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PEC BOARD HAS THIRD OPEN MEETING (LOOKS LIKE IT'S BECOMING A HABIT) March 17, 2008 This afternoon, the Board of Directors of the Pedernales Electric Coop held their third open monthly meeting in their auditorium. At least they are letting members attend, listen in (at least to the part that is not "executive session") and speak. If they are actually listening to what members say, that is great. Once again, I videotaped the meeting and have posted it as Windows Media streaming videos. Part 1 is the Board's business. Part 2 is board business continued, followed by "citizen communications" in which members speak out. Part 3 is more members. |
NEIGHBOR HENRY BROOKS WINS A ROUND IN BATTLE WITH CONOCO PHILLIPS February 20, 2008 Since October, Henry Brooks has been trying to keep Conoco Phillips from doing more extensive pipeline maintenance at the valves they have on his land along RR12. Back then, I posted a report with photos and video, showing the work being done and the impact it was having on the land. Recently, Conoco Phillips had sent their condemnation man up from Houston to offer Henry a payment to give the company more access and allow another major maintenance procedure to be done. Well, Henry just called to tell me that the condemnation man came back yesterday to inform him that they would not be doing the work at the valves on Henry's property afterall. They will. instead, be doing it from their valves in Johnson City. Chalk up a win for the Barton Creek watershed, which will now not have to be subjected to the presence of all that nastiness. |
PEC BOARD HAS ANOTHER "OPEN" MEETING February 18, 2008 This afternoon, the Board of Directors of the Pedernales Electric Coop made another effort at the appearance of transparency by holding their monthly meeting in their auditorium, where there is room for members to attend and witness the proceedings. Again, while taking baby steps in the right direction, this Board still doesn't get it. In my opinion, they embarass themselves with their ignorance of issues and paucity of substance. But7 don't take my word for it. Check it out for yourself. The Windows Media video is in two parts. Part 1 is the Board's business, which consists mostly of trivia. Part 2 is the "citizen communications" part in which members speak out. |
TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS CONSIDER REQUESTING DOWNSIZED WESTERN HPR February 13, 2008 Yesterday, at the Travis County Commissioners Court meeting, item 20 on the agenda was consideration of a proposal by Public Works Director Steve Manilla. Manilla was suggesting that maybe the Commissioners should ask CAMPO to revise their plan for a 4 lane road all the way to the Blanco County line and instead end the 4-lane at the still non-existent Reimers-Peacock Road. Funny that Manilla should be doing this now since it is our understanding that he was the one who suggested the upgrade to 4 lanes in the first place. A bunch of neighbors showed up at the meeting and about 8 of us spoke, collectively making a strong case in support of an even more extensive downgrade, beginning at RR12. Here's more. |
PEC BOARD MEET TO "TURN OVER A NEW LEAF" - MEMBERS DEMAND RESIGNATIONS January 25, 2008 On January 21st, the Pedernales Electric Coop met, possibly for the first time, in a session open to the members. The Board sat patiently (if a little bored) and listened to each member who wanted to address them. The meeting was held at the PEC's training and meeting center, the "River Palace" and over 50 member-owners were in attendance to testify and/or observe. The almost unanimous member request was that the current Board resign immediately. This well-paid yes-man board is not about to do that. Toward the end, they made a show of passing the new bylaws revisions. When someone questioned them as to whether that vote was even on the agenda, they mumbled something like "here it is down at the bottom - board business." Then they adjourned to executive session (probably to snicker about how they had bamboozled us again). These people are either truly crafty, creating this act of innocent ignorance, or they are truly clueless. Either way, they all need to go and probably should give back the money that they have been collecting under false pretenses for so long. Claudia Grisales has, up to now, done a great job of covering the unfolding of this story in the Austin American Statesman. Unfortunately, her piece reporting on this meeting left a lot unsaid. Claudia's articles, as well as most of the other media coverage that the scandal has received, can be found at www.pec4u.org. The Statesman has also published a lot of letters to the editor from irate PEC members. On January 13th, they printed this one by yours truly. A pretty good summary of the 1/21/08 meeting was published in the Johnson City and Blanco papers by Jodi Lehman. Here is the text of that article. And, in case you want to review the proceedings for yourself, I videotaped the event and have posted the entire 77 minute meeting on line. You can watch the Windows Media video here. |
