PHOTO BY DEVIN MONK

Lake Travis Fire Rescue firefighters contain a fire Tuesday night at a single-story house in the 4900 block of Julian Alps in Falconhead West that they believe started from a lighting strike. No injuries were reported, but investigators ruled the house a total loss at $350,000 in structural damages and $200,000 of contents damaged or destroyed.

By MEAGAN O’TOOLE-PITTS

Staff writer

Extreme drought, record heat waves and high winds from a tropical depression that made landfall in Louisiana came together to create the perfect fire storm in Central Texas last summer.

The dry season resulted in six major fires that consumed close to 7,000 acres and destroyed 57 homes in Travis County. In Bastrop County, more than 34,000 acres and 1,500 homes were destroyed.

Sept. 4, 2011, was recorded as the worst fire day in recent history for Central Texas.

The conditions this summer are expected to pose similar dangers, according to Jim Linardos, fire chief of Lake Travis Fire Rescue, also known as Emergency Services District No. 6, serving Lakeway, The Hills, Bee Cave and surrounding unincorporated areas of Travis County.

“We average about 10 acres a year for wildfires, but last year about 1,200-1,800 acres burned in this district alone,” Linardos said. “We lost 26 homes and damaged about 20 or 30, most of them in the Steiner Ranch area.”

Two months ago, a wildland fire consumed 20 acres in the 26800 block of Hamilton Pool Road, and the time to start preparing for emergency situations is now, he said.

After last summer’s wildfires, Travis County and Lake Travis Fire Rescue, along with other stakeholders, formed the Wild Land Taskforce to promote public education material that homeowners can use to protect themselves and their property. “Ready, Set, Go!,” a booklet created by the taskforce, gives guidance on how to protect property and steps to take to insure safety if an evacuation is ordered.

“You don’t realize how scary it is until you see your fire guys running down door-to-door in your neighborhood telling people to get out in 10 minutes,” said Steiner Ranch resident Kimberly McLaughlin, who attended an emergency services presentation at a Lake Travis Commercial Association of Dealmakers meeting May 9.

“Ready, Set, Go!” has a checklist for creating a family disaster plan, which should include meeting locations and communication plans and be rehearsed regularly, Linardos said.

Before a fire comes in close proximity, plans should be already put in place.

Some fires, such as the Bastrop blaze, don’t allow any reaction time and evacuation is an immediate necessity, he said.

“You don’t have any time,” Linardos said. “You get in the car and you get out with your life.”

“Ready, Set, Go!” includes information on how to create a buffer around homes using fire-resistant materials, reducing the chances that a fire will spread with airborne embers.

Replacing wood fencing with metal fencing is one of several ways to ensure fire safety, Linardos said.

In addition to the booklet, the Wild Land Task Force is also looking at other ways to disseminate information, such as developing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan and applying for grants to deal with fuel mitigation efforts.

“We learned a whole bunch of interesting things during the fires last year – No. 1 is we have to do a better job of letting you guys know what’s going on,” he said at the association’s meeting.

The Texas Forest Service developed an online wildfire risk assessment portal through which residents can determine their risk. According to the website, texaswildfirerisk.com, the risk in Bee Cave-Lakeway area ranges from moderate to very high, with the potential for 150-foot tall flames.

Travis County hired an information officer and agencies countywide are collaborating, Linardos said.

Although the district has the help of STAR Flight, an EMS helicopter service through the county, some residents complained that they didn’t see many aircrafts dropping water on fires last summer.

“I think Texas Forest Service needs to mobilize more aircrafts,” Linardos said. “I even had a chance to tell the governor how I felt about that during the Steiner Ranch fire.”

Emergency preparedness for individuals is important because not all efforts by firefighters will succeed, according to 1st Sgt. Dewayne Naumann, HHC Texas State Guard at Camp Mabry in Austin.

Naumann’s unit supported the flying missions during the Bastrop fire.

“The problem with that was the fire was so intense that water would evaporate before it would get to the ground or do any good,” he recalled. “That’s how hot it was.”

Money is at the source of many of the problems that plague Lake Travis Fire Rescue, which is staffed with only three firefighters per unit, Linardos said.

“As tight as dollars are, we’re going to try and go out there and make an impact on the key areas that we think are going to create a problem for us,” he said.

