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2020

Volume 33, Issue 40

www.LHIndependent.com

Elections department gearing up for long ballot, high turnout

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor The Williamson County Elections Department is in countdown mode, working feverishly as the days tick by toward what is expected to be one of the most unique and busiest elections in memory.

In what County Elections Administrator Chris Davis calls the perfect storm, longer ballots, higher anticipated turnout, a longer voting window and the COVID-19 virus are all expected to have an impact on both voters and election workers come October. But he also believes there is a simple thing every voter can do to help ease the process for everyone.

“They should take care of their business early, whether that business is voting by mail, absentee or voting in person,” Davis said. “They’re in control. They can determine how much time they allot themselves to vote.”

Davis wants to see early vot-

ing numbers increase to make coping with the higher numbers and challenges that brings more manageable. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott added an additional week to early voting to help ease the strain on polling locations due to COVID-19.

“Voters need to take advantage of the 18 days of early voting starting on Oct. 13,” he said. “While we normally see a good 60 percent to two-thirds of in-person voters voting early, I want to see that number be higher. I’d love to see it be 80 percent of all voting in-person to be early voters.

“It’s hard for me personally to accept the excuse that ‘Well, I didn’t have time, I work or the kids have school’ if we’re going 18 straight days of 12-hours every day and five on Sundays. That’s a lot of time for everybody, it’s a lot of time to ask our poll workers to work.”

See ELECTION, Page 9

ELECTION CALENDAR Election Day Nov 3 Voter Registration Deadline Oct 5 Early Voting Oct 13-30 Ballot by Mail Request Deadline Oct 23 Voter Registration forms online at www.wilco.org On the Ballot: Federal, state, county, local elections to include City of Liberty Hill and Liberty Hill ISD. Sample ballots available by October.

News@LHIndependent.com

August 27, 2020 | 50 Cents

Key questions still floating in City Council’s pool debate

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor Which came first, the project plan or the budget?

That’s the issue the City Council is wading into as discussions continue regarding how to pay for and what to build when it comes to a community pool.

Last week, the Council had a workshop with the Parks Board, and Monday there was a second lengthy discussion on how to finalize a project that has essentially gone back to the drawing board.

The final decision Monday was similar to recent decisions on the issue, with the Council voting unanimously to schedule another workshop for Sept. 28, this time bringing in representatives from Halff Associates – who designed the original plan – to talk about what might be scaled back and what is essential.

In a summary of the workshop for the Council, Parks Board Vice Chair Mike Wilson said a lot of progress was made during the discussion.

“We believe that a slightly modified version of the original version, scaled down, hopefully budget-wise, is what I think everybody agreed on,” said Wilson.

Mayor Rick Hall reiterated his concern for the increased infrastructure in the pool house and pump equipment required if the project includes a splash pad.

“Is the consensus of the meeting to still incorporate the splash pad?” Hall asked.

“In speaking with pool builders, if we have a splash pad (the pool and splash pad) have to be on separate pumps in order for water to be shot up in the air so we can’t coordinate that through the circulation of the swimming pool.”

Wilson said there could be

other options considered to help pare down that cost.

“Since we have a splash pad over at Wetzel there might be some things we can do to give us an area for smaller kids to still be away from the main pool without having the splash pad and extra equipment,” Wilson said.

The bottom line for Wilson was that before a decision can be made the Council needed to determine what it was willing to spend.

“Maybe we need to have a budget first,” Wilson said.

“Call me crazy, but then you know what you have to work with then you can start right-sizing things. I think you need to decide on a budget. Is it one and a half (million), is it two (million)?

Whatever the number is then you can right-size to that. I think if we start with a budget

See COUNCIL, Page 5

PANDEMIC PASTIMES

12-year-old student uses time at home to start successful cupcake business

By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer While the COVID-19 pandemic restricted many to their homes with what seemed like limited possible activities over the summer, 12-year-old Paige Pringle used her time at home to start a homemade cupcake business.

Paige’s Cupcakery is a hit in the Liberty Hill community, and with her mother Holly’s support, Paige embraced her business idea and hit the ground running.

“I’ve loved baking since I was little, and I’ve always wanted to start a business,” said Paige. “It’s been keeping us busy during quarantine, and baking is one of my favorite things. I have orders almost every day. Sometimes it’s up to six orders a day.”

With multiple orders almost

every day, Paige works hard to find the time to prepare each custom order – more than 85 dozen so far. Leaving the house is rare, and business demands take precedence.

“We stay at home. She’s just been staying home and baking,” Holly said. “Even when we have to run errands and do stuff out of the house, she’ll choose to stay home and take care of her business and do her orders.”

The young entrepreneur doesn’t just make cupcakes in small batches for individuals but also does more significant events. Cupcakes come in several different flavors with different icing options. Everything is from scratch. An order of a dozen cupcakes is $30, and a larger order of two dozen is $58.

