News

The Wimberley City Council voted to accept the $1 million dollar grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for the proposed wastewater treatment facility and collection system.

“It is a great accomplishment and a great gift to Wimberley,” Councilmember Bob Dussler said. “We would look like fools to turn it down. I’m in favor of doing it and doing it now.”

There was some push back on the dais for a variety of reasons and the vote passed 3-2 with council members Craig Fore and Sally Trapp voting against the measure.

Trapp advocated for a special meeting within the 30-day window to accept the grant saying she had many questions for the city’s attorney about the grant application and award.

Aqua Texas presented a full-scale option to the city of Wimberley for wastewater services and the proposal included Aqua Texas picking up the tab for the costs.

Essentially, the option would require the city to give up its rights to serve the majority of the area, called a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity, in exchange for Aqua Texas providing the services.

According to former Mayor Steve Klepfer, the city of Wimberley applied for the CCN in the early 2000s with the help of the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority, and Aqua Texas contested the case. In negotiations, the city and Aqua Texas compromised on the current boundaries of the CCN. 

There are some achievements – and some lives – that are beyond recognition, but that didn’t stop Central Texas Returning Heroes from honoring Bill and MF Johnson last week. 

With the help of the Hays County Commissioners Court, Oct. 21, 2016 was named Bill and MF Johnson Day. 

“Bill and MF moved here 70 years ago and settled here on the property his father owned,” Jim Clements, with CTRH, said. “They were living out here when there wasn’t much community. It was just a crossroad on the path… They have been instrumental in helping settle and establish the community of Wimberley.”

It’s right after Labor Day, the flags come down and the scarecrows, pumpkins, and witches all go on display. October means Halloween is near. With the Cypress Creek all decorated for the season, finally the chill of the weather puts you into fall mood. The daylight is vanishing earlier and earlier, and the night turning darker and darker.  It is also the spookiest time of year.

In Wimberley, we know how to chase the goblins, ghosts and ghouls away, with kids in costumes and Halloween activities of course. The Wimberley Fire Department is always a great stop on the Great Pumpkin’s path.

Wimberley Independent School District is aiming for innovation as part of a new set of freedoms offered to local school districts by the Texas Legislature. 

The legislature has created Districts of Innovation, which gives applicable school districts the ability to exempt from certain sections of the Texas Education Code.

Only districts that meet a certain standard are allowed to apply for the designation, and W.I.S.D. has started the process of asking for some of the exemptions.

These exemptions are currently allowed to charter schools in Texas.

“What I call district of innovation, to put it simply, is it is getting back to local school board control,” W.I.S.D. Superintendent Dwain York said.

There are many exemptions that can be requested, and W.I.S.D. is asking for six.

The growth of Wimberley and the entire Hill Country area has been phenomenal. The influx of new residents has caused a situation that has been ignored but hopefully will be rectified. 

There has been parts south of Wimberley that were served by Wimberley EMS but the emergency services were coming for free. Wimberley EMS is in an outside the ESD or Emergency Service District #7.

Annexing these areas is on the November ballot. Although political language can be confusing, annexing these areas will not add to your county tax bill if you live in Wimberley. If you live in these areas, you will have representation but you will be paying to be served by Wimberley EMS. 

A San Marcos man with a record of multiple convictions for driving while intoxicated was sentenced to 99 years in prison on Wednesday.

Jose Marin, 64, had seven previous convictions, the Hays County District Attorney’s Office said, and had been to prison three times.

He was arrested for DWI in 1983, 1984 and 1986 and he was sentenced to 33 months behind bars for the latter offense. More DWI arrests came in 1990, when he was sentenced to five years, and 1991. In 1998, he was sentenced twice, once for 10 years and another for 25 years.

Martin was released on parole in 2003. His most recent arrest was Jan. 17, 2015 when police saw him driving 75 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone and weaving.

Aquifer tests are an essential part of the District’s permitting process.  The Board and staff rely heavily on results of these tests to inform permit volumes and conditions.

In the spring, Electro Purification (EP) submitted a test well application to allow them to perform an aquifer test on three wells.  District staff worked with EP to design and plan an aquifer test that meets District guidelines.  The aquifer test will measure responses to abbreviated pumping simulations from the target pumping zone (Middle Trinity--Cow Creek Formation) in surrounding Upper, Middle, and Lower Trinity wells. The aquifer test is a collaborative effort between the District and EP and will take two to three months to complete.

The first projects of Wimberley’s new Hotel Occupancy Tax were funded by the city council during the last week, but it was the projects that were not funded that generated the now-typical controversy surrounding the tax.

The HOT has raised more than $200,000 in funds during its first initial year. These were the first recommendations from the city’s HOT committee for using those funds after creating the process and guidelines during the committee’s first year of existence. 

The city elected to fund two of the five proposals for HOT funds. Wimberley Alive, an arts and music festival hosted by the Wimberley Valley Arts and Cultural Alliance, was partially funded for $5,000. The committee said it would have preferred that the event focus more on Sunday through Thursday visitors, as opposed to weekend visitors, which is why the event was only partially funded.

The proposed sewer system for the city of Wimberley just got a lot cheaper after the city was selected for a $1 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. 

“We are very grateful,” Wimberley Mayor Mac McCullough said. “This is a game changer. It reduces everything by at least 20 percent… as we believe this project will be less than $5 million.”

The construction of the project has been estimated at around $5 million, but the project is still being designed, which means it has not yet been put out for bid.

The grant will go towards funding the construction of a wastewater collection system and central treatment facility for the city. McCullough said that this grant would allow the city to offer lower rates to the users of the system should the proposed project become a reality.