Lake Travis View » News

Festive Armadillo Day a crowd pleaser

Special to the View — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:17:22 +0000

Photos by Devin Monk

Bee Cave Bob elicits surprise and awe from the younger crowd members at Armadillo Day on Feb. 2 at The West Pole in Bee Cave, where he forecast an early spring and left-leaning political climate. Country music singer-songwriter BELOW: Gary P. Nunn belts out a fitting ditty for Armadillo Day of London Homesick Blues with the chorus of “I wanna go home with the Armadillo” on Feb. 2 at the West Pole in Bee Cave.

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Road work on tap for Flint Rock Trace

Special to the View — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:38:16 +0000

The portion of Flint Rock Trace between Ranch Road 620 and Wild Cherry Drive in Lakeway will be closed to through traffic beginning Saturday. Construction on a section of Flint Rock Road is set to begin, and the road is expected be closed for approximately three months. Traffic will be detoured to the intersection of Lohmans Spur and RR 620. For information, contact Lakeway city engineer Paul Duncan at 314-7540 or paulduncan@lakeway-tx.gov.

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From the heart: Blood drives help family

Special to the View — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:17:34 +0000

The Lakeway Community Blood Drive on Jan. 21 had its best blood drive ever, thanks in part to the friends of Andrew Kline.

Andrew is an 8-year-old from Falconhead West who has recently started undergoing treatment for leukemia and who will need blood for several years.

The Lakeway drive had more than 20 new donors who came to donate for Andrew, and the drive donated all 90 of the blood assurance coupons to the Kline family, according to organizers. The coupons may be used to offset blood-related expenses.

These contributions are in addition to the 35 coupons that a blood drive in Andrew’s honor earned Jan. 15 in Falconhead West.

The next Lakeway Community Blood Drive will be March 17 at Lakeway Activity Center. To sign up, call Searcy Willis at 261-9055.
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High school, PTA addressing student drinking

Devin Monk — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:59:09 +0000

Lake Travis High School students stand out for their accomplishments, but the 2,200-plus student high school is no different than many others across the nation tackling the issue of underage drinking.
A series of incidents involving student drinking this school year bubbled over at the high school’s winter formal Jan. 14 at Hilton Austin. A student who reportedly had been drinking before the formal passed out and after the event school officials found two flasks that had contained alcohol, LTHS principal Kim Brents said.
As enrollment has surged at the high school, the attendance at winter formal has swollen to 1,000 students who bought tickets to this year’s dance.
“It is the shindig of the season next to prom,” Brents said.
The day before the winter formal, she sent a letter to parents that encouraged them to talk with their teens about after-party activities.
“I promise to ensure a memorable night of great fun for your student while at winter formal; I hope you will join me in creating an environment of absolute safety later in the evening that does not include drugs and alcohol,” she wrote.
Despite the principal’s warnings, some students reportedly started drinking on party buses before the dance, which also shocked some parents with the bumping and grinding style of dancing.
The school used 15 adult chaperones and 20 Hilton staff members to monitor students at the formal, Brents said.
“When kids come in, they are having conversations with us,” she explained. “We’re in their face. I know what kids to target. I know who I’m looking at, but I can’t tell if a kid has taken a hit of Ecstasy before they walk in the door. There’s no way I can police that.”
Responding to parent concerns, the school’s PTA hosted two question-and-answer coffee sessions with Brents to discuss the formal, and the school’s plans for future school-sponsored events.
Periodically over the last few years, a small number of high school students have arrived inebriated at school-sponsored activities both on- and off-campus, including football games, according to Brents.
“Ninety-five percent of our kids make really good decisions,” she said. “Unfortunately, [some of] our kids are going to make stupid choices. Of course, as the high school principal, I’m going to look to see what we can do differently to combat this. We want to create a safe environment, but I have to guard against punishing the whole for the actions of a few.”
Brents said the school would conduct coat checks at future dances, and she would review the music selection with disc jockeys to avoid a series of songs that might tempt students to bump and grind.
She told parents at the coffees that she could not control party bus activities, but charged them with the responsibility of monitoring what their children take onto the buses or to pre-event activities.
“In no way, shape or form are we turning a blind eye to these things, but I really put it back on them – this is your responsibility,” Brents told parents. “We are not going to be able to wave our magic wand, and all of this go away. It’s going to take everyone banding together to really educate our kids. My goal is to empower them to take this on.”
One LTHS mother, Gwendy Volpe, has formed Don’t Serve Teens Task Force Lake Travis after seeing the effects of underage drinking on her son.
The high school’s PTA will host a Feb. 23 coffee with TABC and MADD representatives as part of its Empower LT program to educate parents on high school related issues and how to talk to their children about them.
PTA president Kim Russell and Volpe are battling against parents providing alcohol for teenagers at parties in their houses.
“Parents don’t have that right to serve my child alcohol,” Russell declared. “A lot of these problems are kids going to these parties after winter formal or before winter formal, and the kids are binge drinking at that time. That’s the big problem that we are seeing.”
She said parents play a pivotal role in their children’s decisions, but some parents put the responsibility squarely on the school’s shoulders.
“We’ve got parents who want the school to take care of everything, but the school gets a lot of pushback for even pulling a kid off the dance floor and asking them a question,” she said.
Anyone with concerns or tips may call police or an anonymous Cavalier Hotline at 533-6135 that Brents checks personally.
For information, visit the Don’t Serve Teens Task Force Lake Travis website at dontserveteenslaketravis.org or its Facebook page.

