The Boerne Star (Boerne, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 1, Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 4, 2000 Page: 1 of 18
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v ANCIRAS
GMCTTWH F A—/
. 12 NE WEST OF 1804 ON N 10 N BOENE
1-800-299-1199
1999
IN REVIEW
The Boerne Star highlights the events
of the past year. See pages 7-12
for details.
Time marches
on!
Hometown of Bonnie Sinclair
ERNI
Page 18
Published Since 1906
Tu sd y, J n ary
20
, Kendall County, Texas
SPOR
Basketball
gear up fe 1 0 U
week=:
See page 026
for detc 9
BRIGHTS Results indicate BISD is cost-effective
PICKUP SCHEDULE
FOR GARBAGE
AND TREES
Please have your wastewheeler
curbside no later than 7 a.m. on
your regularly scheduled garbage
pickup day. Disposal of you
Christmas tree may be done bi
cutting the tree in half and placini
it beside the waster wheeler fo
regular residential garbage pic
up the weeks of Jan. 3 throug
the Jan. 7 and Jan. 10 throug
Jan. 14. Tree sections may be ■
longer than four feet in length. F
persons who do not have ■
means to cut their tree in half, 1
city of Boerne Street Departml
will pick up Christmas trees JI
3, 7, 10 and 14 only. Please hl
Christmas trees free of all on
ments and decorations at ce
side by 8 a.m. on those dates
By Hal Braswell
Staff Writer
LIVESTOCK SHOW
BOERNE - Two area lives
shows are just around the cor
in early January. The 2
Kendall County Junior Livek
Show and Sale is divided into
parts, with the poultry and at
goat shows set for 2 p.m. Suly,
Jan. 9. Shows for breeding its,
breeding swine, market |e,
breeding sheep, market bs,
breeding beef heifers and rket
steers are scheduled to be at
7:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 1with
the sale set for noon Soday,
Jan. 15. I
Both will be held at theIndall
County Fairgrounds.
The Comfort FFA
4-H
Livestock Show i. set from a.m.-
5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. at the
Comfort Agri-Ecierice mplex
behind the high school.
The event gets underwt
breeding swine show at
with boar, gilts and marl
being shown in that orde
The poultry show is set f
10 a.m., with the cattle
noon and the sheep ai
show at 1 p.m.
with a
a.m.,
swine
about
ow at
goal
YOU CAN B
A CRIME STOP ER
And help your communi o be
safer, healthier, happier. Y
receive cash rewards for ir
tion leading to the arrest/
may
rma-
nvic-
lion of persons for c ninal
offenses such as: Recovy of
ninal
stolen property, the adv
Crime of the Week, arso
bery-burglary theft, na
auto theft, hit and run, inc
with a child, child abuse,
ing, vandalism, animal
Your identity will not be re
Call 1-800-348-LEAD.
HAPPY
tised
rob-
tics,
ency
hoot-
uelty.
aled.
... BIRTHDAY
Jan. 4
Gloria Voges
Wiley D’Spain
Leroy Kneupper
Jan. 5
Jerome Voges
Rosemary Piper
Roy Lee Kneuppe
Jan. 6
Tyson Brussel
INSIDE11
Community Calendar
Classifieds
Health
Schools
Sports
3
11
6
7
8
Volume 95 • Number 1
BOERNE - Results from the Texas
Assessment of Academic Skills
(TAAS) and the Academic Excellence
Indicator System show the Boerne
Independent School District ranks
among the most cost-effective school
districts statewide in terms of test
scores and expenditures.
Superintendent John Kelly attributes
the district’s cost-effectiveness to two
main factors.
“We have a very strong student
body,” Kelly said. “We mainly have
middle class students with a lot of par-
ents who are college educated.
Secondly, we have a long tradition of
keeping costs down and making do
with less.”
Although BISD spent approximately
$1,200 less per student last school
year than the state average, BISD stu-
dent achievement results were better
than the state average in all areas.
For the first time, BISD achieved
’recognized status as a district for the
1999 accreditation under TAAS
because results showed all BISD sub-
populations performed above the 80
percent mark in reading, math and
writing.
Two district elementary schools -
Curington and Fair Oaks - received
exemplary status, Fabra Elementary
achieved recognized status and
Boerne Middle School and Boerne
High School were rated acceptable.