“I’ve done cupcakes for wed-

dings, 100 cupcakes, I’ve done cupcakes for birthdays, I’ve done surprise cupcakes in town,” Paige said. “I have all kinds of flavors, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and confetti. I use buttercream, cream cheese, and chocolate buttercream icing, homemade from scratch. We go to Sam’s and get big bags of everything, flour, powdered sugar.”

Seeing Paige work hard to sustain her business and find more success in her venture, Holly can’t help but feel pride in her daughter’s independence.

“We’re super proud of her, she doesn’t ever turn an order down, she wakes up almost every morning with new orders.

She’s very independent. She’s had a ton of support from local businesses in Liberty Hill, so she’s been doing cupcakes for

different events like boutiques and doctors offices.”

Paige created Paige’s Cupcakery, a Facebook group for orders, with almost 400 members. With profits from her sales, she purchased an iPad to streamline and design her business logo and manage orders.

The road to success for Paige was filled with lots of trial and error. The level of success she sees now is a result of plenty of experimentation.

“I’ve gotten better and better and learned a lot of things through trial and error,” she said. “I learned new techniques, colors, combos, and things like that.”

Providing a varied and unique experience for her customers is Paige’s primary priority.

See CUPCAKES, Page 4

Paige Pringle is offering custom cupcakes for the Liberty Hill community. With a variety of design options and flavors available, her brand new business, Paige’s Cupcakery is a hit.

(Courtesy Photo)

County Jail copes Question on Mayor’s management shut down with COVID outbreak

By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer GEORGETOWN -- In recent weeks, the Williamson County Jail has seen an outbreak in COVID-19 cases. What started as a small number of cases quickly turned into 19 cases among inmates and 16 among jail staff by mid-August.

“We’re taking a lot of measures to fight back. We had 19 inmates that tested positive,” said Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody. “We post those stats daily to the Texas ©2020 The Liberty Hill Independent

Commission on Jail Standards.

(Aug. 18) we’re down to 13 inmates, so we’ve seen a large decrease.”

As a way to fight the virus and the outbreak in the jail, a new method of intaking inmates is in place and a strict mandate on safety gear requirements for staff and inmates. Quarantine and disinfecting are also being used.

“Some of the things we’re doing is quarantine for new intakes, where they’re required to do 14 days separate from the population. The jail is disinfecting three times a day in the pods,” said Chody. “All inmates are wearing masks in the general population, and all staff

See JAIL, Page 3

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor After more than 10 months of silence in response to a variety of City staff terminations, the City Council was backed into addressing the issue.

Council member Tony DeYoung pushed to have the Council discuss the issue in open session, and while DeYoung got the item on the agenda – with the help of Council member Kathy Canady – and was able to voice his concerns, there was not much interest across the Council in considering whether there was validity to any of the issues.

“The item was raised to review how the authority is being carried out,” DeYoung said. “You asked the City

Council to hold you accountable and that’s the purpose of having the agenda item tonight.”

He said he understood that issues like these could arise from unhappy former employees, but said they should not be discounted when coming from a variety of people.

“There can be disgruntled employees, no doubt, but when more and more allegations come forward from different people I think gives credibility to some of the allegations,” DeYoung said.

He read aloud a number of comments he had heard over time regarding Mayor Hall’s alleged comments about employees or their employment, as well as mentioning what he had heard regarding Hall’s temper and alleged profanity

used with staff.

Instead of considering they may be valid complaints, the Council again chalked up the often-repeated complaints to “disgruntled employees”.

“So you’re saying we have City employees that are saying these things now, but you’re not saying who they are?” Canady asked, to which DeYoung responded no. “So how do we know whether they’re people that are gone or whether they’re other people? I’m just saying it sounds like the same people that aren’t here anymore.”

DeYoung admitted when questioned that no current City employees had come forward to say they were uncomfortable in the current work environment.

“I’m just saying it sounds

like the same people that aren’t here anymore,” Canady said.

“With that being said, that’s disgruntled employees.”

Both Canady, and Council member Gram Lankford questioned why DeYoung brought the issue up during a Council meeting rather than go directly to Hall and ask him about the issue.

“Have you thought about coming in and talking to the person you have an issue with?” Canady asked.

But DeYoung said while he appreciated Hall’s offer to sit down and discuss the issue it was his intention to make it a public.

“We agreed to vote and give the authority over (to the Mayor) I think we should all have a

See CITY, Page 9

Page 2

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Williamson County Municipal Utility District No. 23 Notice of Public Hearing on Tax Rate

The Williamson County Municipal Utility District No. 23 will hold a public hearing on a proposed tax rate for the tax year 2020 on September 14, 2020 at 12:00 p.m.

(Noon) via Zoom video/audio conference. Your individual taxes may increase at a greater or lesser rate, or even decrease, depending on the tax rate that is adopted and on the change in the taxable value of your property in relation to the change in taxable value of all other property. The change in the taxable value of your property in relation to the change in the taxable value of all other property determines the distribution of the tax burden among all property owners.

