The Bastrop Advertiser and County News (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 135, No. 62, Ed. 1 Monday, October 3, 1988 Page: 1 of 28
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Vol. 135, No. 62
Since March 1, 1853 Bastrop, Texas Monday, October 3, 1988
Basic utility service, tax costs lower in Bastrop, study says
By Davis McAuley
^"Living and doing business in
Bastrop may cost hundreds or thou-
sands of dollars a year less than in
Elgin, Smithville or at least three
other nearby communities, a new
report shows.
The relative cost study compares
the total expense of basic utility and
municipal services measured by
electric, water and sewer charges
and city property taxes. It conclud-
ed that a typical homeowner in
Smithville pays $364 a year more
than in Bastrop.
The calculation is based on us-
ing 10,000 gallons of water and
2500 kilowatts of electricity a
month and paying taxes on
property valued at $50,000.
The same residential property
would cost the owner $726 more
in Elgin, $294 more in Geor-
getown, $619 more in Round Rock
and $1488 more in Austin.
The calculation does not include
the cost of county and school tax-
es or garbage collection.
Municipal property taxes typical-
ly go to pay for basic services in-
cluding fire and police protection,
street maintenance and ambulance
availibility.
The cost differences are even
greater for a small business with
the same utility use and property
value.
Such a hypothetical business
would pay $2176 more a year in
Elgin and $2562 more in Smithville
than in Bastrop.
In Georgetown such a business
would pay $704 more and in
Round Rock it would cost $2173
more. The cost in Austin would be
$3943 more.
The study was compiled in an ef-
fort to quantify some of the advan-
tages Bastrop has to offer to
residents and business operators,
said City Manager Henry Cunnin-
gham Jr. who presented results to
the city council Sept. 26.
Cunningham said he used the
most accurate rates he could obtain
for the comparison and has had
other staff members conduct follow
Continued on Page 2
Ax case
suspect
indicted
A man suspected of using an axe
to partially amputate the left hand
of a Smithville Gardens resident
July 9 has been indicted for aggra-
vated assault by a Bastrop County
Grand Jury.
Charlie McVay, 23, of Smith-
ville will now face the charge in a
pretrial hearing scheduled for Oc-
tober 17 at the Bastrop County
Courthouse.
The alleged attack on Gilbert
Deary, that Smithville police said
was apparently the result of a fa-
mily dispute, occurred at 3 a.m. in
the Smithville housing project.
Deary was taken to Brackenridge
Hospital in Austin after he appar-
ently tried to block a blow from the
axe with his hand, police said.
The Grand Jury also handed
down an indictment against a
25-year-old San Antonio man who
allegedly tried to rape a 37-year-
old Freeport woman who was seek-
ing refuge from Hurricane Gilbert
at the Pine Point Inn.
The indictment alleges that on or
about September 15 Joe Ochoa at-
tempted to commit aggravated sex-
ual assault by knocking the woman
to the floor of her van and jump-
ing on her in the parking lot of the
motel.
Also alleged in the indictment is
that Ochoa covered the woman’s
mouth with his hand and threatened
to stab her seven-year-old son if the
woman refused to have sex with
him.
A report on file at the Bastrop
Police Department said the wom-
an and her son were able to fight
the assailant off and Ochoa was ar-
rested later after he was located in
one of the rooms of the motel.
The report said the woman and
her son were in the process of mov-
ing their luggage from their van to
their motel room when the attack
occurred.
The incident occurred when lo-
cal motels were full of coastal resi-
dents seeking shelter from the
potential damage expected from the
storm.
Other indictments during the
September session of the Grand
Continued on Page 2
UP officials
study sites
in Smithville
Officials with Union Pacific
Railroad visited Smithville last
week to tour the city and identify
land along the railroad tracks that
may be made available for future
economic development.
During the three-hour meeting
Smithville Mayor Vernon Richards
and other city officials talked with
Jack E. Dial, regional industrial
development manager and J.E.
Dennis, superintendent of transpor-
tation services for the railroad
about the possibility of new busi-
nesses locating in the area.
Although no commitments were
made by the railroad, Richards said
he is in the process of sending in
a formal proposal to UP asking for
four acres of that may be used as
a city park.
He said after talking with the UP
officials he is optimistic the request
Continued on Page 2
Otto Weilert, math teacher at
Bastrop Intermediate School, in-
structs a student in the use of a
computer in the new computer
lab next to the intermediate
school library. The addition of
computer labs on both the inter-
mediate and primary school cam-
puses was part of Bastrop
Independent School District’s
preparation for a visit last week
of an accreditation team from the
Southern Association of Schools
and Universities. Photo by Cecil
Johnson
BISD wins recommendation
Southern Association accreditation team visits schools
By Cecil Johnson
Commended for the quality of
their instructional programs, all
five campuses in the Bastrop In-
dependent School District were
recommended for accreditation last
week to the Southern Association
of Schools and Universities.
The visiting team of 38 top edu-
cators from across the state that
evaluated BISD will forward their
recommendations for approval of
the Southern Association state
committee in October.
“From there it will go to the
regional association, which is the
final step in accreditation, to be ap-
proved at the regional meeting De-
cember 11 through 14 in Atlanta,
Georgia,” said BISD Superinten-
dent Patrick Deviney.
“Then there will be an interim
review (by the Southern Associa-
tion) at the end of five years when
a smaller visiting team will come
in and look at what we accom-
plished in the past five years and
then you go through the complete
accreditation process again at the
end of ten years,” he said.