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PEDERNALES ELECTRIC COOP WASTES OWNER-MEMBERS' MONEY AND HURTS THE ENVIRONMENT AT THE SAME TIME December 24, 2007 Last night, as Annie and I drove through Johnson City, we were practically blown out of the car by a blast emanating from PEC's headquarters. It was a Las Vegas-like city of lights that glowed brighter than the nearly full moon. Here's more. |
SAY NO TO EXPENSIVE AND UNNECESSARY NEW BRIDGE: SIGN THE PETITION December
3, 2007 |
RESIST CAMPO'S ILL-CONCEIVED PLAN FOR 4-LANE HIGHWAY: SIGN THE PETITION November
20, 2007 |
CONOCO PHILLIPS MAKES A MESS AT HENRY BROOKS' PLACE October
26, 2007 |
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WANNA WATCH A MOVIE? August 26, 2007 I have started posting some of my short video pieces on YouTube and have, for your viewing pleasure, created a page on this site where some of the videos are embedded. Go to my Videos page where you will be able to view "Texas Coal Wars (Part 1)" which was shot Tuesday. February 20th at the Travis County Courthouse. It tells the story of the citizens who got an injunction to stop Governor Perry's coal plant fast-tracking. On that page you will also find "River Glyph", "International Festival of Canoes" and other shorts. Or, you can go directly to my YouTube home page to view all the videos I have posted there. Enjoy! |
LAKE TRAVIS ISD MAY NOT TAKE FAMILY RANCH (UPDATE OF BELOW ARTICLE) February 6, 2007 When the petitions came pouring in and it became abundantly clear that the current school board members would not have widespread community support in the upcoming board elections, they started to hedge a bit. At that point, the board released this statement, which indicated that they may rescind their resolution requesting court-ordered access to the Grumbles' property. Then, on February 13th, they released this backpedaling document, which hedges on their former hedging. It states that, while they will continue to work in the "best interest" of the school district (meaning they still may go after the Grumbles' property), "no judicial action will be taken at this time". Let's see what happens after the elections. |
LAKE TRAVIS ISD TAKING FAMILY RANCH January 22, 2007 Who woulda thunk it? Lake Travis Independent School District has decided that they need the Grumbles family's ranch, which contains 300 beautiful acres situated at the eastern end of Hamilton Pool Road, going through to Highway 71 West. On that land they want to build a bus maintenance facility, a new school, a stadium and a sports complex. The Grumbles family has occupied that land for over 100 years. 6 generations have lived on and scraped out a living from that working ranch and 3 generations of Grumbles are living there now. The family is clear. They do not want to sell. They have been offered some extremely lucrative offers and have turned them down because this is their home! But the school district has the power of eminent domain, which translates to "screw you and your family heritage". They will not do this to our neighbors without a fight. This evening, a bunch of local folks showed up at the LTISD Board meeting and testified on the Grumbles' behalf. Here's a link to a 22 minute streaming video in RealMedia: Play Video Apologies for the less than perfect quality but it does, at least, contain all the testimony. On January 30, 2007 the school district released this document, making some cockamamie point about how, since one family member had at one time agreed to talk with them about the possibility of selling, they had passed a resolution on January 8th to take legal action to get access to the property against the family's wishes. |
"LAKE BELVEDERE" MEETS LCRA'S (INADEQUATE) CONDITIONS June 18, 2006 Belvedere, a new neighboring development out here on Hamilton Pool Road was, according to developer Joel Robuck, pumping 57,000 gallons per day from a well to keep a one acre water feature (a "lake" with a fountain) topped off. So much water was required because, in addition to loss from evaporation, it is a leaky lake with a crumbling dam which allows substantial spillage. Robuck apparently stopped pumping after meeting with a green builder who is developing 4 lots in the subdivision and who expressed concern about the waste of water. Unfortunately, the development's water contract with the LCRA only restricts pumping for subdivided areas of 10 acres or less. The lake is part of a larger area adjacent to the "amenity center" and is not subject to the pumping restriction. However, at least for the time being, Robuck seems to be doing the right thing and has suspended drilling another well next to a larger, 3 acre lake on another part of the property. Photos are available for your viewing displeasure. And, here is a press release put out on the situation by the Hill Country Alliance. |
PEDERNALES ELECTRIC COOP NEEDS A JOLT June 17, 2006 This afternoon, Annie and I attended the PEC's Annual Meeting in Johnson City. The meetings are basically pro forma affairs, staged for the appearance of democracy at this very undemocratically run organization- The meetings are huge grabfests populated by mostly senior citizens, there to try for one of the many doorprizes. It so happens that at this meeting, this senior citizen (yours truly) was the big winner of a $300 gift certificate to (are you ready for this?) Wal-Mart, the Beast of Bentonville, the store I never go near. Oh well, if I don't use it I'll be giving the Beast 300 bucks so use it I will. For an overview of my recent research into the workings of PEC, as well as a review of the meeting, please check out Ric's PEC Report. And here's another bit of distressing news about PEC. San Antonio Express-News reporter Roddy Stinson, while following up on a lead and trying to get some information, was stonewalled by the PEC. This made him mad so he requested and got the PEC's IRS records. Read Roddy's article from January 24, 2007 here. |