To participate using Zoom visit the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89141638290?pwd=bFRSeko5Q2FXei9sUE9zZEIWUThQUT09 To participate by phone, call: +1 346 248 7799 The meeting ID is 891 4163 8290 The password is 494775 FOR the proposal: AGAINST the proposal: PRESENT and not voting: ABSENT:

Kris Elhert, Milton Schultz III, Anthony Jasinski & Scott Davis None None Todd Kolkhorst

The following table compares taxes on an average residence homestead in this taxing unit last year to taxes proposed on the average residence homestead this year.

Total tax rate (per $100 of value) Difference in rates per $100 of value Percentage increase/decrease in rates (+/-) Average appraised residence homestead value General homestead exemptions available (excluding 65 years of age or older or disabled person’s exemptions) Average residence homestead taxable value Tax on average residence homestead Annual increase/decrease in taxes if proposed tax rate is adopted (+/-) and percentage of increase (+/-)

2019 Last Year $0.95/$100

2020 This Year $0.95/$100

Adopted

Proposed

$0.00/$100 0.00% $311,100 $296,925 $$311,100 $2,955.45

$$296,925 $2,820.79

($134.66) - 4.56%

NOTICE OF TAXPAYERS’ RIGHTS TO ELECTION TO REDUCE TAX RATE If the district adopts a combined debt service, operation and maintenance, and contract tax rate that would result in the taxes on the average residence homestead increasing by more than eight percent, the qualified voters of the district by petition may require than an election be held to determine whether to reduce the operation and maintenance tax rate to the voter-approval tax rate under Section 49.23603, Water Code.

Thursday, August 27, 2020

OBITUARIES Jacqueline Lee Mynard Jacqueline Lee Mynard, daughter of Louis Winnon Lee and Eugenia Norwood Lee, was born September 15, 1933, in Austin, Texas. She peacefully departed this life August 20, 2020 at her home outside of Liberty Hill, Texas.

Her siblings are Robert Winnon Lee, Martha Gene Lee, and Charles Frederick Lee. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles, parents, Louis and Eugenia, her sister, Martha Gene, her son, Lee Mynard, and her grandson, Ryon Degenhardt.

She graduated from Waco High School in the Class of 1951. She married Alfred Edwin Eckard and had three children: Lee Mynard, Pamela Mynard, and Cynthia Ma-

rie Mynard.

On December 10, 1962, she married Charles Robert Mynard, whose children are Charles Randall Mynard and Melinda Mynard Rubel. She has 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Jacqueline was active in the Liberty Hill Garden Club for many years and attended events with her husband, Charles, at the Liberty Hill Masonic Lodge, of which he, her father Louis, and brother, Charles Frederick, were members. She was also Treasurer of the Hopewell Cemetery Association for many years.

Viewing was held on Tuesday, August 25th from 10:00 am to 11:00 am at Beck Funeral Home, 1700 East

Whitestone Blvd, Cedar Park, TX with interment following at 11:30 am at Hopewell Cemetery. Masks and social distancing required.

Floyd J. Brake

Floyd J. Brake was born February 26, 1927, to Arthur Wade Brake and Bessie Mae Brake, shortly before the beginning of the Great Depression. One of 10 children, he stopped going to school in 6th grade to help support the family by working or hunting.

An adventurous spirit, he bought his first car, a non-running Model-T, for $10 when he was 13. After three days of tinkering, he got it running, and spent the day driving around DeQueen, Arkansas. His fun was quickly interrupted by a police officer at the service station, who spotted Floyd’s missing tags.

Instead of pulling over to explain, Floyd stepped on the gas, drove it around a corner and into a cane field on the side of the road. He watched quietly as the police officer drove up and down the road a few times looking for him. A

few days later, Floyd sold the car to his uncle.

On December 11, 1941, the U.S. entered World War II. Floyd, and his best friend, Dewey, immediately joined the Navy.

He was originally posted in the machine shop, near the top of the ship. Unfortunately, they noticed his mechanical inclination, and moved him to the engine room, at the very bottom, where it was hot, and cramped.

They served 15 months, 8 days sea duty on the USS Lexington (CV-16), where they battled in the South Pacific until the end of the war.

Returning to his hometown, he met Ann. The two were married in 1947. Together they had three children, 10 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, with one more expected in September.

Floyd was a car nut through and through. He used that

same trick from his first car many times -- the buying, fixing and selling part -- eventually opening his own used car dealership.

Aside from his love of cars, he enjoyed playing pool and fishing with his grandkids.

He was buried at Liberty Hill Cemetery in Liberty Hill next to Ann on August 21, 2020, in a private graveside service.

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Thursday, August 27, 2020

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL:

Planning ... to point fingers

The Liberty Hill City Council has been talking an awful lot about planning at recent meetings.

But very little of the discussion has been about planning the future of Liberty Hill, instead, focusing more on trying to emphasize to whoever is listening that there was no plan before.

Before means prior to the election of Rick Hall in May 2018 and then the election or appointment of four new Council members the following year.

Every Council has its own agenda, and is expected to eagerly pursue it, but few make so much effort to downplay and question the work – or lack thereof – of previous administrations.