According to state law, four firefighters are required to enter a burning structure and contain the fire.

LTFR’s staffing is one firefighter short of that requirement. As firefighters wait for more units to arrive, their response times balloon by five to seven minutes, Linardos said.

“There’s an exception to the rule – if there’s a rescue to be performed we can go in,” he said.

LTFR does not have the funding to add a fourth firefighter to each unit because the tax rate is so low, Linardos said.

“Most fire departments are funded at 28 to 30 cents per $100 valuation,” Linardos said. “We’re capped at 10 cents – simple as that. That’s been the struggle since I got here.”

Funding is so low that the LTFR almost had to close a station, he said.

“We saved over $100 million in property last year,” Linardos said. “Really, we saved about 560 homes directly. That’s what this fire department saved. You want to run the math – that’s a good return on your investment.”

Many are opposed to a tax increase, he said, so other options must be explored.

“We’re looking at merging districts, we’re looking at merging with the city, we’re looking at adding other districts,” Linardos said. “We’ve got to fix this.”

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

By MEAGAN O’TOOLE-PITTS
Staff writer

Just in time for summer, Whole Foods Market opened Wednesday in Bee Cave at the Hill Country Galleria.

The 38,000-square-foot store, which has about 200 employees, has everything everyone expects from a Whole Foods Market and some new surprises, said Rebecca Scofield, media and community relations specialist for the Austin-based natural and organic food retailer.

The store has kiosks which have printable recipes, allowing customers to shop healthy on the go.

“It will have recipes that go along with the product that’s stacked there,” Scofield said during a sneak peek for the media May 11. “There will be tons of (cook) books.”

The seafood section of the store, which does not sell species that are considered over fished, has a kiosk which makes cooking light a snap.

“Search for a recipe, search my ingredient, print it out and you’ve got your list ready to go,” she said.

For an added convenience, customers may select beans, grains, nuts, spices and dried fruits while shopping in the produce section of the store, which features locally made products.

“This is something we’ve been doing in the new stores – putting bulk right in with produce,” she said.

Whole Foods Market caters to those with allergies to wheat, gluten, salt, yeast, lactose and protein, such as nuts and oils. To get customers started on cooking for special diets, the store has a full-time healthy eating specialist available to answer questions.

“Each week they do a healthy-eating tour and then they do a version called ‘Health Eating on a Budget,’ which will really focus on those little things and buying what’s on sale, stocking up on things you can freeze,” Scofield said. “You can also bring your favorite grandma’s meatloaf recipe and we’ll try to help you make it healthier.”

Whole Foods products are free of artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, preservatives or hydrogenated fats, she said.

“It’s something that we’re passionate about – it’s not going away ever, it’s one of our core values – is healthy eating,” Scofield said.

The new store, which aims to become a community hub for good food and conversation, has an upstairs bar called “The Buzz,” which has beer and wine on tap, chef-prepared foods including pizza, tacos and barbecue, and patios with outdoor seating and a fire pit.

“The fire pit – it’s brilliant,” said Rebecca Beadle, seafood team member for Whole Foods. “I live out here and everyone has a fire pit, everyone’s always sitting around a campfire. It’s so cool.”

In an effort to keep business green, Whole Foods collects water for irrigating the landscape from a large rainwater collection unit, Scofield said.

In keeping with the eco-friendly fashion, Whole Foods sells green cleaning products and has complimentary electric vehicle charging stations.

To celebrate its opening, the store is hosting Community Giving Days to donate 1 percent of each day’s sales to these local nonprofits:

*Friday – Bee Cave Arts Foundation ;

*Saturday – KDRP Public Radio; and,

*Sunday – RED Arena.
We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

Lakeway police have called off their search in the Rough Hollow area after a motorcycle officer was injured attempting to pull two male suspects over for speeding Thursday.

Officer Slade Fisher’s motorcycle slid out from under him on Highlands Boulevard as he attempted to pull their white Audi over at about 4:20 p.m..

He flew from the bike and collided with rock landscaping in a median, Lakeway Police Capt. David Crowder said.

At that point, the suspects reportedly stopped their vehicle on a side street in Rough Hollow and one of them exited the vehicle and fled on foot, Crowder said. The other suspect stayed in the Audi, and police took him into custody and are interviewing him.

