Eight community members have been asked to address four separate issues surrounding the move to bring an ACC campus into Bastrop. These editorials will be presented in a “pro and con, side by side” format in the next four Saturday editions of The Bastrop Advertiser.

“We know that the ACC initiative is a complicated issue and that many people have strong feelings on both sides of this issue,” said Mark Gwin, publisher of The Advertiser. “It is hoped that by presenting editorials, along with staff-generated stories, that voters will feel more empowered when they go to the polls on Nov. 2.”

People from each side of the issue were given the opportunity to weigh in on the four subjects to be addressed.

The four questions that were posed to the authors are:

n What is Bastrop’s number one higher education need and does ACC satisfy that need? Publishes today, Sept. 4 with Kay Wesson authoring the pro side and Herb Goldsmith authoring the con side.

n Is ACC the highest and best use of taxpayer post secondary education dollars?

Publishes Saturday, Sept. 11 with Tom Scott, pro and G.A. Lewis, con.

n What is the impact of the ACC annexation and who controls the tax rate?

Publishes Saturday, Sept. 18 with Joe Beal, pro and Norbert Simon, con.

n What are the payoffs, if any, versus the costs of Bastrop joining the ACC district? Publishes Saturday, Sept. 25 with Olivia Boyce, pro and Bob Parmelee, con.

The suit, filed by Cheryl King and Bobby King, parents of Audrey King, who was 17 at the time of her death, names as defendants Bastrop resident and former Texas Supreme Court chief justice Thomas Phillips, his wife Marilyn, their son Daniel, and Scott and Glenda Halbert, owners of Country Corner, a convenience store located in Bastrop. Additionally named in the suit are Point Horizon Properties and Kiego LLC, or Beverage Barn.

Audrey King was killed March 31, 2009 when a Nissan Infinity that was northbound on Waugh Way and driven by 16-year-old Amanda Marek left the right side of the road and struck several trees on the passenger side, according to DPS reports. Marek lost control of the vehicle and crossed over to the opposite side of Waugh Way and struck another tree, the report stated. The accident occurred at 2 a.m.

In the original DPS report, King was reportedly the driver of the vehicle, but efforts by King’s mother, Cheryl King, to clear her daughter’s name resulted in a revised report, naming Marek as the driver.

“Amanda Marek was discovered to be the driver after a joint investigation with TABC,” said DPS Trooper Raymond Bradshaw in September 2009.

According to Cheryl King, witnesses to the accident allegedly provided false statements to the police.

“I’m just glad that my daughter was cleared,” King said at the time. “I want people to know that she was not driving.”

At the time of the accident, DPS Sgt. Tony Thompson said he believed “speed and alcohol were factors” in the wreck because there was “the smell of an alcoholic beverage in the vehicle and open containers were found in the vehicle.”

Lawsuit

The Kings allege in the suit that on March 30, 2009, several Bastrop County minors purchased alcohol from the Beverage Barn and Country Corner convenience stores. The minors, including Audrey King, then reportedly proceeded to the Phillips’ home, where they consumed “mass quantities of alcohol over several hours.”

According to the suit, the King’s allege the Phillips’ house was well-known in the Bastrop community as the location of frequent underage drinking parties and that the Bastrop police had been called to the home “numerous” times to break these parties up. The Bastrop Advertiser has filed an open records request with the Bastrop Police Department to determine if the Bastrop police have responded to the residence in the last five years.

On that particular night, the suit alleges that Tom and Marilyn Phillips were aware there was a party going on in their backyard and that minors were drinking alcohol. At some point, according to the suit, Marilyn Phillips confronted her son Daniel about the party being too loud and yelled “I am sick of these kids partying here all the time.” She then allegedly forced the reportedly intoxicated kids to leave the home, and minutes later, Audrey King was killed.

A statement released by the Phillips’ attorney, Richard Mithoff of Houston’s Mithoff Law Firm, denies that the couple was aware of the partying.

