The Bastrop Advertiser and County News (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 136, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 20, 1989 Page: 1 of 38
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Since March 1, 1853
Bastrop, Texas
Thursday July 20, 1989
Troul
teens
terrorize homes
By Paul A. Prause
Two 13-year-old youths terroriz-
ed residents along Cottletown Road
with gunfire on Thursday after-
noon, July 13, after running away
from Woodside Trails, a school for
children whose home environments
have been ruled unsuitable by a
judge.
The two juveniles had run away
to San Marcos the day before and
had been brought back, said
Bryson Hardee, whose home was
shot to pieces by the youths.
Woodside Trails officials plan to
make a public apology for the ac-
tions of the two youths, said John
Blazier, Woodside Trails Advisory
Board member.
The juveniles ran away at ap-
proximately 11:15 a.m. on Thurs-
day, said Jeanette Burke, Wood-
side Trails Director.
“The staff pursued them into the
woods until they couldn’t see them
anymore,” said Burke.
After running away on Thurs-
day, the juveniles started walking
down Cottletown Road. They tried
to steal beer and soda water from
a lumber*truck, said Hardee. A
logging crew saw the youths and
yelled at them. The youths then
took off down the road.
The youths then stole some large
tools out of a storage house on a
nearby ranch, said Hardee.
The juveniles used the tools to
break into Hardee’s house while
Hardee was there. They got his
.270 cal. rifle and shotgun out of
the closet and preceded to shoot up
the place, said Hardee.
“I think I got only four windows
in the entire house that they didn’t
shoot out or put holes through,”
said Hardee.
Then the youths shot and killed
one of Hardee’s poodles in front of
the house. The other four poodles
ran to hide in the back, but the boys
pursued, shot and killed all four,
said Hardee.
Arthur Booth, Jr., a neighbor,
called the Sheriffs Department
because he saw the storage building
was open.
Then he heard the shots and told
the dispatcher that Hardee might be
in trouble.
Booth drove to Hardee’s gate.
The youths shot at his vehicle.
Booth got out on the passenger side
with his .45 cal. handgun and told
the youths to “halt” as they were
escaping over the back fence.
Booth fired twice in the air, but
they kept going, said Hardee.
As they ran away, Hardee saw
that they now had only the .270
cal. rifle with them.
The youths went to Gay Ion
McGilvray’s home and started
pulling his mail out of the mailbox.
McGilvray yelled at them and the
juveniles shot at his house
off.
Deputy Sheriff Mike Harris ap-
prehended the youths nearby in the
woods and they were turned over
to the juvenile probation officer.
No weapons were recovered. In-
vestigators believe they were left
in the woods.
A hearing was held on Friday,
July 14, in Juvenile Court. The
juveniles broke away and ran to the
Chestnut river bridge where they
were caught again. ,
The youths are currently at the
Juvenile Detention Center in
Bryan, said Hardee.
In addition to stealing his
weapons, Hardee said that the
youths stole his Rolex watch, three
rings with his initials on diem,
jewelry, silver dollars and other old
coins. The youths shot open a steel
safety box in order to steal these
Continued on Page 2, Section I
City water storage runs low
Bastrop officials urge voluntary conservation effort
By Davis McAuley
Ever since the July 4 holiday
weekend, Bastrop’s water depart-
ment has been fighting to keep the
city supplied.
On Monday city officials called
for help, asking residents to use
water sparingly and curtail daytime
use outdoors until storage facilities
can be refilled.
The two-week struggle with low
pressure and record-high demand
during days of sizzling tempera-
tures also stirred up sediments in
older water mains, resulting in dis-
colored supplies being delivered to
city homes and businesses.
At the same time officials have
fought to maintain adequate pres-
sure in parts of the city at higher
elevations.
The unpleasant coloration results
from iron deposits in the lines, but
is safe for all uses and poses no
health hazard, officials said.
