City and County Notes — February 2011

Community Garden

The Rollingwood City Council approved the plans for a community garden project Jan. 19 to be located at the northern end of Hatley Park.

Resident Veronica Koltuniak and several others presented the project to the council and expressed their desire for a place where the community and the neighborhood children could learn about agriculture and sustainability.

“It has become something that I’m very excited about,” Koltuniak said. “The city would just donate the land and all cost and work would be through volunteers and donations.”

The plans call for a 150-square-foot garden space with three planters, compost areas and a natural rain collection system that the residents estimate would gather about 312 extra gallons each year.

The area would be available to all residents through a combination lock. Koltuniak said the garden would cost about $10,000, which would be raised through donations.

Officer recognition

The City Council recognized reserve police Sgt. Don Bowne with a plaque for his 18 years of service to Rollingwood.

Bowne served as a volunteer bicycle officer and coordinated the city’s National Night Out, neighborhood watch, Fourth of July celebrations and other community events.

He was recently hired to work for the Travis County Constables as a chief deputy.

“I’ve been very happy here and I will always have Rollingwood in my heart,” he said.

May elections

The City Council also announced the date of the upcoming elections as May 14. The terms of three council members—John Hinton, Roxanne McKee and Barry Bone—are up in May.

More recycling, less trash

In the next month, the City of West Lake Hills will notify residents via the city’s newsletter asking them to fill out a survey on its website. The purpose of the survey is to see if residents would prefer trash pickup less often and recycling pickup more frequently. Mayor Dave Claunch said he had received comments from residents who were throwing out some items that could be recycled because the recycling bin fills up too quickly. The council will be checking with Texas Disposal Systems to see if the city’s contract would allow the change and what the cost difference would be.

Visit www.texasdisposal.com.

Bee Caves Road update

Before moving forward on Bee Caves Road improvements between Capital of Texas Hwy. and Red Bud Trail, the City of West Lake Hills must ensure easement donations of right of way from the Village at Westlake and St. John Neumann Catholic Church. Once donations are made, utility lines must be moved before the Texas Department of Transportation can begin constructing a center lane. West of Red Bud Trail is on hold until further funding is available. Mayor Dave Claunch said a possible $20 million to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Committee may become available in the spring, which he hopes would be available for the project.

Summer rentals

Lakeway Mayor Dave DeOme said the council would be looking into passing an ordinance on rental homes in the next few months. The cities of Austin and Rollingwood recently passed similar ordinances that would prohibit homeowners from allowing short-term rentals.

DeOme said Lakeway’s ordinance differs in that the city would allow short-term rentals, so that homes on the lake could be rented for those wishing to vacation on Lake Travis, but would hold the homeowner accountable. Those wishing to rent their homes would need a permit and if several violations—such as noise complaints—happened for the same property, the permit could be revoked.

DeOme said the ordinance would make homeowners responsible for renting to trustworthy people, rather than putting the burden on out-of-town guests.

Bee Cave Parkway extension offer

The Bee Cave City Council discussed an $800,000 funding offer from Taylor Morrison Homes on Jan. 25 to help facilitate the $3.9 million extension of Bee Cave Parkway and move forward on a proposed residential area.

The developer presented plans for Ladera Ranch, a 254-lot community located directly east of the Falconhead Golf Course, that would require the roadway as an entry point.

The city is considering adding $733,781 from 2007 bonds and extra revenue from the economic development board to help pay for the road extension, but made no decision Jan. 25.

$1.2 million street maintenance plan

The council approved a street maintenance plan from LNV Engineers that would cost about $1.2 million for the first year of services.

The engineers completed a survey of every city-maintained road in Bee Cave and presented the results to the council Jan. 25.

“There are quite a few areas that we want to fix and address,” said LNV Vice President Derek Naiser.

The services include overlays, sealcoats and crack sealing for high-traffic areas in the 13 miles of city roadway.

Salvato said the city would develop an engineering proposal with LNV and try to bid the projects for a summer installation.

Three council terms expire in May

The council also announced May 14 as the date for the municipal election for the seats of Councilmen Bob Dorsett, Bill Goodwin and Jack McCool.

Bee Cave City Council

4000 Galleria Parkway • 767-6600

http://portal.beecavetexas.com

Meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m.

Lakeway City Council

1102 Lohmans Crossing Road

314-7500 • www.cityoflakeway.com

Meets the third Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m.

Rollingwood City Council

403 Nixon Drive • 327-1838

www.cityofrollingwood.com

Meets the third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m.

West Lake Hills City Council

911 Westlake Drive • 767-6600

www.westlakehills.org

Meets the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m.