“Tom and Lyn Phillips were profoundly saddened to learn of Audrey King’s tragic death and distressed to learn that she had been at their home the evening before. Her family has their heartfelt sympathy,” the statement reads. “Neither Judge nor Mrs. Phillips served or provided alcohol to anyone on the night before the accident. Nor did they knowingly allow anyone to consume alcohol or to become intoxicated on their premises. Judge and Mrs. Phillips did not know Audrey had been a guest in their carriage house or anywhere else on their property that evening. Judge and Mrs. Phillips deny any allegations suggesting otherwise.”

Capt. Robert Saenz with the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission said that agency’s investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

“We have found the source of the alcohol and preliminary findings indicate the Phillips were not the source of the alcohol,” Saenz said. “Our main concern is finding who furnished the alcohol consumed.”

According to TABC civil code 2.02 it is an offense for anyone over the age of 21 to knowingly allow a minor to be served or provided alcoholic beverages that contributed to the minor’s intoxication on premises owned or leased by the adult.

“The biggest hurdle to prove is the word ‘knowingly’,” Saenz said. “Unless you have a confession it is very difficult to prove.”

Saenz said the TABC’s report should be completed by the end of September.

The plaintiffs

Cheryl King and Bobby King are represented by Dax Faubus of Houston’s  Faubus & Scarborough law firm. Faubus is a 1986 BHS graduate.

The couple, filing individually, are asking for a jury trial.

“It’s standard to want these kind of cases heard by a jury,” Faubus said. “A jury of the Phillips’ peers will be very unhappy with their conduct.”

Faubus said he was home in Bastrop for Christmas when he heard about the case.

“I talked to Cheryl for a long time,” he said. “I told her something needed to be done. I was just blown away that nothing had happened in a year. I asked her and she agreed to let me take on this case so we could expose what is going on here.”

Faubus said he had numerous statements from kids who were at the Phillips’ residence that night, and many who had been regular visitors to the home.

“They all confirmed the exact same story,” he said, “without leading questions from me.”

Faubus said that at one point that night, one of the boys got into his car and started revving the engine. Shortly afterwards is when Marilyn Phillips came outside and ordered the kids to leave, Faubus said.

“Every one of these kids told me they have no reservations about drinking at the Phillips’ house,” he said. “It was no secret to anyone at that house. I’m not at all concerned about proving that the Phillips’ had knowledge.”

Faubus said the King’s did not name the driver of vehicle, Amanda Marek, in their suit because they don’t believe she was at fault.

“The bottom line is I believe Amanda Marek is a victim of the Phillips’ conduct as much as everyone else,” he said. “These girls had no intention of leaving. They had been invited to spend the night at the carriage house. Kids had stayed at the carriage house many times over the years.”

Board was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated on Aug. 16 in Austin.  His blood/alcohol level allegedly measured .226 from a breath test, nearly three times the legal limit, according to the Austin Police Department.

“Monday evening, following discussions between representatives of both the city and Chief Board, Board submitted his resignation from the city and immediately surrendered his position as chief of the Bastrop Police Department,” Talbot said in an email to The Advertiser.

Talbot said the city will allow Board to use his accrued leave time to carry him forward to Oct. 31, at which time he will be vested in full retirement. Board will receive full retirement benefits as a result of his almost 25 years of service with the police department, Talbot added.

“The city will begin efforts to fill the now vacant position of chief of police in the immediate future,” Talbot said.

Assistant Chief Matt Wagner is acting police chief.

Then the newly formed Bastrop Film Commission could use your help.

The group, which is under the auspices of the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce, held their first community-wide meeting Thursday night at the Bastrop Opera House. Group organizers say their intention is to bring more film and TV ventures to the Bastrop area.

Carol Pirie, manager of the Film Friendly Texas program with the Texas Film Commission, was the keynote speaker for the night. Adena Lewis, a director of the Smithville Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Smithville Film Commission joined her.

Pirie said she travels throughout Texas holding workshops for communities to help facilitate smaller towns in landing film and TV productions. She said Film Friendly Texas was started in 2008.

“The Texas Film Commission covers all of Texas, but we wanted something that also spoke for the smaller communities” Pirie said of the reason behind forming Film Friendly Texas within the TFC.