Kelly said that while he is pleased
with the results, the district can do bet-
ter.
“We want to get all schools to the
exemplary level,” Kelly said. “There’s
always room to improve.”
Although BISD teachers are paid
less than the state average, Kelly said
the district has nevertheless managed
to attract quality teachers. Nearly 20
percent of the district’s teachers have a
masters degree, compared to about 25
percent statewide. BISD teachers
have, on average, one more year of
teaching experience - 12.7 years -
than their counterparts statewide.
“We have a good reputation as a
school district and for the quality of
life available here, so we have been
fortunate in attracting an excellent
staff despite pay below the state aver-
age,” Kelly said.
Demonstrating the comparative
wealth of BISD residents is the fact
there is $261,136 of taxable value per
student, about 37 percent higher than
the state average of $190,769.
However, the district’s tax rate this
year is 11 cents below last year’s state
average.
BISD received $4,750 in revenue per
student last school year, about $900
less than the state average.
Only about 21 percent of BISD rev-
enue comes from the state, less than
half of the state average of 44.3 per-
cent.
Indicating the overall lack of com-
mercial development within the BISD
is the fact that only 14 percent of the
district’s tax base comes from busi-
nesses, far below the state average of
40 percent.
Kelly noted that despite passage of a
bond issue to finance construction of
two new schools and improvements at
other schools, the district’s debt rate is
three cents below the state average.
One way the district attempts to save
money on construction projects is
through “value engineering,” the prac-
tice of selecting less expensive alter-
natives that do not significantly affect
the quality of the final product.
The major challenge facing the
school district, Kelly said, is coping
with growth.
“This is a problem faced in all fast-
growing districts,” Kelly said. “You
are always a year behind in tax rev-
enue from residential growth,' so you
have enrollment increases now but
don’t get the tax revenue from that
growth until the following year.”
Achieving even higher academic
standards while coping with an
expanding student population is a
major challenge, Kelly said.
Although the opening of a new ele-
mentary school will temporarily pro-
vide additional space to accommodate
enrollment growth, Kelly said a new
elementary school will have to be con-
structed and that some funds for
potential purchase of land for that pur-
pose were included in the bond issue.
One primary alternative is building a
future elementary west of I-10 to serve
the Ranger Creek subdivision and
Please see BISD, page 5
New Year’s Eve party
Races take shape
as deadlin
nears
Many area youths enjoyed a New Year’s Eve party at Fantastic Gymnastics. About 40 youths enjoyed swinging
and other activities at the facility.
BOERNE - Campaigns for several
local positions are taking shape as
candidates faced a 6 p.m. deadline
yesterday to file qualifying petitions
for the March primaries and
November general election.
Fran King, chair of the Kendall
County Republican Party, said
Monday morning the major ques-
tions remaining to be answered
about candidate filings were
whether any candidate would file
for the tax assessor/collection posi-
tion and whether more candidates
would file for sheriff.
A final listing of all candidates
who.filed will be published in the
Friday edition.
As of Monday morning, incum-
bent tax assessor/collector James
Hudson had not filed for re-election,
and King said no one had indicated
to her they planned to file. If no one
files by deadline, potentially some-
one could file to run as a write-in
candidate for the November general
election.
One of the most hotly-contested
elections is expected to be for sher-
iff, where incumbent Henry Hodge
faces challenger Ray Williams in the
Republican primary.
In many counties, the election for
sheriff is one of the hardest-fought
campaigns. King said she has heard
much talk about as many as four or
five candidates seeking the post but
as of Monday morning only Hodge
and Williams had filed.
Voters in the two commissioners
precincts up for election in 2000
will have a choice of candidates.
Incumbent Precinct 1
Commissioner John Kight has filed
for re-election as a Republican and
will face Pat Mattick, who has also
filed, in the March Republican pri-
mary.
In Precinct 3, incumbent
Commissioner Darrel Lux has filed
as a Republican and will face at
least one challenger, Martha
Richter, who has also filed.
Pamela McKay, the incumbent,
has filed for re-election as county
attorney as a Republican.
As of Monday morning, only one
of the four constable positions had
more than one candidate.