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Lake Travis Lure: Low lake level results in minimal affect on bass action

Special to the View — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:32:59 +0000

By Allen Christenson
Contributor

Lake Travis bass are thriving in their downsized living quarters. Our recent spring-like weather has triggered some exciting shallow water action.

Local bass clubs and weekend anglers are launching their bass boats at Dink Pearson Park near Point Venture. The ideal slope and composition of the bank makes for easy boat launching.

The River City Bass Club held a tournament and weigh-in at Dink on Jan. 28. Lake Travis smiled on Mat Kevil who brought to the scales a beautiful 7.68-pound largemouth. This big bass winner bested a 6-pound bass caught by Jim South.

Several nice stringers up to 14 pounds were weighed in with most bass coming from shallow water on jigs, worms, crankbaits and spinnerbaits.

This spring will produce fast action for numbers and trophy bass. Spawning bass will be more concentrated in the coves and creeks. The biggest bass usually show up in March and April.

I’ll be experimenting with the hot new Alabama Rig that has taken the national pro tour by storm. Andy Poss of Alabama created this five-pronged umbrella rig last year, and it has already won several pro events.

This rig resembles a small school of baitfish. It is ideal for catching bass that are chasing shad in open water. Lake Travis is ideal for this type of lure. We have a huge shad base that suspends over deep water and attracts schools of hungry bass.

I’m really curious and optimistic about how Lake Travis bass will receive this never-before-seen contraption rigged with five swimbaits or plastic grubs. I’ll let you know my test results.

The dependable green pumpkin worm has continued to produce steady action for my clients. Chunky largemouth up to 4 pounds can’t seem to resist this bottom-crawling morsel.

Bass still residing in deep water are feasting on drop-shot gulp minnows and jigging spoons. There is always lots of variety on Lake Travis.

For updates or a guided excursion, call 261-3644, email achristenson1@austin.rr.com or visit northshorebeacon.com.

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Chamber names Zbranek top citizen; resort picks up Business of Year

Devin Monk — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:02:25 +0000

Photo by Ed Allen

2011 Citizen of the Year Steve Zbranek of Zbranek & Holt Custom Homes, center, is joined by 2010 winner Jaime Bush of Point of Origin owner and 2009 winner Chief Todd Radford of the Lakeway Police Department at the Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce Community Awards Gala Saturday at the Lakeway Resort and Spa.