A few days after the start of the program in 2008, Smithville was named the first Film Friendly Community in Texas. That community has had great success in landing film productions, including “Hope Floats” in 1997 and the recently filmed “Tree of Life,” starring Brad Pitt.

Economic boon

Lewis said “Tree of Life,” which had major portions of its production filmed in Smithville, gave the town an economic shot in the arm.

“The film had a huge economic impact for Smithville,” Lewis said, adding that approximately $780,000 was spent by the production company, a figure which did not include the extra money spent by film workers who hung out in Smithville after hours.

“They spent a lot of time in (Heubel’s),” Lewis said of the well-known Smithville watering hole, which elicited laughter from the audience.

Pirie said both citizens and businesses can earn money from film production through the rental of those places as shooting locations.

Lewis said before a film company decides to shoot a production in a town, they almost always send out film scouts to get still photos of the place and check out the overall advantages to filming there.

“Sometimes you don’t even know they are coming,” Lewis said. “They won’t necessarily have ‘Hollywood’ written on a tee shirt.”

Other speakers at the Thursday night gathering at the Opera House included Chester Eitze, director of the venue who spoke about his hosting the commissary for the film crew during “Fireflies in the Garden,” a Julia Roberts film shot in Bastrop in 2007.

Tommy Warren, owner of Spiderwood Studios in Webberville, also spoke to the audience.

Warren seconded other speaker’s comments about the potential economic impacts of filming in local communities. “Even a small production can involved 40 people, and 100 people can be an average,” Warren said.

“I’ve been trying to get L.A. to listen to us that Texas is good place to film,” he said. Warren said a 3-D animation department he has established is bringing more work to both his studio and the area.

Pirie and Lewis said one of the immediate goals of the Bastrop Film Commission will be to establish a database highlighting what Bastrop can offer to entice film and TV production companies to come here.

For those wanting to volunteer with the Bastrop Film Commission, or to get further information, they may call the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce at 303-0558.

“We are going to need to get water to the site,” Austin developer Paul Linehan told the council concerning the 550-acre development that is planned for an area west of Lover’s Lane and adjacent to the “bend” in the Colorado River near River Meadows.

The projected development is within the city’s extra-territorial jurisdiction.

Linehan also told the council that he would like his subdivision to eventually be annexed by the city.

Linehan said the residential development would be composed of lots averaging 20 acres in size.

He said the project has undergone several revisions and that he had been involved since 2006 in discussions with various city and county officials about the feasibility of the project.

On Wednesday Bastrop city planner Melissa McCollum said Linehan has yet to submit any initial plats to the city for Colorado Bend.

Council members and city manager Mike Talbot seemed to agree that what Linehan is asking for, concerning a newly dug water well and its infrastructure, would be an expensive project for the city to undertake and they would have to see how that request, plus the annexation request, would fit into the city’s long-range planning.

Two main examples of success were Cedar Creek Intermediate rising to its first ever recognized status and, perhaps most notably, Bastrop Middle School climbing out of an academically unacceptable rating for the first time in 2 years.

With such benchmarks, BISD leaders claim momentum is building towards an academic turnaround, a main reason BMS’s principal and the district’s curriculum heads recently traveled to the University of Virginia to participate in the Texas Turnaround Leadership Academy.

The TTLA is a training program focused on data-based, research-driven academic achievement measures and was lauded as an especially innovative step towards raising the academic bar in Bastrop.

Jane Pollard, who is set begin her first year as BISD assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, was one of those traveling to Virginia last month.

“Many school improvement programs feature leadership training, but the TTLA offered us groundbreaking components that empowered us and positioned us for school turnaround,” said Pollard.

According to BMS principal Terri  Watson, who was hired last November, one of the tangible outcomes from the training was a commitment to implement a new and aggressive college readiness focus at her middle school.

Watson says her teachers will be emphasizing debate and note taking skills, more reading comprehension and critical analysis and pushing students to take as many AP classes as possible. A new commitment to host college and career days at the middle school will also be implemented. On a broader level, however, Watson says a goal for the upcoming year at BMS will be to change the mentality of both students and parents in terms of what is expected from them and viewed as possible.

