Meet your Wimberley candidates
Lady Tigers earn 8-1 win over East View
Wimberley group helps heroes
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News-Dispatch Volume XXXVI No. 27
Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982
75¢
Thursday, April 14, 2016
LAGNIAPPE Mixed-use Belterra build on horizon
Town hall meeting
What’s your vision for Dripping Springs? The city of Dripping Springs will host its first town hall meeting on the comprehensive plan update on Thursday, April 14 from 6-8:30 p.m. at Dripping Springs Ranch Park Event Center, 1042 Event Center Drive. A formal presentation of the results from the community survey will also be presented.
BY PAIGE LAMBERT
News-Dispatch Reporter
Residents between south Austin and Dripping Springs won’t have to drive to either town to grab a bite or have a night on the town in the near future. Endeavor Real Estate Group, which oversaw construction of The Domain and South Park
“In 2012 we dusted off maps of Austin and looked at how Austin is growing ... From the Y to Dripping Springs is the next big growth of Austin.” – David Campbell, Endeavor principal for the project
Meadows, will break ground on 90 acres between Belterra Drive and Nutty Brown Road
late 2016. David Campbell, Endeavor principal for the project, said
Time for short-term rentals to comply
Don’t miss the 16th Annual Java Jive Music Fest & 3K Color Run Saturday, April 16, at Central Texas Speedway in Kyle. The festivities begin at 5 p.m. with a fun color run, followed by a silent auction and live music from Blue Water Highway Band, the Shelley King Band and George Devore. For more details, call 512-847-6867 or visit the website at www. kapsjavajive.com.
BY PAIGE LAMBERT
News-Dispatch Reporter
Concerts in the Park
17th Annual Butterfly Festival
On Saturday, April 16, The EmilyAnn Theatre and Gardens will host the annual butterfly festival from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Spend a day of fun with live butterfly releases every 30 minutes, butterfly art, a flight house featuring Texas native butterflies, nature activities and more. Admission is free but donations are greatly appreciated.
Jacobs Well free tours
Jacobs Well Natural Area free tours are held Saturdays mornings at 10:30 a.m. These guided hikes are hosted by local Master Naturalists. Dress for the weather and wear closed-toe shoes. Learn about Cypress Creek, the Wimberley Valley, and the importance of this water source to us all. Park Rangers will direct you to the meeting
LAGNIAPPE, 2
BELTERRA, 7
WIMBERLEY
Java Jive Music Fest
The City of Wimberley invites you to Blue Hole Regional Park every Friday evening in April for free concerts in the park. Call the park office (512) 660-9111 for more information. www. cityofwimberley.com
the group wanted to construct the development in 2008. “In 2012 we dusted off maps of Austin and looked at how Austin is growing,” Campbell said. “From the Y to Dripping Springs is the next big growth of Austin.” The 90 acres are zoned as a limited purpose area, which was determined by Crescent
PHOTO BY MOSES LEOS III
Big rig careens off U.S. 290
A Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper walks past the wreckage of an accident involving an 18-wheeler that occurred in the parking lot of a convenience store along U.S. Highway 290 in Dripping Springs on Saturday. One person suffered minor injuries after an 18-wheeler plowed into the parking lot of the DS Grocery and hit six vehicles. According to a DPS spokesperson, troopers were called to the accident scene at 6:56 a.m. where, for an unknown reason, the driver went into the parking lot of the DS Grocery, hitting the vehicles and fuel pumps. A small fuel leak occurred, with the North Hays County Fire Rescue containing the spill.
Support: The best-kept secret of trauma recovery BY PAIGE LAMBERT
News-Dispatch Reporter
M
elissa Rodriguez and her brother met after years of hurt and frustration caused by his drug addiction. As they talked, he explained his addictions stemmed from concealing the abuse he received as a child. “We never talked about it as a family,” Rodriguez said. “And when he went to treatment, he said every single person had childhood trauma, every single one.” Rodriguez, director of community partnerships for the Hays Caldwell Women’s Center (HCWC), said one of the biggest issues with child abuse is the victim or family won’t talk about it. “It is not uncommon for them to keep a secret and not go to mom or dad immediately,” Rodriguez said. “Even to parents that say if anyone ever does anything you need to tell me.” She said feelings of shame or embarrassment keep the child from going to the parents because they typically know the abuser. According to a Children’s Bureau 2014 Child Maltreatment report, 93.2 percent of abusers had some form of a relationship with the child – whether as parent, teacher, friend of family or other instances. Familial abusers are more likely because the family doesn’t want to confront the issue or the victim doesn’t want to cause trouble, Rodriguez said. “We are sending them this message that it’s okay. And why? Because they are family,” she said. “And we are sending a
COURTESY PHOTO
Survivors of child abuse typically need a strong familial support system to overcome trauma.
message to the victim that they don’t matter as much.” The children at risk for prolonged trauma, even into adulthood, are those whose parents are unsupportive or don’t
believe them, Rodriguez said. Unbelieving parents tend to be the least likely to take the child to therapy, follow up
RECOVERY, 10
Short-term rental facilities will take their first steps towards compliance after action by the city council last week. Six conditional use permits (CUP) for vacation rentals were presented to council, with two being withdrawn because the applicants later discovered they were under a grandfather status. City staff said they are expecting many more CUP applications to appear before council in the coming months. Some have said as many as 50 applications have been filed. The newly approved grandfather status clause only requires residents to present an affidavit that the business has been running for five years. The status allows businesses to disregard the need for a permit unless the grounds are expanded or they receive complaints, said city administrator Don Ferguson. Bringing short-term rentals into compliance, however, has been a point of contention for some because of safety concerns and the possible impact on those businesses that are already in compliance. Councilmember Bob Dussler said he was concerned about how the short term rentals will impact neighborhoods that are considered residential only. “When a commercial business is established, it changes the character of the neighborhood,” Dussler said. “This is unfair to all residents of the neighborhood, not just the residents 200 feet from the business.” Robin McCullough, wife of councilmember Mac McCullough, said denying CUPs to vacation rental operators who are already in business would greatly change Wimberley. Robin said their existing B&B, which she filed a CUP for, has been operating without issue. The request for a CUP passed 3-1 with Dussler voting against. Mac recused himself during the item. “If you deny ours, you have to deny them all, and at some point, that changes the whole culture of Wimberley,” Robin said. “We don’t want hotels and motels that are chains. We like the small, independent (rentals) like we do with our businesses.” But Craig Reitz, who will be potentially bordered
RENTALS, 7