Regular comments are now made about the city previously not having plans for capital improvements, or questioning the validity of long-term plans in place when this Council was sworn in.

That’s just not true.

Again, the current Council may disagree with a swim center, roundabout or the master drainage plan, but there can be no argument that there was not thorough planning involved in those projects.

Recent actions raise the question of whether this Council actually has a firm grasp on planning.

It took a request from Council member Tony DeYoung in July to prompt a public Council discussion of the current state of capital project funds in Liberty Hill. The result of that presentation was an admission that available funds are just about spent and there is no current plan for future projects. There was the comment about an unanticipated project and that many projects have run over budget and “those things happen.”

The unanticipated project was the joint project with the Texas Department of Transportation to add right turn lanes at the intersection of RM 1869 and SH 29. The problem? That project was long planned for and routinely showed up in reports on current capital projects for more than a year before the current administration slipped into the driver’s seat.

Cost overruns? Yes, those do happen at times, but are usually discussed and approved when they go over. The cost overruns in question now occurred under the management of this administration, one of them to the tune of an additional $130,000 on a project originally slated for $171,000. And not once did the Council talk about the more than 40 percent increase in the project’s cost.

The slow leak that seems like it is draining the swim center project is the argument that the City did not plan accordingly to pay for that

project. But funds were specifically earmarked for that project until they were re-prioritized by the current Council. That’s the Council’s prerogative, but the Council should also stand up and tell the community it is choosing to shuffle priorities and the pool now has no funding source -- not because there was no plan, but because they changed the plan.

Not only is there more effort to point fingers over funding questions than there is to answer these questions, there is also a growing list of actions that raise questions over how much planning actually goes into the current actions of the Council.

In January, the Council voted to lower the speed limit on Loop 332. It was months later that they voted to approve a traffic study for the road that ultimately showed that the previous limits were the appropriate ones. There appeared to be confusion over what a traffic study would or would not do, and no sign that the original decision was made based on anything but a hunch that a lower speed limit would be better.

A new drainage plan has been pitched, and while no vote has been taken, Mayor Hall has shown he is very much in favor of adopting the new proposal – primarily because it suggests cost savings. But at the last Council meeting, an engineer with the firm Hall has been in discussion with stopped short of endorsing the much simpler plan, indicating they have not done a thorough analysis.

So there was an effort to shelve an expensive, methodical plan with something much simpler that engineers had not even thoroughly studied yet.

A workshop on the swim center proposal last week had at least a couple of Council members indicating they were unaware that all the “new” questions surrounding the pool project were actually not new at all but had been discussed at length long ago. It took Parks Board members to explain that all these questions had been answered at least once in the last three years.

That meeting also led the Council to consider adding more regular meetings with boards to discuss and consider ongoing issues and projects. That would be a good start.

Perhaps spending as much time considering and understanding what has come before can be more useful than assuming nothing occurred in Liberty Hill prior to last year. And demonstrating informed planning is the best way to show you’re the better planner. Pointing fingers is a bad plan, and won’t result in the future we all need the Council to lead us to.

Shin Oak Ridge Bulletin Board Liberty Hill Garden Club meets Sept. 8

The Garden Club returns from summer vacation on Sept. 8.

Wayne Rhoden, a Good Water Master Naturalist, will present a program on Butterfly Gardening with Native Plants.

The meeting will be held via Zoom, starting at 10 a.m.; come a little early to socialize.

If you would like to visit our club and program, please con-

tact us at gardenclublibertyhill@gmail.com.

More information on the Garden Club can be found at our website www.libertyhillgardenclub.org, or via Facebook at www.facebook.com/lhgctx.

JG Fisk Chapter meets Sept. 12

The Judge Greenleaf Fisk Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas will

hold its first meeting of the year on Sept. 12, at 10 a.m. at the Cross Tracks Methodist Church in Liberty Hill.

The church will be sanitized, and we will be wearing masks.

Social distancing will be observed.

The program will feature Wayne Courreges speaking on the topic of The Texas Navy.

Wayne is a native Texan, former marine and graduate of UTA. Wayne has served as a

WilCo issues 90-day burn ban

GEORGETOWN -- On Tuesday, the Williamson County Commissioners Court approved the implementation of an Order Prohibiting Outdoor Burning in the unincorporated areas of Williamson County for a period not to exceed 90 days. The order also prohibits smoking in and/or on Williamson County parks,

JAIL

Continued from Page 1

must wear masks at all times within the jail. Inmates that test positive are isolated from the rest of the jail population and monitored. We’re restricting access to the jail for non-essential personnel.”

Even with a quarantine area set in place beforehand, the virus spread among the general population. With zero cases originating from new inmates, the belief is that potentially some jail staff were the carriers bringing the virus into the jails.

“It happened pretty quick.

We had to set up a separate intake to do this quarantine.

We’re limited on space, and that’s one of our disadvantages,” said Chody. “We were able to set up this quarantine, and people coming in being quarantined for 14 days is a great idea. We haven’t had any cases there. What was surprising to us was that the cases started in our general population. That tells us that our jail staff was bringing it in, or that’s the speculation, and the only thing we could come up with that makes sense.”