“There is a lot of room for growth and raising the rigor and expectations for our students,” Watson said. “We want them to see they can break out of the cycles they may have grown up in and they can leave Bastrop and come back and give back to their community. That is what it is all about.”

In discussing the need to help students understand their own potential, Watson returns to the importance of improving literacy beginning in Bastrop’s elementary and middle schools. The principal says the problem is not necessarily that some students can’t read, but that they are not truly understanding the text to the necessary depth and subsequently applying that understanding to critical thinking and writing.

The TTLA training, says Watson, spent much time not only on the need to push students towards higher critical thinking, but to do so aggressively and quickly through focused action plans.

“It has inspired me to take action in a very powerful way and I think it is going to help inspire teachers to do more than we thought they could do,” Watson said. “A big part is changing the focus and vision so the expectations of our kids in this area can be much higher.”

Although it wasn’t discussed in great detail, Dildy’s sense of concern over the budget seemed to be shared with other commissioners on Monday as the county discussed preparations to finish the current year on track, as well as tackling next fiscal year’s budget which begins Oct.1.

According to preliminary budget figures released this week, the requested Bastrop County budget for next fiscal year is currently totaling $32,112,717. Considering the total projected revenues for the coming fiscal year are estimated at $29,824,063, commissioners are expecting to make substantial cuts to requests.

Compounding such a reality is the fact the budget as proposed does not include any new positions or increases in wages, according to County Judge Ronnie McDonald and County Auditor Lisa Smith.

Included in that projected figure of $32.1 million are 18 requested new positions throughout the county that Smith says will not be approved. Ten of those requested positions are with the sheriff’s office and three with the Bastrop County Jail.

Like Dildy, Precinct 2 Commissioner Clara Beckett acknowledged tough decisions are on the horizon as the budget process gets under way, but stressed that tax increases were not the answer.

“With effort and pain we can get this down and not raise the tax rate,” Beckett said. “I’m not in favor of increasing the tax rate. People are struggling to pay their taxes and the last thing we need to do is raise the rate.”

Regarding the current fiscal year’s budget, the county is projecting $30,723,064 in revenue by the end of September, just short of the $30,888,573 in projected end of year expenditures.

At present time, however, only $26,264,910 in revenue has actually been brought into the county, a development that means well over $1 million is expected to be allocated out of the county’s general fund budget to cover the shortfall.

Smith said the challenges posed by the current budget year have been compounded by a substantial shortfall in the anticipated revenue from the half cents sales tax, as well as other declining revenue from fees and fines.

Commissioners are scheduled to begin budget workshops next week.

In other business:

• The county heard a report from the planning and project management department outlining the grant application for approximately $1 million TIGER II funds that will be used towards the county’s Lifesaver-Low Water Crossing Repair Program.

Under the program, 18 low water crossings in Bastrop County will potentially be targeted for repair.

• A revised list of locations for early voting in Bastrop County’s November general elections was presented from the elections administrator.

• An interlocal agreement between Bastrop County and others was approved concerning the use of the 800 Mhz radio system and the payment of fees for that usage.

The residents spoke to the board during a regular meeting Monday night and emphasized that they are not against growth in the Industrial Park.

But Ruth Jansa, a resident on Keanahalululu Lane, told the BEDC board that any new buildings, parking lots and roads along the southern portion of the Industrial Park could increase the chance of flooding of their area.

Some residents of Mauna Loa Lane in Pine Forest, a street that also borders the industrial park, expressed similar concerns.

“The residents of Keanahalululu have already experienced flooding of their lots due to a creek on BEDC property,” Jansa said. As part of the future build-out of BEDC properties, she said some residents are also concerned about potential noise and fall-off from lighting.

Because the discussion of the situation was listed as a “citizens comment” portion of the BEDC meeting, board members said they could only listen and could not discuss the topic in detail.

However, Steve Mills, chair of the BEDC board said the board would “keep comments in mind” made by the residents and added that the area under discussion is still in the midst of engineering discussions.

On Tuesday, BEDC president Joe Newman acknowledged that a dry creek that runs through part of the business spark continues into Tahitian Village.

