The Boerne Star (Boerne, Tex.), Vol. 104, No. 86, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 26, 2010 Page: 1 of 24
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GOGREAT Southern Coins
Silver, • jeotelry
830-331-91 17
1 100 North Main Street • Suite 101
Boerne,TX 78006
www.greatsoutherncoins.com
Since 1906
Tuesday
October 26, 2010
16 pages
75€
Inside
Catch & Run
Comfort’s Reid Barker had
three touchdowns Friday night
to help the Bobcats rally past the
Panthers.
For more about the game, along
with other results, see today’s
sports section, pages 9A-11A.
Happy.
...Birthday
Oct. 26
Richard Feddersen
James Hale
Judith Martin
W Oct.27
Mike Day
Sam Ellis
Wil Fowler
Maxine Smith
Vernell Wood
Oct. 28
Katherine Blake
Andrew Budnik
Ed Davis
Myrtle Homilius
Mary Imhoff
Jill Runion
...Anniversary
Oct. 28
Stanley & Wilma Preston
Deaths
Richard Kevin Barr
Carmen Sylva Stutz
Bohls
Elizabeth ‘Irene’ Travis
Elmendorf
For complete obituaries, see
page 2A See the latest obituar-
ies at www.boernestar.com.
Index
At the Trail
Boerne ISD Report
Bookworm
Breath of Fresh Air
Classifieds
Crossword
Focus on the Family
Off the Main
Paws for Thought
Records
Service Directory
Sports
Sticks & Stones
Viewpoints
16A
7A
7A
5A
12A-14A
8A
8A
5A
8A
15A
13A-14A
9A-11A
5A
4A
Volume 104 • Number 86
All contents copyright 2010
The Boerne Star
JEFFERSON BANK IS
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rives
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www.boernestar.com
Fair Oaks Ranch opts to buy ‘windtricity’
■
By DAVE PASLEY
Staff Writer
The City of Fair Oaks Ranch has taken a
step toward “windependence” by agreeing
to pay more for electricity purchased each
month from City Public Service, helping to
offset the utility’s higher cost for procuring
wind-generated electricity.
CPS’s Roland Hinojosa told council
members Thursday that the utility has a
goal of increasing the percentage of power
generated from renewable resources from
12 percent today to 20 percent by 2020.
Participants in the utility’s “windtricity”
program contribute to that effort by pay-
ing more for electricity than they would
otherwise.
Aldermen voted 5-0 to participate at the
10 percent level, which will result in a cost
increase of $121 per month for the nearly
1.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity the
city purchases each month from CPS to
power city hall, the wastewater treatment
plant and numerous water wells.
By helping CPS purchase more wind
power Hinojosa said the city would also
help the utility avoid generating more than
150,000 pounds of carbon per month.
Fair Oaks Ranch is now the fourth subur-
ban city in Bexar County to join the CPS
windtricity program. Universal City is also
participating at the 10 percent level and the
cities of Alamo Heights and Helotes par-
ticipate at the 100 percent level.
The cost for Fair Oaks Ranch to par-
Commissioners
agree to keep
rainwater rules
for subdivisions
flexible - for now
BY Dave Pasley_____________
• Staff Writer
Kendall County Commissioners Court dealt primarily with
subdivision and development matters at Monday's regular
meeting.
A public hearing on new development rules drew only two
speakers, both supportive of a proposal in the new rules that
would allow subdivisions that rely on rainwater collection to
provide potable water.
Darrel McMaster, a builder of sustainable homes, praised
county officials for including the provision but he expressed
concern with the lack of specific guidelines for the minimum
amount of storage and collection area.
"I’m a little concerned with relying only on sound engineering
practice," McMaster said. "The last thing we want is to have a
subdivision built that doesn't work."
Instead he suggested establishing a minimum collection area
of 2,700 square feet and minimum storage capacity of 20,000
gallons, per house, in the development rules.