Several agencies, including Travis County Sheriff’s Office, joined Lakeway police in searching a wooded area in Rough Hollow for the at-large suspect, but as darkness fell they called off the search.

“The investigation is ongoing,” he said. “We don’t believe there is any threat to the neighborhoods.”

Fisher was transported to University Medical Center-Brackenridge.

Seton hospital officials said he was admitted but was not in their system as a patient Friday afternoon, which would possibly indicate he was treated and released.

“We expect a full recovery, but obviously it was painful,” Crowder said.

He declined to comment on reports that police were responding to an initial kidnapping call that led to the police pursuit.

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

Harris and Taylor secured somewhat comfortable leads in early voting and during today’s election, but Cokins made a serious push to bump Burns-Farrell from the third open seat.

Harris won 1,134 votes (25 percent) and Taylor drew 1,117 ballots (24 percent) while Burns-Farrell edged Cokins by 910 (19.75 percent) to 886 (19.23 percent), respectively. Sconci, a first-time candidate in Lakeway, collected 561 votes (12 percent).

The top three vote-getters are elected to Lakeway City Council.

The effort by the city of Lakeway to sell coves at Rebel and Sailfish parks to neighboring property owners failed to launch with 58 percent of voters casting ballots against both measures.

Mel Neese knocked Allan Hitchcock from his place on Lakeway Municipal Utility District’s board of directors Saturday as incumbents Kay Andrews and Tom Brewer maintained their tenures over challenger Don Paczkowski.

Neese secured 460 votes (24 percent) as Brewer earned three fewer ballots at 457. Andrews won 419 votes (21 percent), and Paczkowski collected 312 votes (16 percent) and Hitchcock tallied 311 (16 percent).

In Briarcliff’s aldermen election, Steven Autrey outpaced the pack with 208 votes (27 percent) to Kathy Crawford’s 163 votes and Kelly Patterson’s 162 (both 21 percent). Jean Dowdy drew 131 votes (17 percent) while Paul Eagan collected 116 votes (15 percent).

The top three vote-getters are elected to office in Briarcliff.

Jerri Lynn Ward and Jeff Roberts each earned 310 votes (37 percent) and 306 (36 percent), respectively, to defeat Rob Berry at 228 votes (27 percent) for two seats on West Travis County Water Control and Improvement District No. 17’s board.

Zelda Auslander and Steve Braasch will take their places on Bee Cave City Council at its May 22 meeting as Mike Murphy and Chad Bockius’ terms expire. Auslander and Braasch, who have both served on Bee Cave City Council, were unopposed in their bids for office.

Lake Travis ISD trustees Guy Clayton and Lisa Johnson retained their places on the school board in an uncontested election that the district canceled.

Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said the county’s Elections Division, which will compile and release voting results, estimated a 10 percent turnout of registered voters with participation evenly split between early voting and Election Day voting for all the races throughout the county.

About 23,400 Travis County voters cast ballots during early voting.

All results are unofficial until canvassed.

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

Staff writer

After a lengthy public discussion Tuesday, the Bee Cave City Council approved the development plat, 3-1, for the West Travis County Public Utility Agency proposed effluent storage pond and wastewater treatment facility slated for construction adjacent to Hill Country Galleria.

The Bee Cave Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval May 1 on the condition that the utility agency requests and receives an exception to a city ordinance that requires structures to have a 75-foot setback from the property line.

After the planning and zoning meeting, George Murfee, engineering consultant to the PUA, revised the design to include a 40-foot setback and plans for landscaping.

“The visual difference between a 75-foot setback and a 40-foot setback is minimal,” Murfee said.

Landscaping will comply with the city’s beautification rules for Bee Cave Parkway even though the project site is outside of the city limits, said Dennis Lozano of Murfee Engineering.

The development will include a minimum of 12 trees per 100 linear feet of roadway.

“The landscaping may be enhanced if cost sharing of such enhanced landscaping could be arranged with the city and/or neighboring property owners,” Murfee wrote in an email to City Administrator Frank Salvato.

The City Council approved the request for an exception from the city ordinance.

