Burnet County Commissioners

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

Pedernales Electric Cooperative continues to grow by leaps and bounds as the nation's largest electric cooperative added 15,000 new meters last year and is expected to add at least that many in 2019 as well, CEO Julie Parsley said last week.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

Burnet County commissioners on Wednesday, March 20, discussed a wish list of infrastructure projects the county will submit to a state representative whose bill would create a new grant program using the state's “Rainy Day Fund.”

By Connie Swinney
Staff Writer

A watchdog group announced a victory in oversight of the Lower Colorado River Authority which can result in improvement recommendations or event potential abolition of water authorities, if they entity demonstrates either wasteful spending or propagates duplicate or unnecessary programs.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

The mountain of 2018 flood debris that has been sitting for four months at a Granite Shoals lot should be gone before spring arrives.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

After holding a pair of public hearings Tuesday and Wednesday, Burnet County moved closer to requiring developers to prove enough groundwater is available onsite before they are granted approval to build new subdivisions.

By Connie Swinney
Staff Writer

Burnet County Commissioners on Tuesday, Feb. 12, approved bids for companies to remove, dispose and monitor the process of disposing of large piles of debris, trash and flood-damaged structures collected in the wake of the October 2018 Highland Lakes flood event.

The court chose Texas Disposal Systems (TDS) to remove the piles, stored in a section of Quarry Park, adjacent to Granite Shoals.

“We would like to thank the city of Granite Shoals for being the host of this debris that was collected all along the Highland Lakes,” Burnet County Judge James Oakley said.

On Oct. 16, historic flooding from the Llano River swept down the Colorado River into the Highland Lakes causing massive shoreline flooding in communities including Kingsland, Horseshoe Bay, Granite Shoals and Marble Falls.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

Burnet County commissioners expressed their concern Wednesday that reclassification of Texas 29 from US 281 in Burnet west to Ranch Road 2341 would make it harder to fund any future improvements to the highway.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

A Waco company will be making upgrades to the Burnet County Jail security system that will have the jail using manual controls for about a week during the installation.

After hearing a quick presentation from Sydaptic Inc., the Burnet County commissioners on Wednesday, Jan. 23, approved contracting with the company for $695,137 to install new hardware and software controls at the jail on Polk Avenue (Texas 29).

Sypdatic did not submit the lowest overall bid, but did submit what officials believed to be the best bid overall. Jail Capt. Matt Kimbler told commissioners a committee which studied bids submitted for the work recommended going with Sydaptic because of the amount of time the system would be down.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

Burnet County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday, Dec. 11, to begin the process of obtaining $2.5 million in 2019 tax anticipation notes to fund a number of projects, including $1.6 million for upgrades to the Burnet County Jail and 9-1-1 dispatching.

Also included is $425,000 that would help the county begin making upfront payments on planning, surveying and engineering for a new Wirtz Dam Road bridge crossing as part of an advanced funding agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), which commissioners also approved at their regular meeting.

By Connie Swinney
The Highlander