John Kight, a long-time advocate of rainwater collection and
the Precinct 1 Director of the Cow Creek Groundwater Con-
servation District, agreed but said he believes the minimum
collection area should be 3,500 square feet for a home that is
totally dependent on rainwater. He also recommended the new
rules require a well in the subdivision that homeowners could
access in an emergency.
County Judge Gaylan Schroeder said the wide variance of
opinions and the relative lack of experience with rainwater
collection made it prudent to leave the design guidelines more
flexible. Development Manager Rick Tobolka agreed, noting
that engineers will have to demonstrate the adequacy of the
water supply from rainwater collection, just as they are required
to do for groundwater.
In subdivision platting matters commissioners tabled a request
by William Hooks and his wife to remove three lots they own
from the Stone Springs Estates Subdivision.
Hooks wants the lots, which comprise more than 17 acres
collectively, to revert to an unplatted status.
Although court members indicated they did not like the idea,
Precinct 4 Commissioner Kenneth Rusch was on the verge of
making a motion to approve the request when Hooks asked
him to stop because it appeared that Rusch was going to
require a plat revision of the remainder of the subdivision that
would reflect the removal of the three lots, something Tobolka
recommended.
Hooks said he had earlier reached an agreement with County
Attorney Don Allee that a plat revision was not required as the
instrument for removing the lots from the subdivision. Allee did
not attend the meeting.
Rusch moved to table the matter so that Allee could be pres-
ent for the discussion on the matter at the next meeting of the
court.
See RAINWATER, page 2A
ticipate at the 100 percent level would have ent - a surprised Fran Driskell, who was
been $966 per month Hinojosa said, seated in the audience but did not know
He also noted that there are 65 residential about the award in advance.
CPS customers in Fair Oaks Ranch partici- Landman lauded Driskell, a real estate
pating in the windtricity program. agent, for providing “her expertise, energy,
In another matter taken up at Thursday’s and time” in helping the city purchase
short meeting Mayor Cheryl Landman the 5,500-square-foot Fair Oaks Executive
announced the creation of a new “Commu- Plaza Building at the corner of Fair Oaks
nity Spirit Award” that she said is designed Parkway and Dietz Elkhorn Road. Alder-
to recognize the efforts of a citizen “at men approved the $795,000 purchase on
improving our city for the betterment of July 28.
all.” Subsequeent awards will be presented
“Those deserving of the award act on periodically as merited.
their own initiative, enhancing the city and Landman also issued a Proclamation
providing a more positive environment for recognizing the week of November 1 as
us all to live,” Landman said. Municipal Court Week and the city council
Seconds after announcing the creation of unanimously approved the 2010 tax levy
the award Landman named the first recipi- roll.
From Ethiopia to Boerne ...
Adoption doubles Boddie Family
By Elena Tucker_____________________
• Staff Writer
About nine weeks ago, when Bryce and Leanne
Boddie got back to their Boerne home with their new
daughters, their long adoption journey was finally
ending.
Of course, it was just beginning, too.
"When we got married, we started talking about adop-
tion," Bryce Boddie said as he waited at the bottom of
a playground slide on a recent autumn afternoon. As he
spoke, 2-year-old Makeda teased him from the top of
the slide.
"We tried for a little while to have kids on our own
and realized pretty quickly that that wasn't God's plan
for us.
The Boddies began searching out alternatives, and
before long it became clear to them that Africa - and,
more specifically, Ethiopia - was the place in which
they'd find their child-to-be, which in January actually
turned out to be two daughters, weer
"We debated whether or not to go with local adop-
tion," Boddie said, "and international adoption kept on
tugging at our hearts. We checked all over with differ-
ent organizations. We talked to people who’d adopted
locally and internationally, and it just seemed like the
right thing to do.
Boddie, part-time music director at St. Helena's Epis-
copal Church and one-time owner of a rain harvesting
business, cradled a well-loved "baby" that had been
handed into his care by 4-year-old Endie.
