The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 154, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 23, 2007 Page: 1 of 15
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2007
500
"Che jBastrop 3docrtiscr
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper Since March 1, 1853 Semi-Weekly Since Sept. 5, 1977
Volume 154, Number 51
Bastrop, Texas
18 pages in two sections
EISD
okays
budget
By Terry Hagerty
Staff Writer
Elgin school district tax-
payers will see a 21-cent
drop in their property tax
rate from last year after the
school board unanimously
passed the 2007-08 budget
and tax rate Monday night.
The tax rate will be $1.44
per $100 valuation, versus
last year's rate of $1.65. The
$1.44 tax rate consists of a
$1.04 formaintenance/opera-
tions and 40 cents for school
construction bonds approved
by voters.
The average home valu-
ation this year is $115,476,
which will result in
$1,518.85 in taxes, versus
last year's average valuation
of $110,898 and $1,664.82
in taxes.
Kreis Alyea, Assistant
Superintendent of Business
and Support Services, told
the board that a deficit of
approximately $873,000 for
the budget — expenditures
of $26.41 million versus
revenues of $25.54 million
— will likely not come to
fruition because he "conser-
vatively" plans the budget.
Alyea said he had carried
a deficit in the preliminary
figures for the last six annual
budgets for the district, when
"in fact, it never happened.
We make guesses on rev-
enues and expenditures."
Alyea told the board
interest earnings the district
recoups are often the wild
card in forecasting revenues.
"You can guess one to two
percent and then sometimes
get six percent," he said.
In other action the board
tabled action on approving
a district policy on religious
expression, as required by a
recently enacted state law.
Board members said they
wanted more time to study a
policy drafted by the school
district's attorneys, Walsh
Anderson Brown Schulze &
Aldridge, who are attempting
to comply with a revamped
law on religious expression
passed by the 2007 Texas
Legislature. School districts
are supposed to have a ver-
sion of the law in place by
the start of school.
See EISD, Page 3A
BASTROP COUNTY]
EMERGENCY L
FOOD PANTRY?■
SUPPORT CENTER.
°Tooam *oopm
.-p
- -
20 years
for Food Pantry
Tresha Sanders-Silva,
Executive Director of
the Bastrop County
Emergency Food Pantry,
coordinates handing out
back-to-school packages
Tuesday at the pantry.
Staff and supporters of
the pantry, located at 1201
Pine Street, are celebrat-
ing the 20th anniversary
of the pantry's founding.
Food pantry marks 20 years
By Terry Hagerty
Staff Writer
Put on your walking shoes
when you drop in for a visit
with Executive Director Tresha
Sanders-Silva — and her staff
and volunteers — at the Bastrop
County Emergency Food Pantry
at 1201 Pine Street.
They were a blur of motion
this week as they prepared back-
to-school packages for families
in need, unloaded a shipment
from Austin's Capital Area Food
Bank and fielded questions from
clients.
Pantry staff, volunteers and
community supporters were also
looking forward to Saturday's
20th anniversary dinner at the
Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort
— celebrating the founding of
the pantry in June 1987.
Community organizer Jewell
Hodges, former County Extension
Agent Clara Maynard and church
organizers who were part of the
Ministerial Alliance helped found
the pantry, Silva said.
The pantry's motto is, "The
whole community is our neigh-
bor — lend a hand to feed your
fellow man."
Silva has an even more direct
description: "People are in need
of food in Bastrop Comity —
they are hungry. Jewell and the
Ministerial Alliance did a needs-
assessment in 1987 and that sur-
vey was what birthed the food
pantry.
"Back then, a lot of churches
operated small pantries. They
were great help and some still
See PANTRY, Page 3A
istricts
monitor
teacher
turnover
By Terry Hagerty
Staff Writer
When Bastrop Superintendent Roderick
Emanuel welcomed 111 new teachers at a cam-
pus breakfast on Aug. 7, it seemed like a lot.
When as much as one-quarter of a school
district's teaching staff leaves — as occurred
in Smithville this year — it could raise a red
flag.
But Bastrop and Smithville's numbers are
typical among area school districts, including
Elgin. There is a substantial turnover of teach-
ing staff. And most districts conduct "exit"
interviews to determine the reasons their teach-
ers leave.
Surprisingly, although salary is sometimes
mentioned as a contributing factor it is seldom
the main reason cited for leaving, according
to human resources directors with three area
districts.
Elgin
Elgin hired 58 new teachers for 2007-08,
or 27 percent of its roster of 217 teachers. For
2004-05 the district hired 70 teachers, a jump
from the 47 teachers hired the year before.