IT'S SCARY - THE STATESMAN STILL LIKES MY LETTERS TO THE EDITOR June 17, 2006 While I always like to see them in print, it makes me just a little nervous that the Austin American Statesman seems to select a my letters for publication fairly frequently. I only occasionally agree with the paper's editorial position and other oft-published letters come from the rabidly right wing Stavrovsky family. Am I unwittingly fitting in with their political agenda? Anyway, here's my (4th) letter that they published on June 14, 2006 along with the personal response I got from the reporter who wrote the article my letter referred to. March 18th's issue included this letter, my third that they've accepted, slamming the LCRA and it's iron-fisted honcho, Joe Beal. Other letters appeared February 22, 2005 and March 24, 2005, about which there is a short entry below. |
TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS CAVE IN & APPROVE FOULWATER DEVELOPMENT May
23, 2006 Gunn's champion through this entire nasty process has been our own Commissioner Daugherty who, for a while, was the lone voice in favor of this Hill Country-destroying proposal. The guy has never met a chunk of concrete he didn't like. Dougherty has consistently paid lip service to protection of the Hill Country while supporting the worst sorts of development. He's got to go. In the vote this time, all Commissioners except Ron Davis joined the booster chorus For more information (and a more "political" point of view), check out what the Hill Country Alliance wrote here. Sweetwater will be rearing its ugly head again and again. Stay tuned for reports of unbearable traffic and the associated accidents, as well as environmental degradation resulting from this monstrosity. |
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LIKE SNAKES? May 6, 2006 - This, I'm told, is a Blotched Water Snake. I photographed him and his buddy (mate?) as they fished down by the Hammett's Crossing bridge. I couldn't get a good picture of it but the other snake seemed to have swallowed a fish that was way too big and was writhing around down in the mud under water. Supposedly, these are not venomous but can be aggressive. Anybody have any more information on them? |
JET PLANES LANDING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD? WHAT NEXT? May 6, 2006 - There's a new King Ranch on the way. Also known as Shovel Mountain Ranch, this is a project of developer Jeff Maddux who purchased the property in March and has since added 2 smaller ranches north of it to connect it to Highway 71 near Spicewood Vineyard. Rumor has it that Jeff wants to build 12 miles of road to connect the southern part of the property to 71. The property now totals approximately 6000 acres which is probably going to be subdivided into 100 to 500 acre parcels. The plans also include a 6000 ft. runway to accommodate private jets. Hmm, great place for sheiks. |
GREAT BARBEQUE WITH JIMMY DALE GILMORE - BENEFIT FOR LICK CREEK On March 25th, the folks at La Tierra de los Pedernales on Hamilton Pool Road hosted a concert and picnic to benefit our downstream neighbors, the Guardians of Lick Creek (a 501c3, tax deductible organization). The Guardians have been working tirelessly to try to protect a formerly pristine creek which has been damaged by irresponsible development. It was a great success and lots of fun. Thanks to all the musicians, volunteers and those who came and partied with us. I've posted some pix at the Guarians of Lick Creek website at http://www.lickcreek.org/benefitBBQ3-06.html. Please check it out. |
TRUCK EN ROUTE TO MADRONE RANCH TURNS WRONG WAY AND JACKKNIFES
The truck drivers are blaming it on bad directions. Two enormous trucks on their way to Madrone Ranch via RR12 were told to go "6 miles past 12" on Hamilton Pool Road. They naturally assumed that meant turn left off of 12. They discovered their mistake way too late and this truck turned around at Westcave Preserve. The jackknife happened when he was trying to make it back up the hill at the switchback just east of the Pedernales river. Of course, he should never have taken that oversized rig across the Hammett's Crossing bridge. |
March
9, 2006DANGEROUS HWY. 71 WEST GETS INCREASED SHERIFF PRESENCE IN FEBRUARY Beginning in February, the Travis County Sheriff's Department has authorized a 5 unit "task force" to concentrate on traffic enforcement along 71 between the Pedernales River and Hamilton Pool Road. Aggressive and careless driving on that stretch of highway have made traveling it a dangerous proposition. Hopefully, the increased surveillance will encourage drivers to stick within the (quite sufficient) 65 mile per hour speed limit. Lick Creek resident Richard Scroggins heard from one of the Sheriff's office supervisors, that areas of particular concern include westbound traffic in the vicinity of the Cedars and La Cabana as well as the section between Bee Creek and Hamilton Pool Roads. Here's the original note that Richard sent out. |
