Cottonwood Shores City Council

By Phil Reynolds
Contributing Writer

By 6:30 p.m. Thursday, the lights were out in the Cottonwood Shores Civic Center and city council members had gone home.

It took only 20 minutes for the second of two public hearings on the annexation of some 2,000 feet of Ranch Road 2147 and the adoption of an ordinance naming Republic Services the city’s solid waste contractor.

Not only did no one speak on either topic; no one attended the special called council meeting except city officials and a reporter . . . .

By Phil Reynolds
Contributing Writer

With the approval of what may be a unique city agency Thursday, Cottonwood Shores city council members took another step toward what some city officials believe to be a path to development.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The Cottonwood Shores City Council threw their support into opposition to a gravel and concrete crusher operation in South Burnet County but again set aside a contentious debate in a meeting Oct. 5.

The council was in accord Sept. 21 when members approved the proposed property tax rate of $0.5438 per $100 valuation. That will be divided 33.21 cents for maintenance and operation (M&0) and 21.17 cents for the interest and sinking fund (I&S).

Also approved in that meeting was the 2017-2018 budget--$898,728 in general fund expenditures and $837,686 in utility fund expenditures—totaling $1,736,414.

The council has been divided over the need for an ordinance banning the feeding of deer and has looked at program proposed as an alternative that would educate residents on the need. That was set aside Sept. 21 and did not reappear on the agenda of the first meeting in October.

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

The Cottonwood Shores City Council at its regular meeting on Thursday, April 7, voted to remove the BMX track from the city’s P-Squared Park after Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) officials approved the amendment to the grant contract.

The city already has spent $6,000 to remove the tires around the track, said Mayor Donald Orr.

The council also approved spending up to $7,000 of the $15,000 in the parks and recreation commission budget on construction to get Noah Thompson Park into Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance, avoiding a possible $1,000/day fine from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).

“We’re one step closer to finishing the parks and having them accepted by the TDLR,” Orr said.

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

The Cottonwood Shores City Council at its meeting on Thursday, March 17, unanimously passed a revised version of noise ordinance 8005, a staple on council agendas since January and an issue within the city for at least two years.
Although the noise ordinance applies to heavy equipment, vehicles and firearms, among many other sources of loud noise, complaints have been directed mainly at On The Rocks restaurant in the Castle Rock section of the city.

Between April and October of last year, two residents called officers 35 times about noise at the restaurant, with 16 of those calls made in one month alone.

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

The Cottonwood Shores City Council made good on a second payment to the Cottonwood Shores Volunteer Fire Department (CWSVFD) for the fulfillment of two more of the fire department's contract goals.

In the city council meeting on Thursday, March 3, city officials presented the $5,000 check to the fire department's liaison as payment for ticking off two more goals on an annual list agreed upon by the city and the CSVFD.

The recent payment brings the fire department to $13,500 since the two parties approved the new performance-based contract system in December. The city council is tasked with approving the release of funds for each goal achieved, according to the contract.