Road and Valley View Lane. Council approval was given also on Tuesday night to a three-phase approach to converting granite mining buildings into an outdoor sports complex under its $500,000 Texas Parks & Recreation Department (TPWD) grant.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

A Llano County grand jury has issued additional indictments against the Llano with a police chief and a former officer in connection with a May 2, 1027, arrest of a Llano man.

Llano Police Chief Kevin Ratliff and former officer Grant Harden both were charged Monday, Feb. 26 with a count of official oppression by trespass, a count of official oppression by false arrest and a count of tampering with a government document. Both men turned themselves in to the Llano County Jail for booking and since have been released on bond.

Official oppression is a class A misdemeanor, punishable by a jail term up up to one year and/or a fine, not to exceed $4,000. Tampering with a government document is a state jail felony, punishable by 180 days-two years in a state jail facility and/or a fine up to $10,000.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

When the announcement came that contract negotiations for LakeFest 2018 had fallen through, speculation was rampant.

The announcements from the Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber and the City of Marble Falls were straightforward: “It boiled down to being a business decision.”

That didn't stop people wondering if it boiled down to city parks and recreation construction and related boat ramp changes or the development of the hotel conference center.

For an answer, we turned to Ken Dollar of Meadowlakes, the face of the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Races from 2009 until the first of 2018.

“Development never came into the picture,” he said. “I want to get that across.”

“It was a simple thing,” he continued. “Last year the Lucas corporation people decided it was time to take a look and restructure, not just drag boats, but all their motor sports series; and they own several.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The Granite Shoals City Council will meet in a special session Wednesday, March 7, to make arrangements for administration of the city without city manager Ken Nickel.

Since Nickel resigned verbally during the council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 27, no advance preparation had been made signatories or a search process for an interim, or new, city manager. That work will take place Wednesday and until then assistant city manager Peggy Smith will serve as interim CM.

The council did take action last Tuesday on two major projects Nickel has shepherded forward for the city—road improvement bonds and annexation.

The issuance of the $3 million in road bonds was approved by ordinance. The money, approved by voters in November 2016 and again in November 2017, should be available on March 21.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Community leaders let their hair down for the 59th Annual Awards Banquet, themed “Get Down, Turn Around, Go to Town, Brew Scootin' Boogie!”

The event was a sell out and the Cadillac Dance Hall delivered with the music of Eddie Shell and the Not Guilties and their lead singer Bode Barker.

But the casual atmosphere and a banquet of barbecue did not diminish the pride the chamber took in recognizing the contributions of award winners, including Outstanding Citizen Guy Taylor and Lifetime Achievement Award winners Raymond and Tammy Cochran Whitman.

The Excellence in Public Service Award was presented to the Highland Lakes Pregnancy Resource Center of Marble Falls and Kingsland. Clay Cauble was named Innovator of the Year and Jeff Bingham, Ambassador of the Year.

There will be May 22 runoffs in the two contested races in the Burnet County Republican County primary after final but unofficial results were announced Tuesday night.

In the Precinct 2 Commissioner race, Tom Stephens and Damon Beierle have advanced to a runoff election. Stephens had a plurality of votes with 703, or 45.21 percent, while Beierle had 616 votes, or 39.61 percent. Ryan Rowney received 236 votes, or 15.18 percent.

In the Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace race, Jane Marie Hurst led the votegetters with 401 votes, or 39.74 percent, while Jeff Sellers had 365, or 36.17 percent. Carey Headrick had 243 votes, or 24.08 percent.

There are still 30 provisional ballots and one overseas ballot which has not been received so far, according to Elections Administrator Doug Ferguson.

New Llano County judge elected as Cunningham unseats Cunningham

Challenger Ronald “Ron” Cunningham has apparently unseated Llano County Judge Mary Cunningham in the Llano County Republican Primary, according to final but unofficial results.

The two Cunninghams are not related, despite having the same last name.

Ron Cunningham received 2,140 votes, or 54.05 percent to 1,819, or 45.95 percent, for Mary Cunningham. Because there is not a Democratic opponent, Ron Cunningham will be sworn in as the new county judge in January.

Meanwhile, incumbent Llano County Clerk Marci Hadeler and incumbent Precinct 2 Commissioner Linda Raschke each survived primary challenges. Hadeler received 2,049 votes, or 56.03 percent, to 1,608, or 43.97 percent, for her challenger, Clay Etter.

Raschke received 618 votes, or 62.36 percent, while challenger Ricky Johnson received 373, or 37.64 percent.

Kimberlee McLeod had a $1,000 surprise in her Marble Falls High School (MFHS) classroom today, March 6.

Representatives of H-E-B arrived about 10 a.m. to announce the English Language Arts chairman is a finalist for a 2018 H-E-B Excellence in Education Award.

The H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards spotlight teachers among the best educators in Texas. McLeod joins the Marble Falls Independent School District in that spotlight. MFISD is one of only three Small District Finalists for the prestigious 2018 H-E-B Excellence in Education District Award

McLeod was invited with five teachers and two principals from around the state to Houston on May 5-6 to compete on a statewide level for larger cash prizes totaling $430,000.

Party Primary Election Day is today, March 6, and Republican and Democrat voters have until 7 p.m. to cast their ballots for local and statewide candidates.

County offices in Burnet and Llano counties, where no Democratic contests are on the ballots, will be decided today.

Burnet County

Three candidates are seeking the GOP nomination for Precinct 2 commissioner after incumbent Russell Graeter chose not to run again. The field includes, in ballot order, Ryan Rowney, Tom Stephens and Damon Beierle. The winner does not have a Democratic opponent in the fall and will be the newly elected commissioner in January.

There are also three candidates seeking the GOP nod for Precinct 3 JP after incumbent Peggy Shell Simon did not seek re-election. They include Jane Marie Hurst, Carey Headrick and Jeff Sellers. The winner does not have a Democratic opponent in the fall and would be the newly elected JP in January.

Granite Shoals City Manager Ken Nickel resigned during Tuesday night's regular city council meeting, ending a nearly five-year tenure as the city's administrative head.

Nickel's resignation was accepted by the council, effective at the end of business Wednesday, Feb. 28. Mayor Carl Brugger announced the resignation in a press release Wednesday morning.

Nickel joined the city of Granite Shoals in the fall of 2010 as the city's finance director. He was promoted to city manager in July 2013, succeeding Marvin Townsend and guiding the city to several benchmark accomplishments.

Council members will now begin the search for the city's sixth city manager since 2006, when John Gayle first took the position. Others who have served in that position include John Hatchel and Judy Miller.