Chody says jail employees that show symptoms or believe they may have COVID have strict protocols for their safety and inmates and jail staff’s safety.

“We immediately tell the staff not to come in if they show signs or symptoms. We ask all of our employees, not just jailers, to also try to take care when they’re off duty,” he said. “It affects their jobs.

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I think we’ve had 16 jailers who have tested positive with COVID, which has not increased at this point. It’s something we’re watching and have to be careful of.”

COVID tests for staff members are done off sight when needed. Because some people are asymptomatic and still have COVID, it can be hard to determine if someone needs a test. Inmates showing symptoms are immediately placed in quarantine and tested.

“When talking about the inmates, not all inmates are tested unless they’re showing signs or symptoms such as a fever. If they’re asymptomatic, we aren’t testing. If an inmate comes up to let us know they’re running a fever or having trouble not tasting their food or something associated with COVID symptoms, we isolate them from the rest of the population.

Then request a test from the Williamson County Health District. Then we wait for that test before anything else is done.”

A news report earlier this month revealed that until recently, masks were only available to inmates through commissary at $2 per mask. The issue came to light after four family members of inmates raised concerns.

“It’s true. That was the case, and when I found out about that, I addressed it and said why are we doing that, the inmates should have the opportunity to have a mask if we have them,” said Chody.

trimmings. It also prohibits burning to clear land of trees, stumps, shrubbery, or other natural vegetation. This order may be enforced by any commissioned peace officer. It is a Class C Misdemeanor that is punishable by a fine up to $500.

“When I found out that we had the masks and they could be available, I issued the order that every inmate has a mask.”

Chody says the primary reason for masks being unavailable to inmates was a shortage in masks due to high demand all around.

“The problem that originated that issue is that originally we did not have the availability for masks when COVID started. There wasn’t a follow-up from leadership in the jail when we did get the masks,” he said. “The priority was always the jailers that could bring in that COVID. That was the priority. Everyone knows that there was a shortage of masks initially.”

The Williamson County Sheriff admits that missteps were made in recent weeks but believes the lessons learned and new methods adopted make a difference in the fight against COVID-19.

“It wasn’t just availability.

Let’s say that we had enough masks. We still had to think three to four months in advance about if we would have enough masks for our staff ahead,” said Chody. “Some jails do better than others.

There’s a bunch of different reasons. We learned some lessons as we go through the process. In no way would I say that we’ve done everything perfectly, but when I found out about this certain matter, I addressed it, and I think things are starting to look better.”

Send news to: News@LHIndependent.com volunteer in many organizations such as the Boy Scouts, Wounded Warriors and the Veterans Hospital at Temple.

He is President of the Moses Austin Chapter of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, Brigade Commander for the State of Texas and National Color Guard Commander of the General Society of the Descendants of Washington’s Army at Valley Forge. He is President of the General Soci-

eties for the War of 1812 and the Colonial Wars for the State of Texas. Wayne is presently Command Officer of the Edwin Moore Squadron, Texas Navy Association, homeport Austin.

Membership in the Daughters of the Republic of Texas is open to any woman of lineal descent from an ancestor who lived during the period of the Republic (1836-1846). Associate memberships are also

available to women who are interested in Texas history of this period. Associate dues are $25 per year.

For more information, please contact Chapter Registrar Joyce Parsons at jnparsons1112@gmail.com, or president, Mariann Laughlin at truetexaswomen@gmail. com.

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THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Thursday, August 27, 2020

WilCo aims to improve census reporting

BUSINESS

By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer As the September deadline for the 2020 census approaches, Williamson County is gearing up and sending out census takers to go door-to-door and help complete as much of the count as possible.

Currently, Williamson County has a response rate of 68.3 percent. Cedar Park leads all cities in the county with 72.5 percent counted, followed by Georgetown at 71.1, Hutto at 71 percent, Round Rock at 67.5 percent, Leander at 63.7 percent, Taylor at 61.9 percent. Liberty Hill is last amongst cities in the county.

“Liberty Hill is a little bit lower. It’s at 54.8 percent,” said Williamson County and Cities Health District Community Partnerships Manager Kelli McGuire. “I’m not sure if that will ring a little bit of an alarm for the City to keep working at it.”

Increased efforts will be made in areas with a lower response rate.

“We’ve done just a ton of outreach throughout the summer; we’re currently doing mailers to all of the low response areas,” said McGuire. “There will be a mailer received in Liberty hill since it’s a lower response.”

In-person census takers are being deployed to low response areas, armed with a list of addresses.

“Then we have the census people who work for the census, and they are doing the actual going to the doors and knocking,” said McGuire. “They are now active and supposed to be going out to the low response areas.”

To stay safe during this pandemic and still go door-to-door, census takers must wear masks, social distance and avoid contact with individuals.