In addition, the council approved the site and non-point source, or water runoff, plan for the wastewater plant project, granting two variance requests which allow the development’s impervious cover of 50 percent and allow compliance with NPS requirements through the use of low effective impervious cover.

Those in opposition to the project say they worry it will adversely affect business at the Hill Country Galleria and the Alexan Galleria Apartments.

Councilman Mike Murphy abstained from voting on both items and councilman Bob Dorsett voted against both items.

Dorsett expressed concern that the plant had not yet been designed and renderings of the plant were not available to the council at the time of the vote.

“Is the reason you’re asking for an exception because you’re going to build a bigger plant later?” Dorsett asked Murfee.

The plant is slated to have a capacity of 325,000 gallons per day, bringing the wastewater system’s capacity up to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s permitted capacity of 1 million gallons per day.

Considering future growth, Murfee projected that the system will need a capacity of 1.6 million in the years to come.

The plant to be constructed on the 12-acre tract at 12900½ Bee Cave Parkway could accommodate 2 million gallons per day, but at least five more ponds would have to be built around the city to support that load, according to Murphy, who also serves on the PUA board.

Murfee told Dorsett that plans to increase the capacity of the plant could arise in the future, but the reason an exception was requested is because pushing the setback further would require a redesign of the pond, making it smaller.

The current design is for a 325,000 gallon per day plant, Murfee said.

After Lower Colorado River Authority sold water and wastewater systems to the PUA, it was discovered that the Lake Pointe wastewater plant is at 83 percent capacity and a new plant should have been built at the Bee Cave Parkway site by 2008, Murfee said.

Plans to construct a plant at the site began in 2001, predating plans for the Hill Country Galleria and the apartments that followed its construction, Murphy said.

“This is no surprise,” he said. “Nobody can claim who built this place that they did not know it was there.”

Adrian Overstreet, asset manager of Hill Country Galleria, said in previous meetings that he did not know about the plans when his investment group purchased the shopping center two years ago via auction, which Murphy attributed to a lack of a due diligence by the company when purchasing the property.

According to TCEQ regulations, when a plant reaches 75 percent of the daily average or annual flow for three consecutive months, an engineering and financial plan for expansion must be drafted. If a 90 percent threshold is reached, the plant operator must seek TCEQ authorization to begin construction on the designed plant.

Because the Lake Pointe plant is at 83 percent capacity, the system is already out of compliance with TCEQ, which could result in legal ramifications, according to Austin attorney Lauren Kalisek, who represents the PUA.

“State law allows the TCEQ to impose civil and administrative fines of up to $25,000 per day per violation – so every day that we’re out of compliance we could be racking up some significant penalties,” Kalisek said. “There’s also criminal liability involved.”

The next step for the PUA is to advertise for bids for construction, Lozano said.

Construction of the pond, which is the first phase of the project, is expected to last about eight months, and construction of the plant will take approximately one year, Murfee said.

In other business, the council approved a request by Police Chief Russell Pancoast to allow for additional police officer compensation.

During the last 11 months, more than half of the department’s patrol officers resigned to accept positions with higher wages or more promotional opportunities, Pancoast said.

As a result of the high turnover rate, Pancoast conducted a salary survey of local police departments and the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.

Pancoast recommended a compensation plan which includes creating pay ranges for different titles, an expansion of the number of titles to create a career path for officers, retention bonuses and stipends for various certification levels.

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

Staff writer

West Travis County Public Utility Agency approved a temporary water permit for The Backyard at Bee Cave outdoor amphitheater May 4 on the condition that venue representatives acquire easements for permanent water services.

The WTCPUA Board of Directors granted a temporary fire hydrant water meter to The Backyard to use for water supply.

The Backyard, also known as Planet Earth Music, has operated with temporary fire hydrant water meters from the Lower Colorado River Authority for about two years, said Don Rauschuber, PUA general manager.

Now that the PUA operates the West Travis County Water Systems, it is pushing The Backyard to provide technical and engineering information needed to obtain permanent water and sewer service from the PUA.

The Backyard has constructed water and wastewater lines and other appurtenances, but Planet Earth officials need to provide the PUA with on-site and off-site easements and other information before permanent service can be provided, Rauschuber said.

Easements will allow the PUA to gain access to the land in order to provide needed service maintenance, he said.

