News

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.

“Our hydrology reports indicate that is a very safe number, and a very small number for the Trinity Aquifer,” Throckmorton said.

Not everyone agrees.

One of Wimberley’s most precious landmarks has officially been “saved” as Old Baldy will now become a city-owned public park. 

It only took six months for the community, along with the city of Wimberley, to raise around $170,000 to purchase the property. 

In July, Old Baldy, which had been open to the public for decades and owned by City Gate Church, was put up for sale. The community was abuzz with angst knowing that there was a distinct possibility the property could be purchased and closed to the public. 

News spread quickly across the Internet, and when a no trespassing sign was posted at the steps of the mountain, a Facebook group formed called Save Old Baldy. Thousands joined the group to show their support for keeping the property open to the public, and locals Andrew and Lin Weber saw an opportunity.

The ability to get up and drive into town at any given moment to pick up groceries, run an errand or see a friend is something that may be taken for granted. For many in Wimberley’s senior community, that simple trip is simply not an option.

“Sometimes it’s because they don’t have enough money or they can no longer drive,” Carol Scheel, president of the Wimberley Senior Citizens Activities, Inc, said. “We are trying to do something to fill that gap.”

A pilot program has been developed with H.A.N.D., Helping the Aging, Needy and Disabled, out of Austin to offer transportation options for seniors.

“We have people in there 70s, 80s or even 90s that are on a very fixed income,” Scheel said. “We also have people who need to pick up food from the Crisis Bread Basket but can’t drive into town.”

With gas prices dropping, worries abound for the Texas economy that has always relied so heavily on oil, but that doesn’t mean that people on the street aren’t happy about the extra change being left in their pocket.

In Wimberley, the price drop looks similar to the rest of the nation. On Friday of last week, prices through town were $2.39 per gallon of regular gas at three of the four stations. 

“Its fantastic,” Kyle Smith of Wimberley said. “It makes it easy to travel. Gas is always so expensive the drop makes it nice for everything.”

The lowest prices nearby were at The Junction where gas was selling for $2.19.

“I think it’s great,” Sarah Hunter, 17, from Wimberley, said. “I have to pay for my own gas, and it’s nice not to pay so much just to fill up.”

Wimberley is brilliant. So brilliant that it is going to have its own showing of the premiere episode of the new season of the PBS’ Masterpiece Theatre’s Downton Abbey before the rest of the country. 

According to Sharon Guess, director of Development of KLRU-TV, the PBS affiliate in Austin, the station “wanted to get out in the community” and reward fans of the program and of PBS in general.

If you are not a viewer of Downton Abbey, the program is British produced period drama about the lives of the upper-class, titled Crawley family and the lower-class staff that serves them. It takes place starting in the early 1900s to the latest installment of the 1920s. 

Hays County Commissioner Will Conley received the Texas Department of Transportation Road Hand award during the commissioner’s court meeting held today in San Marcos. This honor is a TxDOT tradition to acknowledge those who have made improvements to transportation in their communities.

Texas’ transportation system is vital to economic development and tourism—one of the state’s largest industries. Maintaining and improving this system wouldn’t be possible without the dedication and hard work of citizens across the state.

The city of Woodcreek donated more than $6,200 to Hays County on Tuesday to be used to promote the region’s past through the display of artifacts at Jacob’s Well.

Specifically, the funds will “enhance the Visitor Information Center by the construction of an Interpretive Artifact Display,” Woodcreek said in background materials.

“The city of Woodcreek was part of the core network for Jacob’s Well since 2006, an early player in the planned restoration of Jacob’s Well,” Mayor Pro Ten Nancye Britner told the Commissioner Court during it’s Dec. 16 meeting.

The Central Wimberley Master Plan was not adopted by the city after months of public meetings and contentious debate surrounding the document.

The Wimberley City Council voted 4-1 to not adopt the plan during Thursday night’s city council meeting.

“I think that the council saw a distrust of the process,” Mayor Steve Thurber said. “I think they heard the people. I think they made the decision based on what they thought was in the best interest and I think that we will revisit this issue at sometime in the near future.”

Pam Showalter was the only council member to vote for the plan and she explained her reasons while supporting the process of continuing to mold the plan.

The Wimberley ISD baseball and softball complex is well under construction, and according the Superintendent Dwain York, the project is both on schedule and on budget.

The facilities are starting to take shape as the framing for the baseball field’s concession stand is now in place and the turf is being laid on both fields. 

“I’ve been here 15 years or so, and I don’t think there has been a year yet that we could keep enough water on the fields,” York said. “We kept bringing in dirt and sod to seed everything. It would look nice and green and then we would go under water restrictions. They have been a nightmare to keep alive, so we are looking forward to not having to mess with all of that.”

Pedernales Electric Cooperative gave the Wimberley City Council an update on their discussion with local property owners about improvements to transmission lines.

PEC had stated that Wimberley is using near the maximum amount of power that the lines can bring to town. Many of the property owners who currently have the line running through their property are concerned about the changes. Some are worried that the larger capacity lines may be dangerous to live near, others are concerned about taller poles or new pole locations negatively affecting property values. 

The line runs from FM 32 to the PEC station next to Pizza Hut. If one property owner does not agree with the plans PEC presents, the cooperative will have to go through the state government to have a plan created.