Burnet County Commissioners Court

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

Burnet County Precinct 3 Commissioner candidates William D. “Dee” Haddock and incumbent Billy Wall answered questions exclusively for The Highlander editorial board this week as a preamble to the Tuesday, March 3, Republican primary election. …

One question was posed as follows:

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

Commercial property owners may be able to upgrade infrastructure at their facilities with little to no initial capital outlay under a program being considered by the Burnet County Commissioners Court.

The commissioners will hold a public hearing Feb. 25 to dicuss participation in the Texas Property Assembled Clean Energy (PACE) program, which can make low-interest loans available to property owners to pay for eligible water conservation, energy efficiency, resiliency, and distributed generation projects. …

UPDATE: As of Aug. 14, Burnet County Commissioners rescinded the disaster declaration but approved keeping a less restrictive burn ban in place.

By Connie Swinney
The Highlander

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

Burnet County commissioners agreed informally Tuesday to establish a committee to draft an ordinance prohibiting solid waste disposal in the county.

The committee will be comprised of Development Services Director Herb Darling, Precinct 1 Commissioner Jim Luther Jr. and County Attorney Eddie Arredondo.

“This order would give us the ability, if a company comes in to purchase a tract of land, to prohibit them from putting in a landfill or put a stop to things if an outside company wants to dispose of hazardous waste in the county,” Darling said.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

Once a common fixture across the landscape, there are just two historic iron bridges remaining in Burnet County — the North Fork San Gabriel Bridge on County Road 200, commonly known as the Joppa Bridge, and the Russell Fork San Gabriel Bridge on County Road 272.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

The Highlander

A proposal by Enterprise Fleet Management Inc. to manage Burnet County's fleet of patrol vehicles and light-duty trucks presents “an intriguing concept to reduce costs and update our fleet,” Burnet County Judge James Oakley said.

Kirby Watson, a senior fleet consultant with Enterprise Fleet Management, made the presentation to the Burnet County Commissioners Court at the regular meeting Tuesday, July 25. Watson said Enterprise, the largest vehicle operator in the world with nearly 1.9 million vehicles in use, can help the county achieve savings through leasing vehicles on a shorter term.

Burnet's First State Bank will be recognized with a Texas Treasure Business Award from the Texas Historical Commission (THC) during the July 25 regular Burnet County Commissioners Court meeting.

The Texas Treasure Business Award program pays tribute to businesses that have provided employment opportunities and support to the state's economy for 50 years or more.

Created in 2005 through legislation authored by Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) and sponsored by Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson (R-Waco), the program recognizes well-established Texas businesses and their exceptional historical contributions to the state's economic growth and prosperity.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

A construction project to convert the northern part of US 281 from the Lampasas County line to the Burnet city limits to a four-lane undivided highway into a “Super 2” three-lane highway has been let this month, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) area engineer Cathy Kratz P.E. said at Tuesday's Burnet County Commissioner Court meeting.

Kratz and other engineers from TxDOT appeared before commissioners to talk about plans to put convert portions of US 281 and US 183 to “Super 2” roadways, due to a high number of accidents which have occurred where vehicles have left the roadway.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Debbie Bindseil received permission from the Burnet County Commissioners Court to put in a walk-up window at her office during Tuesday's regular court meeting.

Bindseil had asked commissioners to allow her to modify her office in the Burnet County Courthouse Annex, 810 Steve Hawkins Parkway in Marble Falls, to put in a nine-square-foot (36 inches by 36 inches) tempered glass window to the left of her door. The window will include a pass through tray and speaking hole to allow communications with customers on the other side.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

An emergency medical service (EMS) substation for Spicewood cleared another hurdle Tuesday, Dec. 20, when the Burnet County Commissioners Court approved a plat for the project.

The substation is proposed by the Burnet County Emergency Services District No. 9, created by voters in 2013 to channel ad valorem taxes into support of fire, rescue, first responder, emergency medical services, rural fire prevention and control services and other emergency services.

Byron Zinn, president of the ESD 9 Board of Commissioners, reported that 80 percent of all calls received by the Spicewood Volunteer Fire Department (SVFD)-EMS are medical in nature, when he made a presentation to the Marble Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees in November.

Securing land from the MFISD was a big hurdle in the project that is expected to cost about $250,000 in construction.