“I think I put close to $400,000 into that line to put it in there,” said John Paul DeJoria, the billionaire Paul Mitchell co-founder who invested in the land on which The Backyard sits.

The lines will become property of the PUA, Rauschuber said.

Before the systems were sold to the PUA, The Backyard representatives began taking the steps toward permanent water services with the LCRA, said Austin attorney Terry Irion, who represents The Backyard.

“It’s true that the customer service account was never finalized with the LCRA,” Irion told the PUA board. “It was negotiated. It didn’t get signed.”

The Backyard has been working to resolve outstanding issues, he said, including an easement it obtained from Reese Construction, which owns the land through which one of the lines was constructed.

The easement has since been terminated after The Backyard missed deadlines on infrastructure improvements.

“With regards to the sewer [line] easement, what happened was there was a roadway access and utility easement that had been negotiated and given by the Reeses to the owners of The Backyard, but it required completion of everything within a specified period of time,” Irion said. “We’re looking at various options for resolving that, including negotiating with the Reeses.”

He said he expects all issues will be resolved within a couple of months.

“The PUA has the attention of The Backyard,” he said.

PUA President Larry Fox expressed indignation with The Backyard’s lack of preparation before opening the venue for events this season.

“I guess what I find disturbing in all of this is that you had a considerable amount of time to accomplish a number of your requirements and those have not been met,” Fox told Irion.

The temporary water service, which went into effect Friday, will expire May 24.

“It’d be disastrous for the business if they can’t have at least temporary water,” Irion said.

In other business, the PUA board approved the construction contract for a $250,000 Southwest Parkway Pump Station upgrade and will soon open bids for the Uplands Water Treatment Plant trident unit Nos. 1, 2 and 3 refurbishment project, which is expected to cost $180,000.

The PUA board will meet next at 10 a.m. May 17 at Bee Cave City Hall, 4000 Galleria Parkway.

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

By MEAGAN O’TOOLE-PITTS

Staff writer

In an effort to protect and serve, Bee Cave police officers and the new Bee Cave Police Benevolent Foundation is hosting an awards banquet from 6-11 p.m. May 17 at Star Hill Ranch.

The event is the first of its kind since the foundation was founded in November, said Chief Rusty Pancoast of the Bee Cave Police Department.

The department will award Officer of the Year and safe driving and good attendance commendations going back to 2009, which is the last year it presented such honors.

Live music and a silent auction will round out the evening’s entertainment.

With only one table left, tickets are going fast, Pancoast said. More than 150 people are expected to be in attendance.

Proceeds benefit the foundation, which provides “assistance to public safety employees, such as firemen and policemen, in this area in their time of need,” Pancoast said.

“A similar foundation had one of their officers whose wife got cancer and she couldn’t work, so the family was in financial distress, so they made a mortgage payment for them,” Pancoast said.

The Bee Cave Police Department has been in need of a foundation to support its officers, he said.

“A year and a half ago, one of our officers had a stepson who had leukemia, and so this would have been an ideal forum to help that officer but we didn’t have it at the time,” Pancoast said.

Proceeds will also be used to award scholarships to Lake Travis High School students and train officers.

“If we have a special training we have to send an officer to and we have money in our budget for it, we can apply to the foundation and the board of directors could decide whether or not they want to assist in funding that training,” Pancoast said.

Foundation president Teresa Breuggeman said she also would like to use banquet proceeds to host public safety awareness classes.

“I think it’s important to help the officers, the people who are out there putting their lives on the line every day,” Breuggeman said. “They became officers to serve the people and the community, and I think it’s great to give back to them.”

The Bee Cave Police Benevolent Foundation board is comprised of the president and board members Daniel Myrick, vice president of Christopher Commercial, Inc. which owns the Shops at the Galleria, Dr. Andrew Cassidy, owner of Lone Star Podiatry, and Dr. Delaine Mueller, a physician at Bee Cave Urgent Care. The board members are committed to two-year terms.

After the gala, Pancoast said the foundation will begin searching for additional board members.

“We would like to have someone who resides in or has a business in the Bee Cave area,” he said.

Breuggeman, who served as secretary on the board of directors for the Lakeway Police Memorial and Benevolent Foundation, said she is passionate about her mission to support law enforcement employees.