“I know that they’re required to wear masks, they’re staying six feet back, so when they knock, they’re going to step back and make sure that they’re not too close and make sure people feel safe,” said McGuire. “They’ll have these waterproof baggies that they put the mailer in, and they put that on the door. That’s what they’re doing to stay safe. The person should never have to touch. They’re also all wearing official census gear to let people know that they’re verified.”

The census will not see another extension past its deadline, and those who don’t report by then will go uncounted. Being uncounted affects more than just the individuals not responding; it affects the entire state’s funding.

“They’ve moved it back already, and I think this will be it,” said McGuire. “What happens is, if you didn’t respond or get a chance to respond or never answered, then you just don’t get counted. That’s why we’re making a push. For each person, it’s a lot of money that adds up. If there is an undercount, or those who were uncounted, it will cost the state $1,000 every year (per person) for the next 10 years”

Texas Pawn & Jewelry owners Troy Farr and wife Andrea, center, along with daughters Faith, left and Grace, right, recently celebrated the new Liberty Hill location’s grand opening. (Courtesy Photo)

Guns, guitars and gold

Running a pawn shop can be a unique experience

By SCOTT AKANEWICH Sports Editor Upon entering Texas Pawn & Jewelry at its new location on SH 29 in Liberty Hill, visitors are immediately greeted by a friendly face, while the brilliant sunlight – which is allowed to filter through the large bay windows adorning the storefront – illuminates all manner of items featured on the walls, on shelves and inside glass display cases.

No bars on the windows. No dimly-lit corners. No grouchy merchants behind the counter waiting to capitalize on a customer’s current conundrum.

In other words, nothing like Hollywood likes to portray pawn shops in movies and reality television.

Troy Farr and wife Andrea are the owners of Texas Pawn and the Liberty Hill store is the third location the couple has opened, following shops in Hutto (2004) and Leander (2013).

As far as any stereotypes surrounding the business they’ve been in as proprietors for nearly two decades, Troy Farr said truth is certainly different from fiction.

“Hollywood has given us a reputation,” he said. “If people would come in and see what we’re all about, they would change their minds.”

Usually, two different kinds of transactions take place at pawn stores – clients who receive loans with items used

as collateral with the intent of buying said items back and those who flat-out sell merchandise.

Of course, when an individual brings in an item off the street to either sell or get a loan on, there must be a protocol – including a check of local police records – which must be followed in order to ensure no stolen goods are accepted.

According to Troy, after years of being in the business, he’s savvy when it comes to quickly assessing a situation for legitimacy.

“With all the experience I have, I know how to read people,” said Troy. “We’ve turned people away.”

However, for the most part, the Farrs don’t come across much, if any, chicanery due to the area their stores are situated in, said Andrea.

“With the cities we serve here in Williamson County, we mostly deal with good, downhome folk who are just trying to make it,” she said. “People living paycheck to paycheck.”

Currently, there are only two pawn store chains in the U.S. which are publicly traded and Texas Pawn isn’t one of them, which allows the Farrs to call all the shots without corporate interference – and thankfully, said Andrea.

“We really appreciate the value of someone walking through the door,” she said.

Perhaps the biggest point of contention for both pawn shop

“The hardest part is trying to make them all different and do different things and give people options. To make them buy from me,” she said.

Even with school starting and a full schedule on her plate as an Liberty Hill Junior High cheerleader and volleyball team hopeful, Paige has every intention of continuing her passion.

“I’m going to school from home for six weeks, so for sure

I’m going to have time to do a bunch of orders and keep my baking schedule up,” she said.

With the overwhelming support of the community, Paige is grateful for every person helping her business along.

“I appreciate everybody because they always give me good feedback and share my cupcakes,” Paige said.

Join Paige’s Cupcakery Facebook group to place pickup and delivery orders.

CUPCAKES Continued from Page 1

owners and clients is the valuation of items that are brought in – a process which is now made easier by modern technology, but can still be a bit difficult at times, said Troy.

“People will come in with certain expectations as far as how much their item is worth,” he said. “But, these days with the internet, you can get a lot of information.”

Something as simple as eBay listings can go a long way in proving to clients how much similar items are currently selling for, which can eliminate much of the potential friction, said Andrea.

“Part of it is being able to explain to somebody what holds value,” she said.

Besides, it certainly behooves a dealer to give customers a fair price, said Troy.

“The more money we loan, the more we make,” he said.

“This is a very gray business.”

An Austin native, Troy began his career in the industry by working for a company called Easy Pawn in his hometown and soon realized what a compelling line of work he had gotten himself into – something that still fuels his passion for the business to this day, he said.

“Every day is unique – you never see the same thing,” said Troy. “We’ve taken a Corvette and a $30,000 Rolex watch.”

Certainly, there’s no shortage of items available at Tex-

as Pawn, ranging from jewelry to guns to guitars and just about everything else in between, including sports memorabilia, DVDs, televisions and the like.

But, one item definitely garners the most attention in the supply-and-demand department, said Troy.

“Guns hold a lot of value,” he said. “All kinds of weapons – we carry new stuff all the time.”

From hunting rifles to shotguns to pistols of all varieties, including a brand new Ruger with an extended barrel and a stars-and-stripes design on the handle, they’re all there.

