News

The best party of the year came back to Wimberley in full Mardi Gras style with three bands, a gumbo cook off and hundreds of people at Pioneer Town to raise money for My Neighbors Keeper.

“It went really well,” Tom Keyser, with My Neighbors Keeper, said. “It was the best weather we’ve ever had, and while we don’t have final numbers yet, it was a really good turnout.”

Keyser said he believes they will raise around $7,000, which is about the same amount raised last year.

My Neighbors Keeper is a non-profit set up to prefund disaster relief assistance for local residents. 

The non-profit was started after the Bastrop fires in 2011. A fundraiser was held to raise money to help out those in need.

If you are 55 years or older, there’s a big event coming to Wimberley, just for you. The Senior Expo, 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20 at the Wimberley Community Center has you in mind. The Wimberley Senior Activity Center, Wimberley Community Center, Crisis Bread Basket and the Barnabas Connection are the hosts with workshops, crafts, boutique shopping, food, travel and other exhibitors. 

There are over 35 vendors participating with free giveaways and door prizes throughout the day. Free food samplings, travel ideas, interactive exhibits, and entertainment with a “great selection of business organizations, and non-profits just for 55 and older,” according to the Barnabas’ Director Vickie McCuistion. “Not just information but fun stuff to do.”

Here are just four of the vendors:

The Hays-Trinity Groundwater Conservation District (HTGCD) voted in support of annexing unprotected groundwater areas to a groundwater conservation district.

That was unanimously voted on, at HTGCD’s meeting held in front of a packed house, at Dripping Springs City Hall, Feb. 4.

The language of the motion stated they supported a groundwater district to annex the land. It didn’t  specify which groundwater district, likely the HTGCD or the Barton Springs Edward Aquifer Conservation District (BCEACD) would accept the land. State Representative Jason Isaac is likely to put forth legislation similarly worded until it is decided which groundwater district would be most appropriate.

 HTGCD Vice President, Jimmy Skipton pointed out that the BCEACD should receive the district because they have a larger budget.

Children love LEGOS! When the instructor of PlayWell after school class,  J.R. showed up afterschool at Jacob’s Well Elementary on Friday the kids aged 8-12, went straight for the LEGO pieces and tried to build something right away. 

PlayWell is a LEGO inspired engineering class for kids that visits JWE once a week on Fridays. After a long week going to school, you might possibly think that the kids would be tired, but they were not. Just put some LEGOS in their hand.

After a short time, as a group they were given instructions on how to build a vehicle with leg-like crawling abilities, involving gearboxes, axles and what torque is. The kids listened and picked the building blocks that they needed to get a vehicle to work. The kids were very successful in their efforts and the look of satisfaction on their faces told the whole story. 

State Representative Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs) announced plans to file up to five bills relating to extending groundwater protection districts in Hays County, adding limited regulation to portions of otherwise unregulated aquifers, and changing household water usage laws to better protect Texas water resources.

“Protecting the groundwater of the Hill Country region and the entire State has been a top priority of mine since I was first elected to serve House District 45,” said Isaac. “These bills will address the immediate concerns of my constituents in Hays County, and will also help in bringing innovative water saving solutions to Texas by increasing graywater usage and encouraging rainwater collection systems.”

All Jacob’s Well Elementary students were invited to participate in this year’s science fair.  The science fair promote a love for science, problem-solving, and project-based learning. Science projects provide parents with a great opportunity to work one-on-one with children.  There were three categories for each grade level that the students could participate in.  The categories were Scientific Study projects, Invention projects and Scientific Experiment projects.

2nd Grade Scientific Study

1st : Molly Massey

2nd: Maggie Moore

3rd: laney Hennessee

4th: Cade Moeller

5th: Sean Dobb

6th: Charlie Warren

2nd Grade Experiment

1st : Maia Martin

2nd: Dane Dugger

There are two meetings set up to discuss the Electro Purification wells with involved parties from across the county in the coming week.

Electro Purification plans to pump 5.3 million gallons of water a day from a well field on FM 3237 near the Rolling Oaks subdivision, which has cause quite a stir in Hays County.

The Hays County Commissioner’s Court will host a round table discussion on the project on Thursday, Feb. 5 at the Hays County Government Center at 5:30 p.m.

The county has invited all three surrounding groundwater conservation districts, State Representative Jason Isaac, State Senator Donna Campbell and surrounding cities and potential subdivisions that have contracted with Electro Purification for water.

A capacity crowd showed up at the Wimberley Community Center to raise money for the Warrior Family and Support Center at Brooks Army Medical Center.

The money was raised with a casino night, hosted by the Knights of Columbus. 

“In spite of bad weather, it was the best crowd we’ve had,” Mike Steinert, who helped organize the fundraiser, said. “If you can judge by the volume of cheering, yelling and laughing, it was certainly one of the most fun evenings we’ve had there.”

The goal was the raise $12,000 after pulling in $10,000 last year. The final totals won’t be known for a few weeks as the spoils must still be counted.

The Wimberley ISD School Board is now full for the first time in months as Traci Maxwell won the election over Lori Olson last week.

The final vote was 295 for Maxwell and 226 for Olson.

“It’s nice to have gotten this behind us so that I can actually be at the table with the rest of the board,” Maxwell said. 

Maxwell said she would turn her attention to the bond construction, which has been delayed thus far. 

“I know there are concerns about the construction projects and the length of time they are taking,” Maxwell said. “I think it is important to look at that and hear some input on it.”

Maxwell said she has heard from many people in the few days since she was elected.

After hearing five residents and one of their own express support, the Hays County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to support legislation that would create a groundwater district encompassing all of Hays County.

The vote came two days ahead of a special called meeting to address the plans of Houston-based Electro Purification (EP) to develop a well field that could eventually draw 1.8 billions of gallons of water yearly from the Middle Trinity aquifer, which also supports Jacob’s Well and Cypress Creek.

County Judge Bert Cobb said he “debated greatly” on pulling the item until after Thursday’s meeting, which will be at 5:30 p.m. in the county’s Government Center on South Stagecoach Road, but added he was “not empowered to do that unilaterally.”