Lake Travis’ enduring spirit shined as bright as a diamond at Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce’s 20th annual Community Awards Gala Saturday at Lakeway Resort and Spa.
Steve Zbranek, no stranger to the podium at chamber events, earned the 2011 Citizen of the Year award as the chamber’s outgoing chairman who led its economic forecast luncheons, Lunch and Learn series and Chairman’s Message.
The Leadership Lake Travis creator advocated for the Lake Travis school district’s $158.45 million bond package that passed in November and served on the district’s citizens review search committee to provide input on superintendent candidates.
His support of the community extended to serving as a founding board member of the Lakeway Police Memorial and Benevolent Foundation.
The Lake Travis Community Library Dancing with the Stars fox-trotter didn’t step on any toes in his acceptance speech.
“Thank you so much, Lake Travis,” Zbranek said. “I love being here. To be recognized tonight as Citizen of the Year for the community is probably one of the top highlights of my career. It’s very humbling.”
Taking on new projects energizes the Lakeway resident who always seems to be looking for the next one to take on or support with no ulterior motive for recognition.
“When I was working last year, I would go from one project to the next, and it just felt good doing each of them,” he said. “It would seem like we would finish one and start another one. I got really reinvigorated in this late year in my career. It was fun to feel that and to see the response that people give you. It was fun to organize more volunteers to do great things. I’m not done yet.”
His company, Zbranek & Holt Custom Homes, which won the chamber’s 2010 Business of the Year Award has begun the ground work for its next philanthropic program, in which it plans to build a home for a veteran and give it to him or her mortgage free. Zbranek also has committed to returning to his role as the chamber’s chairman in 2013.
Gala host Lakeway Resort and Spa didn’t have to travel very far to pick up its 2011 Business of the Year award.
The resort’s donations of services, event sponsorships and employee participation in community organizations such as Leadership Lake Travis and the Lakeway Police Memorial and Benevolent Foundation garnered the award.
A surprised general manager Troy Mathews shared that when the resort’s new management company, Redstone Companies Hospitality, wrote its first mission and vision statement years ago, it based it on engagement with the communities it serves.
“We view the community as a shareholder,” Mathews said.”This [award] tonight is really an affirmation to the fact that we probably did what we set out to do.”
In just two years on the Lake Travis scene, Community Impact secured the 2011 Young Business of the Year award by sponsoring chamber luncheons, reserving space in the publication for annual chamber events, participating and volunteering time with Leadership Lake Travis for the program’s continued success Last year, the company lent a helping hand to those affected by the wildfires.
General manager Phyllis Campos said she had a dream job that allowed her to interact with business owners, city council members, county commissioners and other leaders and recognized her staff.
“It’s just a fantastic team,” Campos said.
The squad of dedicated individuals at Lake Travis Fire Rescue who pulled together for days and nights to put out numerous wildfires last year earned a standing ovation at the Community Awards Gala as they received an award from the chamber for service and bravery.
“We are just glad we could serve you guys last summer the best we could,” LTFR Fire Chief Jim Linardos said. “We just hope that next year we are not in the headlines as much.”
Lakeway Elementary School has plenty of shining stars in its system, but one constellation in particular stood out at the gala.
The school’s EarlyAct Club members encouraged students in 2011 to give up their Halloween candy to donate to soldiers, do chores to raise money for Shelter Box, collect used sports equipment for disadvantaged youth, visit retirement communities on Easter to sing and provide homemade decorations, and write words of encouragement for other students who were affected by the Bastrop fires.
The club, which Lakeway/Lake Travis Rotary Club sponsors, has grown every year from its inception in 2009 to 60 members in 2011-12.
“On behalf of the heart of Lakeway Elementary – our children – I thank you,” teacher and sponsor Cathy Pankonien said.
Austin Families for Families, a nonprofit organization of Lake Travis High School students that withstood the loss of co-founder Trevor Searle last March, still serves the community by channeling donations to families in need during the holiday season.
Their persistence won the admiration of the chamber and earned the organization the 2011 Shining Star award.
Her involvement in programs such as Family Link Foster Care, Kardivas, Mobile Loaves & Fishes and the Lakeway Police Memorial and Benevolent Foundation earned Mallory Voorheis the 2011 Unsung Hero award.
The chamber’s event and membership director established a donation location at its office for wildfire victims last fall and worked with members to donate food for rescue relief for both firefighters and fire victims.
“She has a huge heart for her community and cares deeply about how it operates now and how she can help make it better for the future,” said award presenter Barker Keith II.
Will Mitchell took home the Chairman’s Award from Zbranek for his dedication to SpringFest, the chamber’s annual spring festival.
Paul Quinn, who aided Lake Travis Coalition’s efforts to produce the first Lake Travis Economic Study, earned the 2011 Volunteer of the Year, and Vlado Ruzicka was named 2011 Ambassador of the Year.

Lakeway Resort. Spa general manager Troy Matthews accepts the 2011 Business of the Year Award.