“I want to do so much for this community,” she said. “If other cities need our help and would like to mirror what we have done, then I would be glad to help them as well.”

To purchase tickets or for information, contact Breuggeman at 925-9139 or info@bcpbf.com.

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

“When I knew I was breaking the law, I should have quit and trusted God and turned it over to him. … My actions have caused great damage to my family,” said Gladle in the U.S. District courtroom, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Gladle, who faced two to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges of bankruptcy fraud and aggravated identity theft, was ordered to pay $214,258 in restitution and a court fee.

He also was ordered to not work in mortgage or the financial industries during his three-year supervised release, the Statesman reported, as well as forfeit personal and business belongings, including prepaid debit cards and cash, seized during an investigation.

Department of Justice officials said that Gladle falsely told the owners of more than a thousand distressed properties that they could postpone foreclosure sales.

During a four-year scheme in Los Angeles and other locations, he reportedly used five aliases to avoid detection, including stealing the identity of at least one person and setting up a cell phone account in that victim’s name.

According to the charges, Gladle was involved in a scheme that recruited homeowners whose properties were in danger of foreclosure and falsely promised to delay the foreclosures for homeowners for up to six months.

Once a homeowner paid a monthly fee, Gladle, either directly or through salespersons, reportedly had the homeowner sign a deed granting a 1/100th interest in the house to a debtor in a bankruptcy whose name Gladle had found by searching bankruptcy records.

The debtors had no idea that their names and bankruptcy cases were being used by Gladle in his scheme, according to the Department of Justice.

He reportedly would print out the debtor’s bankruptcy petition, attach it to the deed in the debtor’s name and fax the two documents to a homeowner’s lender to stop foreclosure proceedings.

Because a bankruptcy filing elicits an automatic stay on a debtor’s property, the petitions and deeds forced lenders to cancel foreclosure sales.

The lenders – which included banks that received government funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program – could not attempt to collect these debts without permission from bankruptcy court, which resulted in delays to recover their money.

TARP is a federal program that purchases assets and equity from financial institutions.

When homeowners wanted to void the deeds to the debtors, Gladle reportedly would forge the debtors’ signatures on papers voiding the deeds.

The FBI and Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a white-collar law enforcement agency, conducted the investigation and received assistance from the U.S. Trustee’s Office.

Gladle defrauded TARP recipient banks including Bank of America, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo, said Christy Romero, SIGTARP deputy special inspector general.

“This is the latest example of heartless criminal activity by an individual who sought to capitalize on the misfortune of those affected by hard economic times,” said Steven Martinez, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, in a press release. “Mr. Gladle defrauded victims trying to save their homes, further exploited those in debt by stealing their identities, and wreaked havoc on both banks and the bankruptcy courts by manipulating the system.”

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

By MEAGAN O’TOOLE-PITTS

Staff writer

The Hills resident Bill Dowd, an engineer whose career spanned nearly 40 years, was recently awarded by the American Society of Civil Engineers for his work on the Hoover Dam Bypass project, which bridges Arizona and Nevada over the Colorado River.

Representing HDR, an international firm that provides architecture, engineering, consulting and construction services, Dowd accepted the 2012 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award.

Since retiring from HDR in 2009, Dowd has served as a consultant to the company.

HDR began designing the Hoover Dam Bypass project in 2001 after contracting with the Federal Highway Administration, Dowd said.

As manager of the design team, Dowd oversaw the construction of the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, which soars approximately 900 feet over the Colorado River, ensuring the security of the Hoover Dam by removing through traffic from U.S. Highway 93.

According to the ASCE, the bridge is the highest and longest arched concrete bridge in the Western Hemisphere and has the world’s tallest precast-concrete columns.

“The river bridge was actually a joint venture between T.Y. Lin International and HDR Engineering,” Dowd said. “Our two firms put personnel on to design the bridge.”

Several companies and agencies were involved in the delivery of the design, he said.

“My role was working directly with the Federal Highway Administration to make sure that we were delivering all of our contract requirements on time, within the budget and in accordance with quality standards,” Dowd said.

The design team carefully navigated environmental concerns that included protecting wildlife, he said.