PEC POWER TRANSFORMER COMES DOWN - STARTS 30 ACRE GRASS FIRE January 16th at about 11:00pm we heard the first siren go by. At first it was just an uh oh, an ambulance, someone's hurt. Then, when a procession of sirens shook us out of bed, we realized it was something bigger than that. At about midnight, our friend Hugh, who lives 5 miles to the east along HPR, called to say that there was a fire a quarter mile from our house. They could see the glow from their place. A few minutes later, our electricity went out. In a panic, Annie and I gathered up important papers and sped up the road, where we found that several fire departments had already gotten the fire under control and that sherrif's deputies had evacuated the few residents at Hammett's Crossing subdivision. Thanks to the quick response of the Hudson's Bend Fire Dept. from Bee Cave, Pedernales Fire Dept. out of Johnson City and a couple of others, all that went up was about 30 acres of grass - no people, animals, buildings or even trees were lost to the blaze. The fire, which burned parts of 3 adjacent properties, turned out to be, as Ted Stewart (one of the property owners) put it, "a perfect controlled burn." Relieved levity aside, with all the wind whipping up and down the hills, that might very well have not been the case. Way too close for comfort! Despite the great job by the fire departments, a few embers had remained and were still smouldering the morning of January 18th. This caused another small fire to break out on Suzy Wolforth's place. Sherre Young caught wind of it and called the Hudson Bend fire guys back. They did a thorough sweep of the area (by daylight, this time). Here's hoping! |
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| The next morning, a few curious neighbors showed up in time to help Ted rehang the heavy, steel gates, which the fire departments had to knock down in order to get into the Hammett's Crossing subdivision to work the fire and evacuate residents. | |
SUBURBIA
IS ON ITS WAY - CONVENIENCE STORE INVADING AT HPR & HWY.
12
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HOW MANY WRECKS IS IT GOING TO TAKE?
Though it's hard to tell from the photo, this big cedar got good and smashed New Years Eve. In fact, it was hit so hard that it moved a bit downhill. Fortunately, there was another tree just below it to keep it, and the vehicle that plowed into it, from tumbling down the steep, 100 (or so) foot drop. This is the second time in less than a month that someone went over the edge at this sharp curve near the top of the switchbacks by Norsworthy Ranch just above the Pedernales River. So far, there haven't been any (reported) deaths at this danger-spot but wouldn't one be too many? Seems like more urgent signage would help and probably a guardrail would do the trick. |
January
4, 2006ANOTHER HOG BITES THE DUST
Now I guess nobody out here has any great love for these feral hogs that have been proliferating and digging up acreage. And I do understand (though I've never tried it) that they make good eating. But in the last two weeks, two more have shown up on the HPR roadside along our walk route. These have clearly been butchered by human hands. Again, I have no problem with people killing and eating the beasts but how about disposing of the carcasses in a less public fashion? This method exposes any innocent person happening by to the unsightly sight, disgusting stench and huge buzzard congregations that accompany any roadkill. Whoever is doing this, PLEASE STOP! |
January
4, 2006GOOD NEWS (FOR A CHANGE) - REIMERS RANCH IS NOW A COUNTY PARK December 10, 2005 We just drove past what used to be the entrance to Milton Reimers' fishing, climbing and cycling ranch and saw a shiny new sign going up saying "Milton Reimers Ranch Park". Yay! Travis County is to be commended for pulling off this fabulous land acquisition. Travis County voters are to be commended for their vision in approving the bond issue that is paying for the acquisition. And that gorgeous place will now be preserved and protected, hopefully for generations to come. It officially opened as a county park on December 1st and, as a special introductory offer, will be free of charge for public use until January 31st, when a fee of $8 per vehicle will commence. For more info about the park, check out this page on the Travis County website. |
AND THEY'RE OFF - HAMILTON POOL ROAD WATERLINE CONSTRUCTION BEGINS And
the big money winner in this race is our neighbor, Ted Stewart,
whose Key Enterprises won the $1.4 million contract with the LCRA.
Now ol' Ted modestly refers to himself as just a guy who "digs
ditches
for
a living". Well, this one is one hell of a ditch and the
hell is ours to suffer. The pain will be especially intense for
we
Hamilton Pool Road residents (ironically, Ted included)
who
will soon suffer the effects of newly-enabled (by the pipeline)
dense development and all that comes with it. Get ready for some
creek-destruction and other environmental catastrophes, folks.