County digs into well regulations

Devin Monk — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:28:04 +0000

Travis County Commissioners Court took a step toward managing the Trinity Aquifer’s water supply for the future by amending several subdivision regulations at the Jan. 31 meeting.
With Spicewood Beach, a prime example of what can happen to a community once its water supply runs short.
Effective immediately, new subdivisions greater than five households in the county but outside of Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction must have water supply and drought contingency plans that show the development will have a long-term water source.
To regulate groundwater use, the county will obtain survey data on wells in and near new subdivisions, search for historic groundwater use and monitor wells that supply subdivisions.
“I think we came up with a very good, middle-of-the-road logical step in the protection of groundwater resources and ensuring future water supplies,” said Karen Huber, Precinct 3 Travis County commissioner.
The county also will require new subdivisions to have adequate water storage, distribution lines and fire hydrants.
The rules end a moratorium that expired Jan. 31 and blocked plats from using groundwater from the Trinity group of aquifers in western Travis County.
Before the moratorium, developers were submitting subdivision plans with wells on both individual lots and for the subdivision as a whole.
Huber said she hopes these amendments would help prevent the type of water shortages at Spicewood Beach from occurring in Travis County.
The potential for limited or nonexistent water supplies is a real threat, she said, citing Hazy Hills and other older subdivisions that struggle in times of drought.
To this point, precise data has been difficult to obtain, but the new regulations and raised public awareness about water supply point to the possibility of more efficient water use.
The more water that is taken from the aquifers, the less water flows from springs, creeks and rivers into the Highland Lakes.
“I think people are slowly beginning to see that we’ve got a complex hydrology setup out there, and we need to consider the relationships between the groundwater, the surface water, and what we are taking from where and how it flows,” she said.
The Trinity aquifer spans 41,000 square miles from south-central Texas to southeastern Oklahoma.
Water levels in the aquifer declined more than 300 feet between 1900 and 1967, and another 400 feet between 1967 and 1988, according to U.S. Geological Survey data.
Travis County projections estimate its population will rise to 1.17 million people by 2020 and 1.5 million by 2040 as its annual water usage will increase from 187,037 acre feet in 2000 to 374,041 acre feet in 2040.
“The Trinity Aquifer is already a stressed aquifer,” Huber said. “I don’t think we can feel like we’ve got a 100 percent comfort zone and we won’t have future problems, but we hope to head those off by having these regulations.”

MUD shores up barge details

Special to the View — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:01:31 +0000

Lakeway Municipal Utility District moved to buy .58 acres of land underneath Lake Travis directly below the raw water barge it recently purchased from Lower Colorado River Authority.

LMUD board members authorized the acquisition of the submerged land for an undisclosed price Tuesday with the district expected to close Wednesday with landowner Rough Hollow Yacht Club.

The utility’s partners in the barge purchase –Lakeway and Hurst Creek MUDs, Travis County MUD No. 11 and Rough Hollow Community South property owners association – also will participate in the land purchase.

Late in the year-long negotiation and sale process, information came to light that the LCRA owned the barge, but it did not have title to the tract of land directly under the barge.

Per the purchase agreement, if LCRA did not or could not acquire the land, it would credit the barge participants with $25,000 from the barge purchase price.

LMUD’s portion of the purchase price was $1.44 million. Hurst Creek paid $781,344, TCMUD No. 11 spent $48,834, and Rough Hollow covered $170,919.

Although Haythem Dawlett is involved in both Rough Hollow Yacht Club and the Rough Hollow POA, LMUD officials said the ownership entities are different.

LMUD attorney Trish Carls also outlined a proposed joint ownership agreement with board members that would delineate the level of authority among the barge participants based upon use.

The board took no action on the agreement that would give LMUD a 69 percent controlling interest in the barge and its assets, Hurst Creek a 32 percent share, Rough Hollow Community South POA a 7 percent stake and TCMUD No. 11 a 2 percent slice.

Carls said the barge partners were working toward forming an oversight committee to make decisions about the barge.

Should the agreement be reached, each barge participant would place an appointee to the committee, and any affirmative measure by the committee would require the LMUD appointee’s vote and the vote of one other member.

The oversight committee would be answerable to each of the barge participant’s governing body.

The participants also would build up a $120,000 capital improvement account to pay for possible capacity increases with each partner contributing funds based on the above percentages.

“We don’t want to have any stranded capacity to fight over later,” Carls said. “To reach the design capacity, you have a little bit of room, but you have to spend some money to get there.”