After being contacted Tuesday,
Bastrop school officials agreed to
curtail daytime outdoor watering,
and Bastrop Little League officials
will be asked to observe similar
restraints, said Mike Fisher, act-
ing head of the water department.
During a special session Monday
the city council endorsed Fisher's
request for a public appeal to ob-
serve some voluntary restrictions.
Fisher urged residents to curtail
unnecessary water consumption, to
Sewer testing plans
told for Camp Swift
The current wastewater needs of
the Camp Swift communities and
the upcoming feasibility study of
rehabilitating the old sewer system
were topics of discussion at a com-
munity meeting sponsored by the
LCRA and the Bastrop County
Commissioners Court on Tuesday,
July 18.
A feasibility study and joint
survey will be funded by Bastrop
County and the LCRA. The coun-
ty will pay $20,000 and the LCRA
will pay another $20,000 for a
study to be conducted by Freese
and Nichols, Inc. of the old Camp
Swift sewage system.
The old sewage system was built
in the early 1940’s for use by the
Camp Swift Army Base, said Paul
Pape, LCRA project manager. He
said that about 50,000 troops were
stationed there at one time.
The 400 to 500 manholes that re-
mained in the area after the army
base was abandoned now pose a
danger to people, livestock and
pets, he said.
“It’s amazing that some child
hasn’t fallen in a hole and been kill-
ed,” said Pape.
If the feasibility study, conducted
by Freese and Nichols, only
reveals that the system is unusable
and that revelation leads to the
holes being covered, then gKitody
has been worthwhile, •
Joe King, th
for Freese and
placed inside
lines to detei
and a fan blows it down the lines.
Smoke will come out of the ground
where cracks and openings in the
lines are located.
Freese and Nichols also plan to
takft a close look at the old sewage
plant to see if it can be
rehabilitated, said King.
The plant is currently located on
land owned by the Sanders fami-
ly, said Precinct 1 County Com-
missioner Johnny Sanders.
After careful study, Freese and
Nichols will present their findings
and recommendations to the LCRA
and the Camp Swift communities.
The property owners in the
Camp Swift area will then have the
option of creating a Municipal
Utility District for serving the
area's wastewater needs. The crea-
tion of a MUD in the Camp Swift
area was made possible by state
legislation, said Pape.
Carlos Ortiz, the new warden at
the Bastrop State Prison, assured
the crowd that the prison would
help pay for some of the costs if
a sewer system was ever
developed.
Through the prison's help and
possible federal rands, the residents
would not have to pay the whole
bill for a sewer system, said Pape.
The LCRA’s interest in the
wastewater needs of Camp Swift
are based on its desire to protect
and improve the water quality of
Piney Creek and the Colorado
RCtoce feasibility study is com-
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Cancer Society. For Ellen Moore’s report on the affair, see Page 6, Section 1.
BISD tax hike studied
Teachers may have to wait for proposed higher pay
Like some other local govern-
ment officials this year, Bastrop
school trustees found themselves
squeezed between rising costs and
declining revenues as Superinten-
dent Patrick Deviney led them
through an initial budget workshop
Tuesday.
Deviney presented a $12.6
million budget proposal which
makes ends meet by raising the ef-
fective tax rate by eight percent and
cutting total spending .29 percent
compared to the current year.
The superintendent’s plan calls
for a 1989 school tax rate of $1.02
per $100 value, up from 86 cents
per $100 in 1988.
The school district has lost an
estimated $40 million in taxable
property value for 1989. That
means the 1989 tax rate which will
produce the same revenue as in
1988 is only a fraction less than 95
cents per $100, said school board
President Verlin Callahan.
Given the 95-cent effective tax
rate, trustees can raise the rate to
$1.02 without the risk of voters
forcing a tax roll-back election,
Deviney said. ' <
To make the spending match ex-
pected revenues, Deviney sug-
gested that trustees could consider:
•Not filling 5.5 teaching posi-
tions, including three for
kindergarten, which are currently
vacant;
•Not giving teachers an expected
raise;
♦Eliminating an assistant prin-
cipal intern for Emile Elementary
School i
•Cutting the athletic budget 10
percent or $14,000.
