News

A last week’s farmers market, a truck nearly crashed over the wall onto Ranch Road 12. The Hays County Sheriff’s Deputy on scene said he believed the driver thought she was in reverse when the truck was actually in drive when trying to back out of the parking spot. Luckily, it stopped short.

The area in front of Leaning Pear is under construction as Carson Properties is finishing out the second stage of the project. A building, less than 4,000 square feet in size, is being constructed to house three retail spaces, two of which have already been rented out.

Right now, the construction is working on site development with the hope of being finished this summer.

“A new fashion and home decor boutique concept from Pam Couch & Calli Swindle, the owners of Two Ps & Calli’s in nearby San Marcos, will occupy one of the spaces in the new building,” John David Carson, with Carson Properties, said in an email. “Spitzer & Associates, a locally-owned full service real estate company dedicated to building community one property at a time, will occupy another.“

After a tip from the Hays County Sheriff’s Office “followers” on Facebook, the sword-wielding man who allegedly threatened Wimberley Firefighters was identified and later arrested.

Stanley Miles Goodyear, a 49-year-old man, was arrested on Jan. 8 in Travis County. The sheriff’s department said they believe he is homeless and frequents the Austin area. He was arrested on a warrant for aggravated assault against a public servant.

“Hays County Sheriff’s Office would like to give a big THANK YOU to our followers,” a post on Facebook said. “Due to a tip obtained from you, we have been able to identify the suspect that was involved in the incident that occurred at the Wimberley Fire Department on November 10^th.”

Just after midnight on Nov. 10, Wimberley Firefighters were approached by a man with a sword.

A company has set up wells in a ranch across from Rolling Oaks along FM 3237 on the outskirts of Wimberley and is planning to try and pump more than 1.5 billion gallons of water a year from the Trinity Aquifer, the aquifer much of the Wimberley Valley relies on for water. The water capacity is being set aside for municipal sale for future development in eastern Hays County.

Tim Throckmorton, manager of Electro Purification, which owns the wells, confirmed that they are expecting to pump at least 4.3 million gallons per day, which equates to 1.57 billion per year. He did not say if that number was likely to increase. (The numbers later rose to almost 1.8 billion gallons of water the company wished to pump per year)

7A Resort’s request to allow RVs on the property was denied by the Wimberley City Council on Thursday night.  The resort was requesting permission to replace 15 cabins that were destroyed in the flood with RVs, which is not allowed in their development agreement with the city. 

Wimberley’s Planning and Zoning commission had unanimously recommended approval of the amendment, but council members Pam Showalter, Cindy Anderson and Bob Dussler voted against the proposal after about an hour of public comment. Mac McCullough was the lone vote in favor of the amendment while John White recused himself from the vote, as he is also an owner of the property.

The worst flood in Wimberley history struck in the late hours of Saturday night on Memorial Day weekend washing away hundreds of homes and claiming lives.

While nine people have been found dead, there are still two children likely to be added to the list (The two children are still missing. Nine others were killed in the Wimberley Valley. Including the children, they are Michelle Marie Carey-Charba, William Charba, William Randall Charba, Ralph Hugh Carey, Sue McNeil Carey, Jonathan Andrew McComb, Leighton McComb, Laura Schultz McComb, Jose Alvaro Arteaga-Pichardo, Kenneth Reissig and Dayton Larry Thomas).

Wimberley was once again hit by a historic flood, but this time it was largely Cypress Creek that raged out of the river banks. 

No local fatalities were reported from the flood and nobody reported missing, according to Wimberley Fire Chief Carroll Czichos. 

The city of Wimberley current estimate is that 26 homes and 28 businesses suffered some form of damage in the flood, and both the city of Wimberley and Hays County have officially declared the floods a disaster. (Both the state of Texas and the Federal Government declared both the Memorial Weekend Flood and the Halloween Flood a disaster.)

It’s not just a hardware store.

Wimberley found that out when Ace Hardware burned down around two years ago. The last few weeks have proven it beyond doubt.

Ace Hardware owners Tad and Christy Dagenhart slept through the night as the Blanco River flooded Wimberley. The next morning, they woke up to text messages asking if they were ok. They turned on the news and saw the devastation that had hit Wimberley. At 5:30 a.m., hours ahead of Ace’s normal Sunday opening hours, they headed to the store with their family.

“We knew people would need our stuff at Ace,” Christy Dagenhart said. “There were people waiting here at 6 a.m.”

Wimberley has gotten used to doing the “dirty work” over the last few weeks as the town is put back together piece by piece. It’s not always an enjoyable task to sweat through chain sawing downed trees, ripping out tile or tossing out every item in a flooded home – unless you are part of Team Rubicon.

“We don’t take it easy out there,” Bobbi Snethen, communications with Team Rubicon, said. “I know it feels like it’s a 100 degrees, but we want to work.  We like getting dirty. It’s fun for us, and it’s an opportunity to serve.”

Team Rubicon is comprised largely of veterans and first responders who head out to disasters to help. 

The effects of the flood are still with us and volunteers arrive daily hoping to help with the devastation and the victims left in its wake. At the Volunteer Recovery Center (VRC), coordination of victims and volunteers to help is a process that has been going on since the end of May.

Two of the community’s finest have been at work almost seven days a week helping to put volunteers in the right spot, at the right time. Volunteer Coordinator Courtney Cerday Goss and Volunteer Coordinator for Blanco River Regional Recovery Team (BR3T) Traci Maxwell. Together they have been at the forefront of helping those that need help, whether it is clearing property, help with rebuilding or sometimes just a hug and a shoulder to cry on.