Areas around the creek are in the 500 and 100-year flood plains, Newman said.

Newman and some board members pointed out after the meeting that residents of the two lanes had made the choice to live along an area that is both hilly and subject to water runoff, even without further building in the business park.

“We are not the cause of their flooding; they built in an area subject to flooding,” Newman said.

However, Newman said a portion of a planned road inside the park and near the two lanes bordering the park would not go forward, at least for the near-term.

Board members agreed they would keep in mind the residents’ concerns during any future plans for the southern portion of the park.

G.A. Lewis questioned the council about the propriety of appointments by Mayor Terry Orr in early June – and the council’s confirmation vote – of citizens who serve on more than one city commission, board or committee.

Orr told Lewis he could only address the council on “policy questions” when it came to his remarks and not cite any names during his discussion.

Although Lewis adhered to those requirements at the meeting, on Friday he told The Advertiser he was referencing the appointment of local building designer Dan Hays-Clark, who serves on both the Historic Landmark Commission and was reappointed by Orr to the Board of Adjustments in June.

“I went to the council meeting to speak about my concerns about Dan Hays-Clark,” Lewis said.

In a letter to the editor in the Aug. 21 edition of The Advertiser, and again at the council meeting, Lewis said the council should adhere to its ordinance, contained in Article 1.04.001, that states an individual can serve on only one board or commission. (The one exception is service to the Planning and Zoning Commission, for which a member of that may also serve on a second committee or board).

“It’s an ordinance, you should abide by it,” Lewis told the council.

Council member Julie Hart was the sole vote against Hays-Clark’s reappointment in June, agreeing that council should adhere to the ordinance.

At the Tuesday meeting Lewis advised the council that they should also consider the “frequent recusals” by a person serving on a committee were problematic.

“How many times should a recusal occur before it detracts from service on a board?” Lewis asked the council. He also said the council should establish a code of ethics.

He said that “domestic partners” serving on committees together is improper.

“I would agree,” Hart said.

On firm legal ground

Although city attorney J.C. Brown did not address Lewis during the Tuesday council session, on Thursday she said the council’s ability to grant exceptions to ordinances is well established.

Brown said a legislative body’s “plenary power” gives them the power to make ordinances, “which includes the power to change, vary, waive or void them. That precedent is part of American jurisprudence, which also comes from British jurisprudence.”

“Almost every council agenda has ordinances that come up for requests for variances that are often granted,” Brown added.

She said the city of Bastrop does not have its own a code of ethics.

“But any conflicts of interest would be addressed either through the city charter or state law,” Brown said.

Asked if either she or the city officials are currently investigating whether anybody serving on volunteer boards, committees or commissions has a conflict of interest, Brown declined comment beyond saying “confidentiality” prevented her from answering that question.

At then end of Lewis’ presentation, Orr said, “We have a large number of very old ordinances, some that are probably outdated.”
However, the said he stood by Brown’s advice that the city is on firm legal ground when it comes to varying ordinances.

On Friday, after Lewis was informed of Brown’s statements, he said he did not deny that cities can vary ordinances.

“But the Bastrop council circumvented the law with a voice vote; they should go through a more formalized process, otherwise what’s the purpose of having any ordinance?”

According an Austin Police Department report obtained by The Advertiser, Board was pulled over on Ed Bluestein Boulevard after being observed swerving his Ford truck and making a left-hand turn from the a right-hand lane.

Board registered a .226 blood alcohol level on a breath test, according the police report, nearly three times the .08 level for which a driver is legally intoxicated in Texas.

While Talbot takes further time to consider Board’s job status, the Bastrop City Council lent Talbot their support in the review process.

After the council came out of executive session during their regular meeting on Aug. 24, they released a statement which read, “The city council expresses confidence in the city manager’s ability to move forward and resolve the pending personnel matter concerning David Board.”

On Friday, Mayor Terry Orr said the council felt the need to release a statement supporting Talbot, “because this is not a situation that is a frequent occurrence. We put a lot of support in Mr. Talbot addressing this situation.”

Orr added, “I have received a lot of comment from a lot of people who have expressed a whole spectrum of opinions” on the status of Board.