But more than anything, get ready for some traffic. Think those
line-ups of pickups and SUVs winding around the curves are bad
now? Ha! |
LCRA MISLEADS THE NEIGHBORS AGAIN - NO FIRE PROTECTION While still not quite attaining "public enemy number 1" status, the LCRA seems to be vying for the title. Our diligent neighbor Gene Lowenthal dug up this little disclaimer on page 10 of their "terms and conditions for retail treated water" in our service region (Western Travis County): Section 2.11. – Fire Protection The primary purpose of the treated water system owned and operated by the LCRA is to provide treated water service to residential and Non-residential Customers. The LCRA does not guarantee the availability of water for fire protection purposes. Fire hydrants installed within the LCRA’s distribution system are provided at the convenience of the LCRA and do not imply any responsibility on the part of the LCRA to meet fire flow requirements of local, county, state, or federal governmental agencies. So, anyone suckered into signing up for the new pipeline's outrageously expensive water (we've heard costs as much as $10,000 for the tap and $75/month for basic service), in the hopes of getting lower homeowners' insurance rates, is in for a rude awakening. Instead of providing good pressure, LCRA has once again proven that they suck! THIS JUST IN (12-9-05): The Statesman published my letter to the editor on the above subject. Here's the letter. |
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November
25, 2005SUPPORT LOCAL TREASURE WESTCAVE PRESERVE If you haven't had the Westcave tour, you are missing something wonderful. They're open to the public on weekends. You might want to take a look at the Preserve's website. Check it out at www.westcave.org. |
OUTSIDE PARADISE POLITICS NEEDS OUR ATTENTION NATIONALLY Meanwhile, the national desire-fire to get the hell out of Iraq now has finally ignited. One of the sparks was Cindy Sheehan. Her Crawford campout was brilliant, if accidental, political theater. Annie and I spent a day up there and it was inspirational. I shot lots of video there and will post links to the clips as soon as they are edited. Taking it on the road, in the Bring Them Home Now Bus Tour was the next clever move for Cindy and the gang. Their first stop was right here in peace-friendly Austin, Texas, where a march and rousing rally were held. Again, I was there with my video camera. But this time, I actually completed an edit of the proceedings. The total show runs 16:50 and can be found as a RealVideo file at http://www.aimproductions.com/realaudio/CindyRalliesAustinFullHB.ram. I have also broken it down into 3 shorter pieces for ease of access. The segments are broken down as follows: 1. The bus arrives, the march, and the first part of the rally at City Hall with Lisa Rogers (singing "Our Kids Won't Go"), Jim Hightower, Eliza Gilgyson (singing "Man of God") and Iraq Veterans for Peace member (and Camp Casey bugler) Jeff Keys. Its url is http://www.aimproductions.com/realaudio/CindyRalliesAustinPt1hb.ram. 2. This part covers the middle of the rally with 2 Gold Star Families for Peace members, Ann Wright, slam poet Genevieve Van Cleave (who got married at Camp Casey) & David Rovics (singing "Who Would Jesus Bomb"). You'll find it at http://www.aimproductions.com/realaudio/CindyRalliesAustinPt2hb.ram. 3. The last part is Cindy Sheehan's speech and a rousing version of John Lennon's "Imagine" sung by Amy Cook and the entire crowd. The url for that piece is http:// www.aimproductions.com/realaudio/CindyRalliesAustinPt3hb.ram. ON
TO WASHINGTON Annie shot some stills and I have put a little web page of them up. Please have a look at: http://www.neighborsinparadise.org/WashingtonPeaceMarch9-05 |
LETTER TO THE EDITOR TOUCHES A NERVE IN BARRIENTOS' AIDE March 28, 2005 OK, I'm not political. So sue me. I tend to write letter to the editor that shoot from the hip. This time, I seem to have really pissed off Senator Barrientos, or at least Graham Keever, who works for the Senator. To read the letter I sent to the Statesman (which was published March 24th) as well as the response from Keever, click here. By the way, that letter did not reflect my overall feeling about Barrientos. It was simply addressing one issue on which I thought he was wrong. As one of the last of the liberal Texas legislators, the senator has done some good. I would particularly like to applaud him for his support and greeting of Cindy Sheehan when her bus arrived in Austin on August 31st. I wish him well in his retirement. |
COMMISSIONERS' COURT LETS THE HILL COUNTRY DOWN AGAIN With the exception of Ron Davis, the Travis County Commissioners' Court is a bunch of developer suck-ups (or spineless wimps at best), who declined to approve a first attempt at water quality protection for the Hill Country. The proposed "Interim Rules" were a rather mild bit of protection but would have been better than nothing (which is what we have now). Though three of the Commissioners (Davis, Gomez & Sonleitener) had expressed their support for the regulations, at their March 15th meeting, only Davis stood by his word and is to be congratulated and thanked (Ron.Davis@co.travis.tx.us). The others rolled over after bullying from greedy developers who want to retain their full power to pollute and who threatened "takings" lawsuits and legislative reprisal (and who knows what else in the back room). For commentary on the situation, check out what Hill Country Alliance Director Christy Muse had to say about the meeting on the HCA website. |