In addition to cuts in staff posi-
tions and other measures which
would save $186,000 over the
coming school year, Deviney said
another $304,000 could be spent
from current fund balances which
have been built up over several
years.
Eliminating three kindergarten
teaching positions, in effect, would
cut Bastrop’s kindergarten program
from a full-day to a half-day opera-
tion according to state guidelines,
Continued on Page 2, Section I
Cooling in Bastrop to cost more
The Lower Colorado River
Authority put into effect new rates
this week which will mean a year
round increase in wholesale costs
of 6.5 percent for Bastrop and 6.6
percent for Smithville, but the im-
mediate impact cm consumers MQT
be for greater, officials warned.
tart of a new rate structure ap-
proved by the Public Utility Com-
the warmest months
I
calls for sharply
charges during
ths of die year
1 for power is
LCRA consultants will be in
Bastrop this week to help city of-
ficials calculate how revise the ci-
ty's rates to pass the added cost on
to residential and business
customers, said City Manager
Henry Cunningham Jr.
LCRA officials could not say
this week just how much more
Bastrop residents will pay for the
electricity they use to run air con-
fer the rest of the summer
But Cindy Blewett, manager of
regulatory accounting for LCRA,
calculated that under the new sum-
mer rate Bastrop’s wholesale elec-
tric bill for June 1988 would be 15
percent more today.
In the cooler fall and winter
months the rate increase will be
much smaller for an average in-
crease of 6.5 percent, she said.
Higher summer rates encourage
power conservation, especially at
times of the greatest demand, she
aided.
A significant part of the cost of
Continued on Page 2, Section I
limit daytime watering on lawns
and gardens and to postpone wash-
ing vehicles.
Fisher said he has also delayed
flushing water mains to get rid of
discolored water which was stirred
up by efforts to refill the city’s
standpipe on Loop 150 East.
He reported some progress in
refilling the storage tower Tuesday
by serving the area west of the
Continued on Page 2, Section I
SISD picks
T rousdale
as coach
By Paul A. Prause
Jimmy Trousdale was chosen to
be the head basketball coach and
John Stewart was hired to be the
assistant coach on Monday. July
17, by the Smithville school
trustees.
“Trousdale has been the head
track coach and the assistant foot-
ball coach," said SISD Superinten-
dent Don Hestand. "The new
assistant coach will also teach high
school math.”
Claude Tice was the head basket-
ball coach from August 1987 to
April 5, 1989. He had two suc-
cessful basketball seasons in
Smithville, but he resigned because
of differences with Bob Harris, the
athletic director and head football
coach.
In other business on Monday
night, the Smithville school
trustees voted to amend the
1988-89 budget.
"We need to amend the 1988-89
budget to move money into the
proper category to pay for the new
restrooms,” said Superintendent
Don Hestand. “Also, to bring our
accounts up-to-date and get a bet-
ter estimate of our ending budget.
In further business. Lost Pines
National Bank was awarded the
school depository by the school
trustees. All persons with a vested
interest abstained from voting.
According to the proposal, the
bank plans to buy a half page
advertisement every six weeks in
the local newspaper to announce
the honor students. The school
trustees agreed not to solicit anyone
else to buy advertising space for the
honor student announcements.
Another agenda item involved a
standardized writing policy which
is being considered by the school
trustees.
In other business, the Smithville
school trustees are currently look-
ing at a proposal to make more cuts
and to adjust the tax rate, instead
of cutting the pay raises that
teacher’s were expecting.
Finally, the school trustees ap-
proved $62,600 of the supp-
ly/equipment portions of the
budget to enable the ordering of
needed supplies and computer
printers in time for them to arrive
before school begins.
i
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McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser and County News (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 136, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 20, 1989, newspaper, July 20, 1989; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth747197/m1/1/: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.