Although the instructional pro-
grams on the various campuses
were commended there are still
areas in need of improvement, said
Dr. Wallace E. Davis, Dean of the
Department of Education at Cor-
pus Christi State University, and
the district's consultant in the ac-
creditation process.
Davis said during a report on the
three-day visit Wednesday the
school district needs to continue to
develop and refine the curriculum
guides which defines the instruc-
tional program.
Deviney said more than 6,000
pages were added to BISD curric-
ulum documents last summer and
the district will continue to improve
in that area.
“We need to continue to im-
prove our curriculum,” said
Deviney. “We’ve got all the cur-
riculum we needed in place to meet
the standards but there is some
coordination that we need to do to
continue to improve,” he said.
Davis, during his presentation
Wednesday, commended the staff
and teachers of BISD, the adminis-
tration and the board for their
efforts.
“The professionalism and will-
ingness of the faculty to assist team
members in fulfilling their in-
dividual and collective assignments
was greatly appreciated,” said
Davis.
“Although this self-study and
accreditation visit represented the
Bastrop Independent School Dis-
trict’s first entry into the Southern
Association family i the team per-
ceived a quiet and assured compe-
tence on the part of the teachers
which was more indicative of a re-
accreditation visit than an initial
visit,” he said.
Continued on Page 5
County gives
award for jail
to low bidder
‘Cadillac’ analogy rejected;
Krueger will drop lawsuit
A Victoria building contractor
said he will drop his lawsuit against
Bastrop County officials after com
missioners voted unanimously Fri-
day to award him a $5.7 million
contract to build a 144-bed jail and
law enforcement center.
The action, taken in the absence
of County Judge Jimmy Copeland,
in effect brushed aside warnings
from the judge and other county
officials that the jail will cost too
much.
As commissioners convened at
4:30 p.m. the judge's secretary,
Jean West, said Copeland was un-
able to attend because his son was
undergoing knee surgery in a San
Marcos hospital.
But the judge left a letter from
County Auditor Jim Wither warn-
ing that the jail, site work and relat-
ed facilities will cost $841,626
more than the money available.
Copeland also left a set of re-
marks attributed to District Attor-
ney Charles Penick charging the
project is a “Cadillac jail and we
can get to the same destination in
a Ford or Chevrolet that costs a lot
less.”
Wither was reported to be out of
the state. Penick was reported at-
tending a lawyers convention.
In their written remarks Wither
and Penick echoed statements
Copeland made to the Advertiser
in a Thursday interview, calling for
architect Waller Pogue to be given
three weeks to redesign the jail and
eliminate up to $1 million in cost.
In effect that move would have
fired project architect Brad
Cutright who has drawn criticism
from Copeland for the past year.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Jerry
Alexander rejected the Cadillac
analogy.
Alexander said he raised exact-
ly that question with the head of the
state’s commission on jail stan-
dards last week, an official familiar
with the county’s jail plans and
specifications.
The officials compared the jail,
as designed, to a servicable
Continued on Page 2
Westmoreland takes
Bastrop chamber post
Union Pacific Railroad em-
ployees remove discarded metal
and other debris from the Smith-
ville rail yard Thursday in the
wake of a visit earlier in the week
from Union Pacific officials. Pho-
to by Cecil Johnson
Bastrop’s new chamber of com-
merce executive director goes to
work today and will be formally in-
troduced to the membership at a
special luncheon Wednesday.
Peck Westmoreland Jr., former
executive vice president of the
Lockhart Chamber of Commerce,
said Friday he has accepted the
Bastrop position and is ready to be-
gin work
Bastrop chamber officials
offered him the job last week. He
replaces Don Calvert who resigned
last month.
Wednesday’s noon luncheon for
chamber members, guests and
others to meet Westmoreland will
be at the Tahitian Village club-
house, said Chamber President
Norman Hansen.
Westmoreland, 46, said he will
begin the job by visiting local bus-
iness owners and managers “to
find out what (chamber) members
want” from the organization.
From those visits he will report
to a reorganize set of chamber
committees to develop working
plans, he said.
Wednesday’s meeting will also
include a report on the new com-
mittee structure, Hansen said. The
former organization of IQ commit-
tees has been reduced to five for
better focus, he said.
Westmoreland said he will stress
communication between the cham-
ber leadership and members as well
as economic development includ-
ing tourism “to get more money
flowing into the community.”
“We have our ears open” for
positive suggestions, he said.
Naming Westmoreland marks a
deliberate change for the Bastrop
chamber, Hansen said. During a
Peck Westmoreland Jr.
recent directors retreat to reflect on
chamber goals and programs the
group decided it is ready for
“professional guidance to shift
gears,” Hansen said.
“We want to learn from our
past,” he said.
Westmoreland said his wife, An-
drea. and two sons ages 9 and 13
will remain in Lockhart “until an
opportune time to move.”
Mrs. Westmoreland is a dental
hygenist employed by the Austin
State School and private dental
clinics. She is also secretary of the
Texas Dental Hygenist As-
sociation.
Before going to work for the
Lockhart chamber in 1983, West-
moreland was an assistant editor of
“Texas Outlook," a monthly pub-
lication of the Texas State Teachers
Association. He also worked as a
free lance writer and editor after
graduating from Lockhart High
School and Southwest Texas State
University.
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McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser and County News (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 135, No. 62, Ed. 1 Monday, October 3, 1988, newspaper, October 3, 1988; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth746315/m1/1/: accessed June 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bastrop Public Library.