LCRA BOARD FEIGNS CONCERN THEN APPROVES SWEETWATER CONTRACT At their monthly meeting on February 16th, the many headed monster that is the LCRA board reared its ugly head(s) again and, after making some faint noises about environmental concerns, approved yet another of their monstrous spawn. This one is as bad as they come (or at least as bad as they have come so far). Contract negotiations to provide water and wastewater services for the nearly 3,000 house (on 1/4 acre lots) "Sweetwater" subdivision, along Hwy. 71 west of Bee Cave, have been given board approval. Here is a report from Gene Lowenthal who was at the meeting. The Austin American Statesman published an article on the meeting the next day and, on February 22nd, they published 2 letters from Hill Country residents, including one from yours truly. |
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE - NEGOTIATING CONTRACT FOR SWEETWATER PHASE 2 Sweetwater? Ha! Foulwater, Swillwater, or maybe Formerly Sweetwater? And LCRA has pretended to be Lower Colorado River Authority for way too long now. The name just doesn't say it. May I suggest Let's Completely Ruin All, or Let's Create Residential Abominations or perhaps Lay Concrete with Reckless Abandon... Despite constant disingenuous proclamations of their water quality protection superiority, their modus operandi seems to be build, build, build and screw the environment. This Foulwater development (3000 homes on 1/4 acre lots, perched on steep hillsides) is just plain awful and old LCRA is making it all possible. Travis County is far from innocent on this issue too. They're ready to give a thumbs up to Phase 2. Read more in this paper recently released by the Hill Country Alliance. Then hit the keyboard (or get out the quill pen) and start writing. To whom, you say? How about these people. |
SUSAN
LEE SOLAR It was 5 years ago February 13th that our dear friend and neighbor, environmental and anti-nuke activist, anti-death penalty activist, artist, green building enthusiast, teacher, former Texas gubernatorial candidate (against George Bush) and all around sweet and wonderful person, Susan Lee Solar, died. We will never forget her and all she did for us and for the Earth. Please visit the memorial website Annie and I built for Susan. Please also check out her book on the death penalty in Texas which was completed posthumously by Susan Bright and a group of Susan Lee's friends and family. It is entitled "No Justice: No Victory - The Death Penalty in Texas" and is available from Plain View Press. |
LOCAL GROUP CREATES ANDY GOLDSWORTHY TRIBUTE ON PEDERNALES River Glyph, an informal group of neighbors and friends got together on New Years Day to create several pieces of "beach art" here on the river. To get a gander at what we did, go to the BeachArt website. |
CHECK OUT THE JOE BEAL WANTED POSTER ON THE JOE MUST GO SITE This is a work in progress. Please send me your suggestions for additional copy to add to the site. Who's got dirt on Joe? Come on, fess up. I know the guy's got skeletons. He led the charge against SOS, for cryin' out loud. |
EX HUBBY OF LEADING HPR SUBURBANIZOR IS KING MIDAS WANNABEE Did you know that Rebecca Hudson, the former developer of Rocky Creek Ranch (she has recently sold to another developer), our "leading edge" suburban subdivision (468 houses jammed together on 1/5 to 1/4 acre lots) was married to a guy who wants everything in gold for Christmas? Phil Hudson, publisher of Brilliant Magazine (a slick rag aimed at Texas' conspicuous consumption set) has revealed his consumerist colors in the Dec./Jan. issue of his magazine. In his self-proclaimed "shameless wish list" he tells the world of his Midas aspirations. He first brags of his "20 black shirts and countless ebony sweaters" and his 9 black leather jackets. Then he lays out a wish list of replacement items, all in some sort of gold, from sunglasses to a new BMW. He even desires gold-leaf encrusted chocolates. I'm sure the gold adds just the right amount of metallic taste to the candy to make Phil feel very rich indeed. Well Phil, I hope your dream comes true and you do turn into a King Midas, changing everything you touch into gold. We hear rumors that Phil and Rebecca are no longer together. It is sad when marriages break up. We're sorry. |