"Only a few teachers have mentioned salary
and/or benefits as the sole reason to leave the
district; however, many have mentioned it as a
contributing factor." said A1 Rodriguez, Human
Resources Director with Elgin ISD.
"More frequently we are hearing the price
of gas has a lot to do with decisions that are
made — especially when about 70 percent of
EISD teachers commute to Elgin. If a person
can work closer to home for the same money,
it does equate to a personal pay raise they can
give themselves."
None of the three districts gives pay bonuses,
but they have several means to monitor and/or
See TEACHERS, Page 2A
istory pane eyes plan for old hydrant
By Davis McAuley
Editor
This week the Bastrop Historical
Landmark Commission will con-
sider whether and how to treat
one of the city's original four fire
hydrants, which is now in the way
of a looming construction project.
The historic hydrant, which
dates to the 1890s as part of the
city's first public water distribu-
tion system, is now largely buried
at the corner of Main and Farm
Street. Only
INSIDE
Monarch butterflies begin their fall
migration.
Page 6B
WEATHER! INDEX
■ Thursday's forecast:
Cloudy
High: 94°
Low: 76°
Rain: 20%
■ Last week:
High Low Prec.
Saturday 94 77 none
Sunday 92 76 none
Monday 92 76 none
Tuesday 92 74 none
■ Provided by the KXAN School Weather Network.
65668 78602 3
Classified ads 3B
Community 4A
Education 6A
Sports 1B
r
AUSTIN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
This newspaper
is recyclable
the top sec-
tion remains
above
ground.
The
other three
original fire
plugs 111
Bastrop have been lost or moved,
said Mike Fisher, a former Bastrop
fire chief and director of the city's
water and wastewater utilities.
The current director, James
Miller, said the significance of the
old fire protection feature became
an issue as the city prepares to
undertake some drainage improve-
ments along Main Street beginning
in the fall. Along with improved
storm water drainage facilities at
Main and Spring Street, officials
want to replace and upgrade some
downtown water mains as well,
said Miller.
That work includes replacing a
four-inch line from Farm to Spring
with a new six-inch water main,
he said. And the old fire hydrant,
manufactured in the 1880s, will be
in the way. The initial plan called
for removing the historic hydrant
and placing it in a museum or
some other historical display
in town, Miller indicated.
But Fisher and others are
pressing to return the arti-
fact to its original site once
new construction is finished,
Miller said.
Fisher suggested this week
that the old hydrant could be
secured on a cement base at
its historic site and embel-
lished with a plaque explain-
ing its significance. More than
half of the old fixture is now
below ground because a cen-
tury ago Main Street was that
much lower than it is today,
he said.
Once out of the earth
and cleaned up, it will be
an attractive addition to the
downtown streetscape, Fisher
believes. "It's quite elabo-
rate," he said.
The city's oldest fire plug is at Main
and Farm St.
irst >tate Bank now 100 years old
By Davis McAuley
Editor
Barry Williams, president
of First State Bank, will be
ill Bastrop this week bear-
ing special gifts for Wanda
Rucker and other employees
to mark the community bank's
100th birthday. Williams said
he's bringing 1907 silver dol-
lars and pennies to celebrate
the occasion.
Beginning as the Bank of
Smithville in 1895 when the
railroad and trade center was
growing rapidly, it fit into the
front section of the Yerger,
Hill & Son hardware store at
200 Main St.
The name changed to First
State Bank in 1907 after
state laws permitted private
banks to acquire state char-
ters. From the beginning,
the bank was led by descen-
dants of Yerger Hill, himself
the scion of pioneer fami-
lies who arrived near present
Smithville beginning in the
1830s.
Until 1994 First State
was primarily the Smithville
bank, though members of
the Hill family also launched
Smithville Savings and Loan
in 1935 (now Community
Bank in Smithville).
But in 1994 the bank
opened its second loca-
tion, this one on Texas 71
in Bastrop in a former bar-
becue restaurant. Now First
State boasts three addition-
al branches, all in Comal
County. Those branches are
in New Braunfels, Gruene
and Canyon Lake.
And it's still growing, said
Williams. In 1994 First State
had assets valued at $25 mil-
lion, said Williams.
As of June 30 the bank was
reporting assets of almost
$220 million.
"It's been a nice run of
growth," Williams said this
See BANK, Page 3A
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McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 154, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 23, 2007, newspaper, August 23, 2007; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth252401/m1/1/: accessed June 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bastrop Public Library.