He and his daughters were spending time at the play-
ground, waiting for mom Leanne Boddie to arrive home
from her Leon Springs teaching job. With her doll safely
in Dad's arms, Endie headed up the slide to see if she
could persuade Makeda down.
"Everybody tried to warn us," he said with a grin.
"They would say things like, 'You have no idea what's
coming,' basically just talking about being parents in
general. The funny thing is they didn't understand that
we really welcome every bit of it. I mean, we've been
trying to have kids for a long time! We want kids."
Then he concede#* with a large laugh, "Of course,
everything they said is absolutely true. There's no way
you could prepare yourself for this. You could baby-sit
for a lifetime and not know what it's like to wake up at
Star photo by Anya Maltsberger
Bryce and Leanne Boddie enjoy an afternoon on
the playground with recently adopted Ethiopian
daughters, Endie and Makeda Boddie.
3 o'clock in the morning with a screaming kid, let
alone a 4-year-old who can't speak English."
Eighteen months after they officially began
the process and an enormous amount of debt
later, the Boddie family is now coping with
their everyday difficulties one accomplishment
at a time. Their challenges aren't necessarily
relational ones.
"It's not cheap," Bryce Boddie confessed
regarding their adoptions. "It's very expensive."
In addition to fund-raising efforts that involved
Ethiopian coffee and T-shirt sales, the couple had
to take out a loan in order to buy their daughters'
airplane tickets home. However, Boddie is a
great deal more interested in talking about the
progress that his daughters are making than talk-
ing about the financial difficulties.
He's been making his share of adjustments,
too. Not only are two young African girls getting
used to their new Boerne address with its new
food, new language and new parents, Boddie is
getting used to being a stay-at-home dad.
"I think the hardest part is I went from digging
ditches and installing pipes and stuff, to watch-
ing Dora the Explorer and making dinosaur
chicken nuggets and changing diapers," he said
with another laugh.
"It’s a whole different world."
Boddie, whose business closed while the cou-
ple was in the midst of the adoption process,
says he's happy that things worked out the way
they did.
"It was a blessing," he said. "Really. But (stay-
ing at home is) tough work. I figured out really
quick. How can moms do what they do? I have
See ADOPTION, page 2A
Boerne public records-request rules, limits clarified
In the wake of the Boerne City Council’s
September resolution limiting the number
of staff hours used to process requests for
public information, city officials are clari-
fying the policy.
According to city Public Relations
Coordinator Pamela Bransford, the
policy will not restrict access to public
information, but it is intended to prevent
duplicate requests and control the costs
associated with research and reproduction
of documents.
The State Attorney General’s office has
very specific rules that a municipal govern-
ment must follow when fulfilling a public
information request, Bransford noted.
A municipality must respond and provide
the requested information in most cases.
The city is allowed to charge a requestor
a maximum of $15 per hour for staff time
spent researching and copying records, but
only if the request results in at least 50
pages, she noted.
The Texas Public Information Act allows
cities to implement a policy which limits
staff time necessary to comply with a public
information request. Details about specific
requirements can be found in Chapter 552
of the Texas Government Code, specifically
in section 552.275.
The Boerne City Council approved a
36-hour limit on staff time to be spent on
large volume requests from any single
requestor during a 12-month period begin-
ning Oct. 1 and ending Sept. 30 of each
year.
A requestor is still permitted to submit
multiple requests for public information
annually and the staff time spent on each
request will accumulate up to the 36-hour
limit, according to Bransford.
This limit applies only to requests for
information that will result in the reproduc-
tion of more than 50 pages or if the request
is a duplicate request within the same
12-month period.
Once the 36-hour limit has been reached
by a requestor, staff is still required to pro-
vide the requested information; however,
the actual costs for staff time, which typi-
cally exceeds $15 per hour, will be charged
to the requestor, Bransford said.
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Cartwright, Brian & Velvin, Candace E. The Boerne Star (Boerne, Tex.), Vol. 104, No. 86, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 26, 2010, newspaper, October 26, 2010; Boerne, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1687151/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Patrick Heath Public Library.