THE FIX WAS IN - LCRA BOARD APPROVED PIPELINE Tuesday, December 7, 2004 (Pearl Harbor Day), the LCRA Board of Directors met at the Terrace Club just outside Dripping Springs. There, despite a seemingly impossible-to-ignore amount of intelligently presented opposition, they unanimously voted to advance the suburbanization of Hamilton Pool Road. They approved the extension of their Highway 71 water line out beyond Crumley Ranch Road for the sole benefit of 3 developers. It is a very sad day. The board had met in the morning, long before they received public input, and, according to observers, had already decided our fate. The public hearing, in other words, was a charade meant to give the illusion of sensitivity to the will of the people. (Check out my photo essay on that meeting.) General Manager Joe Beal made repeated, persistent arguments that the board should do what he wanted them to do and, in the end, they all gladly did, even those board members for whom we had some hope of sanity and potential resistance (see the report on the September 15th board meeting for more on that). The event did get considerable press coverage (not that it did us any good). Here's streaming video of the KXAN TV news story featuring a fiery Gene Lowenthal. I also made it onto the 10:00 KVUE news that night. Here are Kevin Carmody's articles in the Austin American Statesman, from 12/7/04 (the day of the meeting) and 12/8/04 (the post mortem). In that December 8th article, fans will find a photo of yours truly giving testimony to the tune of Hendrix' "Hey Joe". And here is the full page ad taken out in the Sunday paper, 12/5/04, by Mike and Pam Reece on behalf of the Hill Country Coalition. |
"WATERGUY" CRITIQUES HPR WATER CONTRACT My favorite engineer, David Venhuizen (known to many as "Waterguy") has written an in-depth critique of the LCRA's HPR water line contract. The contract appears to be totally ineffectual when it comes to holding developers accountable and protecting the environment. Read David's critique and you'll see what I mean. |
PICTURES UP FOR YOUR VIEWING FRUSTRATION December 2nd, the Hill Country Alliance staged a demonstration at LCRA headquarters and then December 3rd, they held a press conference. Here are some demonstration pictures, and some press conference pictures. KXAN TV did a decent story. I've got it here as a "Real" format streaming video. I'm told it can also be viewed on KXAN online. |
ARGUMENTS TO THE CONTRARY - THE EVIDENCE IGNORED BY THE BOARD Want
to see some examples of the hundreds of letters that
folks have sent to the LCRA board expressing their opposition
to the water line? Here are a few: In addition, Christy Muse of the Hill Country Alliance put together a good list of talking points that. Download it here. If you are outraged and want to express yourself in writing. Here is a list of Board members and their addresses. |
HAMILTON POOL ROAD IN THE PAPERS On the top of the front page of theTuesday, November 30th Austin American Statesman, the late (and sorely missed) Kevin Carmody wrote a terrific article, linking pollution of Hamilton Pool with new development. He did a pretty good job of including mention of the water line and its potential effects. And there are a couple of quotes from our buddy Smitty and yours truly as well. If you don't get the paper you can check it out on-line, or download this PDF of the story. And the cover story of the 12/2/04 Austin Chronicle provided a detailed analysis of the situation out here. If only the LCRA board members had read all this stuff and taken their responsibilities to the community seriously... |
WANT
TO SEE THE LATEST MAP OF THE LCRA WATER LINE AND We've got it, courtesy of the SOS Alliance, for your viewing displeasure. Click here (if you dare). |
TXDOT PLANS FOR 20,000 HPR CAR TRIPS PER DAY (OY VEY!) Gene Lowenthal wrote on 10/22/04: Yesterday some of us got to hear a presentation from TxDot. Part of what they do is integrate population planning studies into a growth projection for various areas, and then translate that into expected burdens on various roads. We got an earful of what would happen in our area over the next 25 years if the only forces at work were market forces. Daily car trips on 71 where it crosses 620 would increase from 40,000 today to 106,000 in 2030 - about as much as MoPac handles today. They figure that the eastern portion of 71 will need to be a six-lane expressway by that time. The eastern stretch of Hamilton Pool Road would grow from 6500 trips per day to 20,000 trips by 2030 according to their studies. At some point, they say, HPR will need to be widened to 4 lanes and maybe straightened to accommodate such a load. As the saying goes, “sprawl happens”, which is to say that it goes where the market takes it. We need to have a “smart growth” concept in place in Southwestern Travis County so that sprawl doesn’t happen here. |
LCRA
PIPELINE UP TO CRUMLEY RANCH ROAD IS SWEETHEART
DEAL FOR REBECCA HUDSON. |
HILL COUNTRY ALLIANCE MISSION TO SAVE THE HILL COUNTRY A new organization has been formed to work toward preserving the rural nature of the Texas Hill Country, protecting water quality and supply and keeping a check on urban sprawl. Established as a coalition of existing groups and individuals who are also working on their own local issues, the Hill Country Alliance had its first organizational meeting on September 4th at the Bee Creek home of Christy Muse. For info on meetings and actions, check out the Alliance page. The 3rd meeting was held October 14th, at Buster's Barbeque on 620 just north of 71. The 4th meeting was also held at Buster's on October 28th and the 5th at Christy's house on November 14th. The 5th meeting was November 30th at Bert & Ernie's, the 6th was December 13th at Ira Yates' place. The 7th meeting was January 18th. At this meeting Christy announced that she had secured sufficient donations to fund her position as Executive Director for at least 6 months. The establishment of non-profit status for the organization has also begun. The next meeting was March 7th at Star Hill Ranch, where all future meetings will be held. The next meeting will be announced here. The Alliance has its own website at www.hillcountryalliance.org. Please check it out. You can also download the Coalition's official Position Paper here. |