The jewelry cases are where some of the biggest bargains can be had, though.

“Gold, silver, diamonds – all of that stuff comes out of the ground,” said Troy. “But, when you go to a retailer, there’s an enormous markup.”

As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the pawn business has been duly affected, tipping the scales in a direction opposite than normal, said Andrea.

“Loans are lower and sales have been higher than usual,” she said. “Whether it’s tax refunds, stimulus or whatever, people seem to be buying.”

Speaking of people, owning a pawn store – especially in a small community – can have a huge upside for all, including those on both sides of the counter, said Troy.

“When we started in Hutto, it was a town of 5,500,” he said. “But, it was in a busy corridor between Taylor and Round Rock, so it grew. We feel Liberty Hill is a growing community in which people tend to live up to their means, so if something happens, they have things they can bring in to us.”

Which is the exact situation that begins building bonds that can have a lasting impact on those involved, providing perhaps the most gratifying aspect of the business, said Troy.

“What we do is all about building relationships with people,” he said. “We want to be empathetic and not look down on our customers, but treat them how we would want to be treated. We like to be good community members.”

So, if you ever visit the newest building in town, throw all of your preconceived notions out the window concerning what you’ve heard about the pawn industry.

Nothing like Hollywood – and definitely no drama.

In fact, the Farrs go out of their way to make it so.

“Chances are when someone comes to us, they’re probably not having a good day,” said Andrea. “We want to make it a better experience for them.”

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Thursday, August 27, 2020

COUNCIL

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Continued from Page 1

and go from there I think we can get this thing rolling.”

When asked at the end of the meeting what the pool budget should be, Hall said he didn’t know yet.

“In my opinion is I don’t know what it costs and I think we need to have a really good understanding of what different cities have paid, or what the cost of the pool should be,” said Hall. “I don’t want to spend $10 million on a pool and I don’t want to spend only a million dollars and not get what we need.”

Council member Tony DeYoung chimed in and said when he looks at the two designs and the hybrid between the two, that he thinks the bud-

get should be in the neighborhood of $1.7 million, which means $1.2 million to the City when including the grant funds.

Potential changes in costs from the initial discussion to construction was also a concern.

“There was a huge increase between the initial estimate and the last one,” said Council member Steve McIntosh.

“Regardless of how we come up with a number, we need to also figure out where that’s going to be when we finally get a bulldozer out there.”

The original plan was approved and the process set in motion by the Council in the spring of 2019, with a ground-

breaking that June, but there was a delay in the awarding of a $500,000 grant. The approved project – which never went out for bid – had an estimated price tag of $1.35 million after factoring in a $500,000 grant from Texas Parks & Wildlife. Hall said that project now has a price tag of $2.19 million, an estimate also provided by Halff Associates, which designed the project. With the grant, that would mean the City would be funding about $1.7 million of the new projected cost. No explanation was given on how the estimate increased more than $300,000.

The Council has implied there was never funding officially

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PUBLIC NOTICES CITY OF LIBERTY HILL,

TEXAS COMMUNITY CENTER ADVERTISEMENT AND INVITATION FOR BIDS Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received by the City of Liberty Hill, Texas for the LIBERTY HILL COMMUNITY CENTER. SCOPE OF WORK: The construction of a new Community Center consisting of renovation of existing 2,400 sq. ft. building, and a new 2,400 sq. ft. building. The construction consists of adding insulation in walls and ceiling, the addition of new trusses and interior walls, and the addition of the new 2,400 sq. ft. building connected to the existing facility with matching materials. Site work is to consist of resurfacing a portion of existing asphalt and the addition of new asphalt paving. Finished building to be 4,800 sq. ft.

Bids must be submitted on the complete project. Bids must be enclosed in a sealed envelope and will be received by the City of Liberty Hill, Attention: Jay Holmes, P.O. Box 1920 (926 Loop 332), Liberty Hill, Texas 78642 until 2:00 PM local time on Thursday, September 10, 2020 at which time the bids received will be opened and read.

Bidding documents will only be made available electronically. To obtain access to the files at no charge, please contact Curtis Steger, Steger Bizzell at 512.930.9412. Bids not accompanied by Cashier’s Check or Bid Bond will not be considered.

Bids received after the date and time of bid opening will be returned unopened. After receipt of bids, no bid may be withdrawn within ninety (90) days after the date of bid opening. The City of Liberty Hill reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to waive any informality in bids received.

A non-mandatory pre-bid conference for this project will be held Thursday, September 3, 2020 at City Hall, 926 Loop 332, Liberty Hill, Texas 78642 at 2 PM. The project site will be available for inspection by prospective bidders immediately following the pre-bid conference. Representatives of the Owner and Engineer will be present to discuss the

project. Bidders are encouraged to attend and participate in the conference. Engineer will transmit to all prospective bidders of record such addenda as Engineer considers necessary in response to questions arising at the conference. Oral statements may not be relied upon and will not be binding or legally effective.