“We had endangered species, especially the desert bighorn sheep,” Dowd said. “They had to be dealt with, and they had to be respected. We had to provide safe crossing through the alignment, under or over the top, for the bighorn sheep that migrated up and down the river.”

The design team aligned the fencing so desert bighorn sheep couldn’t cross the road.

“A lot of them get hit by cars right now, and [those accidents] kill seven to eight of them a year,” Dowd said. “So, we provided crossings underneath our alignment.”

The design team worked diligently to ensure desert bighorn sheep used the crossings as it also worked to preserve the species, he said.

“It was important for us to track them,” Dowd said. “We put monitors on sheep and made sure that they were migrating across, up and down the river.”

The project came in slightly under its $238 million budget despite laying 3.5 miles of road, bridging a canyon by way of a 2,000-foot span structure and foregoing cranes.

“A lot of people were amazed that it didn’t cost more than that because it’s a big project …,” Dowd said. “They had to use very unique techniques to construct the bridge.”

The project has received several awards from varying agencies, including the American Public Works Association, since its completion in 2009, he said.

Dowd, who served as the national director of transportation for HDR, said the Hoover Dam Bypass project was the most unique project of his career.

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

Christopher Allen will serve as the district’s deputy superintendent.

Allen is the interim superintendent at Midway ISD in Waco, the same district where new LTISD Superintendent Brad Lancaster served as superintendent before taking on his new role in January.

Allen earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Texas at Austin.

He has also served as a classroom teacher, high school assistant principal, high school principal and as assistant superintendent for administration at Midway during his 16-year professional career in the Birdville and Grapevine-Colleyville school districts and the University of Texas University Charter School.

During his tenure at Midway, Allen assisted with the successful implementation of several key initiatives resulting in increased student performance.

Susan Bohn, who had been filling a dual role as deputy superintendent and general counsel, will retain her position as the district’s attorney and take on assistant superintendent duties.

April Glenn will replace Allison Cobb as principal of Serene Hills Elementary School this summer.

Cobb will finish the school year as Serene Hills’ principal before she assumes her new role as administrator of LTISD’s Disciplinary Alternative Education Program in July.

The program educates grades 7-12 in classrooms adjacent to the Lake Travis High School campus.

“This was a decision made by the superintendent in the best interest of the district,” said Marco Alvarado, LTISD director of communications.

Cobb, a former president-elect of the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association, served as assistant principal at Lakeway Elementary School from 2004-08 before opening Serene Hills Elementary in fall 2008.

Glenn, a Lakeway resident, has spent the last 12 years of her professional career as the principal of Dennis E. Cowan Elementary with Austin ISD. The 20-year AISD educator holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Texas at Austin.

She is a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society of Outstanding Female Educators and a former Capital of Texas Counseling Association Administrator of the Year.

LTISD also named three new assistant principals for the 2012-13 school year.

Juanita Worthy will serve as assistant principal at Bee Cave Elementary School, and Amanda Toon and Susan Mitchell will serve as assistant principals at Hudson Bend and Lake Travis middle schools, respectively.

With more than 30 years of service in public education, Worthy has spent the past 12 years of her career at Bee Cave Elementary in various capacities. She earned a bachelor of science degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in educational management from the University of Houston. Worthy will assist school principal Janie Braxdale in accommodating student enrollment that increased by nearly 20 percent from a year ago.

With an emphasis on special education, Toon has 15 years of teaching experience at the middle and high school levels, having spent the past 12 years at Hudson Bend Middle School.

She holds a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from the University of California at Riverside and a master’s degree in educational administration from Concordia University in Austin. Toon joins school principal Mark Robinson and assistant principal Steven Lott on the HBMS administrative team as they prepare for the school’s upcoming expansion.

A former campus Teacher of the Year, Mitchell has spent the past six years of her career at Lake Travis Middle School where she served as a language arts teacher and held numerous campus leadership roles.

She earned a bachelor of science degree in secondary education from John Brown University and a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of St. Thomas. Mitchell will assist school principal Russell Maedgen and assistant principal Janet Pyne with the planning for and transition to the new LTMS campus.

“As we begin to prepare for the 2012-13 school year, I am confident these individuals will provide the appropriate leadership to strengthen the quality of our programs districtwide on behalf of the students we serve,” said Lancaster in a press release.

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines