News

The Wimberley Independent School District has called for a new bond, but it won’t be asking for an increase in taxes to go along with it. According to W.I.S.D.’s bond fact sheet (posted on www.wimberleyisd.net), the school district has refinanced more than $26.5 million in outstanding bond debt since 2014 “taking advantage of market conditions providing lower interest rates. These ‘re-financings’ have allowed the district to lower its bonded debt payments providing more capacity at the current tax rate. The result is the ability to issue a new series of bonds without affecting the existing tax rate.”

The bond is broken down into two propositions for a total of $6.5 million. 

We want to know, who is the best in Wimberley? With more than 100 categories to vote in, the Wimberley View is kicking off the inaugural “Best in Wimberley” contest. 

The people of Wimberley will decide who is the best in Wimberley. It’s time to settle, at least for 2016, the best breakfast taco in town. Do you stand behind Mima’s or Shamrock Tacos? Heck, maybe you know of a better place in town (if so, please let me know).

In Wimberley, we pride ourselves on community service. We at the Wimberley View expect that the Best of Wimberley category for Community Volunteer may be the most hotly contested category in the contest. We all know at least one person who deserves to be voted for. The hard part will be choosing only one.  The same could be said for the best civic/social club, as there are many great options to choose from. 

The Texas Water Development Board approved the city of Wimberley’s loan for the proposed wastewater system.

The loan was approved by the board without the requirement of an ad valorem tax, meaning the entire system will be paid for by its own revenues.

The $5.5 million loan includes $243,005 of loan forgiveness the city would not have to pay back if it meets environmental measures required by the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

In addition to savings from the loan forgiveness, the city could save approximately $1.4 million over the life of the loan by using the fund. 

Multiple local representatives spoke to the board about the conditions of Cypress Creek and the need for a wastewater system to clean it up.

Hays County Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to move forward with the goal of holding a bond election in November to finance a new jail, law enforcement center and communications facility.

Their preliminary action was to send direction to the county’s law enforcement committee, which was set to meet Tuesday afternoon. On a motion from Pct. 4 Commissioner Ray Whisenant, the court voted for the committee to suggest a program director that would be responsible for guiding the county through the process of the bond election.

August is the deadline for calling the election.

Steve Thurber is running for reelection as Mayor of the city of Wimberley against Councilmember Herschel “Mac” McCullough.

Thurber has lived in the city of Wimberley for 19 years. He and his wife Susan run a CPA practice and a storage business. Thurber has been on the city council for eight years with two of them serving as mayor. 

“I got involved because it was a way to give back to the community,” Thurber said. “I’ve enjoyed public service… I had been on planning and zoning and economic development. I enjoyed it, so I decided to run for council.”

The following is an interview with Thurber. The questions and comments have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Q: Wimberley has been divided on many topics over the last few years. How would you bring Wimberley back together?

Herschel “ Mac” McCullough is running for Mayor of the city of Wimberley against current mayor Steve Thurber.

McCullough has lived in the city of Wimberley since 1998. He and his wife Robin own the Wimberley Café. McCullough has been on the city council for a little over six years.

“After we moved here and the town incorporated, I knew I wanted to be involved in the city,” McCullough said. “In 2004, I served on the first economic development advisory board, and I’ve been involved in the city every year since then. I’ve been on the planning and zoning, building code and comprehensive plan review (committees).”

The following is an interview with McCullough. The questions and comments have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Memories of last year’s floods were spoken of on Monday, April 11, and those memories are still fresh in the minds of John Knox Youth Camp. Although the cabins up the hill survived without any damage, the outdoor dining hall below the cabins did not.

“The flood provided the opportunity to come together,” said Ruben Armendariz of Mission Presbytery. Mission Presbytery and First Presbyterian San Antonio made a $250,000 donation to the youth camp. The camp is now one-quarter of the way to reaching their goal of $1 million, to repair the camp from the damage of last year’s floods.

Patrick Murphy Sr., long-time resident of Wimberley, passed away March 29th, 2016 at the home of his daughter Missy.

A former Katherine Anne Porter School student Jordan Shylo Griffin, 20 years old, was killed in an accident in San Antonio on Friday at 1 a.m.

The accident occurred at 2603 Vance Jackson in San Antonio. According to reports from the San Antonio Police Department, Griffin was lodged between a pole and the vehicle. She was pronounced dead on arrival. 

The vehicle had been noticed by a witness about an hour earlier before he went to the vehicle and found it was still turned on. When the witness turned the vehicle off, he noticed Griffin was pinned between a fence pole and the driver side door.

According to the documents from the police, it appeared that Griffin was attempting to gain control of the vehicle as it rolled forward.

 Services were held on Tuesday in Wimberley at Thompson Funeral Home.

New rules could make it tougher for companies like Electro Purification to pump large amounts of water from the Trinity Aquifer. The Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District has proposed new rules to try and implement House Bill 3405, which was passed during the last state legislative session to bring an unregulated area of the aquifer in Hays County under the guise of BSEACD.

The formal comment period on the new proposal passed on March 24 with a “substantial volume of comments,” according the BSEACD General Manager John Dupnik.

Comments from the city of Buda, Electro Purification, Save Our Springs and Trinity Edwards Spring Protection Association can be found online at www.bseacd.org.