If a barge participant wished to sell its ownership share, the agreement would require it to offer it to one of the other barge partners first.

Law groups saddle up for warrant roundup

Special to the View — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:11:04 +0000

Law enforcement agencies from more than 200 jurisdictions across Texas are preparing to combine forces for the Great Texas Warrant Roundup, which is believed to be the largest joint warrant round up of this type in Texas.

The multi-jurisdictional warrant roundup will begin Feb. 25 and will continue for several weeks. Arrests will focus on persons with warrants from all of the 200 participating jurisdictions.

Lakeway Municipal Court and Lakeway Police Department are participating in this roundup along with several large Texas metropolitan areas, including Amarillo, Austin, Burnet, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Midland-Odessa and San Antonio as well as numerous counties, justices of the peace and other municipalities of all sizes.

Those who have warrants in Lakeway Municipal Court but who contact the court before being arrested may be able to work with them to post bail and request a trial or to waive trial and work out a time payment plan for paying fines.

Defendants who fail to contact the court face being arrested and transported to Travis County Jail where they must post bail before they are released.

Defendants with warrants may be arrested at home, while driving or at work. The benefit of voluntarily coming into court is that in most cases the defendant will not be arrested and can work out a time-payment plan or set their case for trial.

Hundreds of thousands of notices have been mailed to defendants across Texas during the past few days to persons with warrants active against them in those jurisdictions.

Although the concentration is on Class C charges, which include traffic, criminal parking, penal code and city ordinance violations, higher charge warrants will also be served.

Lakeway Municipal Court officials encourage anyone with warrants to call the court at 314-7560 or contact the Lakeway Municipal Court Warrant Clerk Denise Carranco at 314-7566 immediately in order to dispose of their cases voluntarily.

These cases can be taken care of by either posting bail bonds and setting cases for trial or by waiving the right to jury trial and entering a plea of “no contest,” and working out a time payment plan for the fines and court costs to be paid.

In addition to the likelihood of an arrest, any offender with an outstanding warrant will not be able to renew his or her driver’s license, because Lakeway Municipal Court is part of the Texas Omni System which flags and will not allow the renewal of Texas driver’s licenses of defendants who have failed to appear in court or who have not fulfilled their obligation to pay their fines or costs to the court.

Judge throws out N. Brooks Hollow annexation lawsuit

Devin Monk — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:32:27 +0000

Rodolfo Gonzalez Austin-American Statesman file photo
A Travis County judge dismissed Steve and Anita Cokins’ lawsuit against the City of Lakeway on Jan. 25 over its annexation of North Brooks Hollow Road.

A Travis County District judge dismissed Steve and Anita Cokins’ lawsuit versus the City of Lakeway on Jan. 25 concerning the city’s authority to unilaterally annex North Brooks Hollow Road.
Tim Sulak, 353rd Judicial District Civil Court judge, ruled against the Cokinses with prejudice against refiling the case.
The residential area fought bitterly to deter the Lakeway City Council from annexing 18 properties as part of a two-year process to absorb several areas within the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Lakeway City Council annexed North Brooks Hollow Road by a 5-2 vote in September 2011.
“Lakeway has behaved like a bully throughout these annexations,” Anita Cokins said at an October 2011 City Council meeting. “You left us with no choice but to file this suit.”
Real estate lawyer Leonard Smith, who represented the Cokinses and North Brooks Hollow residents, said he was set to meet with his clients Tuesday morning to discuss an appeal or other possible action.
“Our position in the case was that the city exceeded the authority granted to it by the [Texas] Legislature in conducting this annexation and did so in violation” of Texas Local Government Code, Smith said.
The lawsuit challenged Lakeway’s annexation on width regulations that require contiguous annexation of land at least 1,000 feet wide at its narrowest point.
The lawsuit also contended that Lakeway did not adhere to mandates that annexations must conclude within 90 days of the beginning of a proceeding.
Chessie Blanchard-Zimmerman, Lakeway deputy city manager, said the lawsuit also alleged Lakeway did not include all areas subject to annexation in a single action in order to circumvent a limit on how many occupied residential lots a city may annex at one time.
Blanchard-Zimmerman said that a district attorney or the attorney general must rule on the majority of potential violations to state law, so Lakeway filed a plea of jurisdiction with the court.
“A private citizen doesn’t have standing,” she explained, adding that residents may ask the state to file suit on their behalf.

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