COMMISSIONERS' COURT APPROVED PHASE 1 OF SWEETWATER On Tuesday, June 29th, The Travis County Commissioners' Court voted to approve phase one - the first 549 lots of Bill Gunn's outrageous and totally inappropriate Sweetwater (formerly Lazy 9) development. If you thought Hudson and Formby's plans are problematic, you're gonna get apoplectic over this one - 1,893 housing units plus schools and commercial development on 2,500 acres between Highway 71 and Hamilton Pool Road - a small city (look at the plat). S.O.S. estimates that this development could add 18,000 car trips daily to the already challenged Hwy. 71. Read all about it on the Lazy 9 Meeting page. |
REGIONAL PLANNING HAS PRODUCED A PLAN The email dialogue among "stakeholder" participants was hot and heavy, with lots of good ideas (or more accurately, ideals) being excitedly passed back and forth and elaborated upon. Some of the substance has actually made it into the final draft of the 400+ page plan, which can be viewed at www.waterqualityplan.org. If any of these ideals become enforced by governmental authorities, I will be extremely (but pleasantly) surprised. If you'd like to read my somewhat cynical reports on the first two organizing meetings, they are still available: Meeting 1 & Meeting 2. And yes, I'm still cynical about the outcome of this hard-working group. While I would love to see the plan adopted by all in the region, I fear it will all end up an exercise in futility. Of course, if the Texas legislature has its way, impervious cover and other land-use restrictions will cause great financial pain for the municipalities that adopt them because the once-defeated "takings" legislation will surely rear its ugly head again some day at the lege. |
Disgusting, isn't it? Here are some of the sights that Annie and I see every day during our walk along Hamilton Pool Road. Some other appliances have recently been picked up by the County but they somehow managed to leave all this and more. |
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| This illegal dump is a bummer. It is in the wooded area by the 180 degree switchback where the road goes down to the Pedernales River below Norsworthy Ranch. What can be done about these jerks who see a beautiful countryside and think "Hmmm, good place to dump my major appliances."? |
Note from your webslave:
Howdy Neighbors,
We inhabitants of the Hamilton Pool Road corridor have recently become victims of the LCRA's staff, who have ramrodded through a wate line which will enable dense development here in our sleepy rural neighborhood. At least one landowner, Rebecca Hudson, wants to develop her property into suburban-sized (fifth to quarter acre) residential lots. Many neighbors have gotten up in arms about this dastardly deed. Organization has taken place in the form of the Hamilton Pool Road Scenic Corridor Coalition which has been doing a great job of getting the word out and may be contacted for further information at sceniccorridors@yahoo.com. And the HPRSCC has a website. It can be found at www.hprscc.org. The HPRSCC is also part of a larger coalition, the Hill Country Alliance, which has taken up the struggle on a wider scale than just HPR. Another group that is participating in the Alliance is our downstream neighbors, the Guardians of Lick Creek. The ever-valiant SOS (Save Our Springs) Alliance has a substantial history of battling environmentally destructive projects such as this one and they are on the case. They may be contacted at sosinfo@sosalliance.org. Or visit their website at www.sosalliance.org.
I hope this website can be another avenue, a place for us to stay in touch and find out what's happening in the struggle to keep a check on rampant development. The title, Neighbors In Paradise, forms an acronym, NIP, meaning NIP suburban sprawl in the bud. Toward that end, I will herein post materials, both informational and inspirational. This will also be a space to address other issues relevant to the area and to helping retain the wonderful quality of life we currently enjoy.
Your participation makes this site a more valuable communications tool for our community. Please email me your musings, ideas for organization, notices of events (such as hearings, demonstrations, etc.), photos, cartoons, illustrations and anything else you think your neighbors might like to see.
Working together, we may be able to hold back the tide. Having a website to facilitate community connection certainly couldn't hurt... might even help. Please contact me, Ric Sternberg, your humble webslave. Phone: 830-825-0133.
HAMMETT'S
CROSSING CLEAR
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