In the Precinct 1 Constable race,
incumbent Don White has filed for
reelection as a Republican, with
Precinct 2 Constable incumbent
Tom Wallace also running as a
Republican.
Incumbent Precinct 3 Constable
Forres Meadows had not filed as of
early Monday morning but was
expected to prior to deadline, King
said.
Please see ELECTION, page 5
Boerne enjoyed prosperous year in 1999
— By Hal Braswell
1 Staff Writer
BOERNE -
Unprecedented
growth and sales tax revenue painted
a pretty picture for Boerne in 1999.
with officials expecting continued
prosperity in the year ahead.
"I’ve been in Boerne for 20 years
and this past year the commercial
growth has been as good a year as
I've seen." said City Manager Ron
Bowman. "That's not even counting
the new schools and other construc-
tion."
Boerne sales tax revenue for 1999
was about $260,000 more than was
received in calendar year 1998. fig-
ures released by the State
Comptroller's office show.Final
1999 figures show Boerne received
$1,571,047.73. up 19.83 percent
from the 1998 figure of
$1,311,049.71.
Bowman said he believes commer-
cial. population and sales tax rev-
enue growth will continue, although
as a conservative budgeting measure
only a three percent growth in sales
tax revenue is projected into the city
budget.
"A lot of the issues we face revolve
around growing pains.” Bowman
said.
Census figures show Boerne had a
population of 4.274 in 1990. Today,
the city’s estimated population is
about 6.200. although much popula-
tion growth has also taken place out-
side the city limits.
"We've had 40 percent growth in
10 years and since 1980 we've had
70 percent growth within the city
limits,” Bowman said. “For Boerne,
that is tremendous growth. It is not
that much number-wise compared to
San Antonio but it is a lot for here.”
A major program of infrastructure
projects by the city is in turn feeding
commercial growth and the accom-
panying growth in other public and
non-profit facilities such as schools
and churches.
“It is a classic case of ‘build and
they will come,’” Bowman said.
Major city projects during the past
year include:
• A recently completed $1.1 mil-
lion street project;
• A $1.2 million Menger Creek
water, sewer and gas project;
• Initiation of the Boerne South
utility project that will extend ser-
vice to the Cascade Caverns Road
area, including providing service to
two schools under construction
there;
• Finalizing an agreement with
GBRA for future water supply to
supplement the city’s existing water
supply from City Lake and wells;
• Preparing for the Y2K computer
glitch;
• Work on Northrup Park, which is
about three months away from the
opening of a major new recreational
facility;
• Receiving grants related to Texas
Composite and StanBio, two com-
panies expected to add numerous
jobs;
• Planning for a new electricity
substation to be built west of I-10 at
an as yet unspecified location.
Much of the new and prospective
commercial development lies in an
area bounded by I-10 to the west,
West Bandera Road to the north and
Highway 87 to the east.
About 30 new commercial or pub-
lic sector development projects have
either been recently completed, are
under construction or are in various
stages of obtaining a city building
permit.
Those projects include new middle
and elementary schools for the
Boerne Independent School District
north of Cascade Caverns Road at
an approximate cost of $22 million.
Several projects are under way or
planned on the south side of
Highway 46 (Bandera Road). Oak
Park Village, a 30,000 square foot
Please see BOERNE, page 5
The Boerne Star • P.O. Box 820 • Boerne, Texas 78006 • 282 N* Main Street * 830-249-2441 or 830-816-2532 • e-mail: boerstar@aol.com
0|0
' little smiles
- Dentistry for Children
( X
Nanni Behnke Tatum, D.D.S.
1414 E. Blanco Rd.
Boerne
249-9888
RENT A NEW
Zo Cars • Trucks • Vans
Pick up & delivery in area.
Insurance Replacements • Daily - Weekly
249-2536 • 1-800-299-5000
IH-10 across from Industrial Park, Boerne
ALL TYPES OF
ROCK WORK
• Sidewalks
• Ratios
• Retaining walls
• Mailboxes
Tejas Tree/Landscape (210)422-8841
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Keasling, Edna & Fierro, Jennifer. The Boerne Star (Boerne, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 1, Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 4, 2000, newspaper, January 4, 2000; Boerne, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1626527/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Patrick Heath Public Library.