A bid bond in the amount of five percent (5%) of the bid issued by an acceptable surety shall be submitted with each bid. A certified check or bank draft payable to The City of Liberty Hill or negotiable U.S. Government Bonds (as par value) may be submitted in lieu of bid bond.

(9/3) NOTICE TO BIDDERS Sealed bid proposals addressed to MA Omega Ranch, LLC on behalf of Williamson County Municipal Utility District No. 23 (the “District”), c/o LandDev Consulting, LLC, Attn: Caylea Pogue, will be received from qualified bidders until 2:00 pm CST on September 10, 2020 at the offices of LandDev Consulting, LLC, 5508 Highway 290 West, Suite 150, Austin, Texas, 78735, for furnishing all labor, supplies, and supervision necessary for construction of Omega Ranch Phase 4 Subdivision (the “Project”). The Project involves construction of subdivisions and associated infrastructure including grading, roadway, water quality ponds, waterline, gravity wastewater line, force main, lift station, storm sewers, erosion controls, and associated appurtenances.

Bids will be opened and publically read aloud at 2:00 pm CST at the offices of LandDev Consulting, LLC, 5508 Highway 290 West, Suite 150, Austin, Texas, 78735, on September 10, 2020. No faxed bids will be accepted. Any proposal received after the closing time will be filed unopened. Bids must be submitted on the form included in the bid documents, in sealed envelopes marked “Bid for Omega Ranch Phase 4 Subdivision Project”.

Plans and Specifications for the Project may be examined without charge at the offices of LandDev Consulting, LLC,

Serving Our Communities With Southern Hospitality

Page 5

allocated for the project, but those involved in the original planning say that’s not true, and the funds were earmarked for the swim center.

During the Aug. 20 joint workshop, Tim Dean, Recreation Manager for the City of Cedar Park, who has more than two decades of experience in municipal aquatics, spent more than 20 minutes talking about the pros and cons of both proposed pool plans.

When evaluating the more recent proposal, shared with the Council in July by Mayor Rick Hall, Dean said it was problematic in a number of ways.

The square pool, with a kiddie pool, proposal has limitations on accessibility and practical

use for younger swimmers and those with disabilities.

Because it would have a minimum depth of four feet, Dean said it would make teaching swim lessons more difficult and would require a chair lift to give those with disabilities access, an expense not included in the proposal.

Dean also said that while the shape of the pool might accommodate swim lanes, for lap swimmers or swim team practices, the plan did not call for a heated pool, which makes it impractical for swim team use.

“We had to make modifications over the years to accommodate them,” Dean said of swim teams. “One of the

things is it is going to require winter swimming and that’s going to require a massive heater to heat that pool, and that’s very costly. In addition to that you have to have pool tarps.”

He also pointed out that lap lanes take up a lot of space, and is not usually where most swimmers are, referring to Cedar Park’s Milburn Pool.

“The lap lanes take up about two-thirds of our water surface, and the other third is our play surface,” Dean said. “If you go there at any time, you are going to have two-thirds of the swimmers in one-third of that pool because that’s where

5508 Highway 290 West, Suite 150, Austin, Texas, 78735.

Bidders must contact Caylea Pogue at LandDev Consulting, LLC in order to view and/or obtain electronic access to proposal forms, plans, specifications, and contract documents without charge (telephone: 512-872-6696 or email: caylea. pogue@landdevconsulting. com).

A bid must include Bid Security in the form of a certified or cashier’s check or a bid bond issued by a surety legally authorized to do business in Texas, payable to the District, in an amount of at least 5% of the total amount of the bid, in accordance with Texas Water Code Section 49.271(c), as a guaranty that, if awarded the contract, the bidder will promptly enter into a contract with MA Omega Ranch, LLC on behalf of the District and furnish bonds on the forms provided.

If a Bid is Accepted, the contractor will be required to furnish, at the contractor’s expense, (i) payment and performance bonds in accordance with Texas Government Code Section 2253; (ii) a one year maintenance bond in the amount of 10% of the contract price, in a form and substance, and with a surety satisfactory to the District, upon final payment and acceptance under the contract; (iii) worker’s compensation insurance coverage in accordance with Texas Labor Code Section 406.096; and

(iv) general liability insurance insuring against liability for bodily injury, personal injury, death, or property damage.

No Bid may be withdrawn for at least 90 days after the scheduled closing time for receipt of bids.

The Award will be made on the basis of the lowest responsible bidder that is considered the most advantageous to the District and result in the best and most economical completion of the Project in accordance with Texas Water Code Section 49.273(c). The right is reserved to waive any informality in the bidding and to reject any or all bids. The Project is being constructed by MA Omega Ranch, LLC on behalf of and in the name of the District. The contract will provide that the contractor will look solely to MA Omega Ranch, LLC for payment of all sums coming due thereunder.

Minimum Wage Scale: The contract will require compliance with Texas Government Code, Chapter 2258, Subchapter B, pertaining to prevailing wage rates. In accordance with Texas Water Code Section 49.279, the District specifies the prevailing wage rates for public works established by Williamson County, Texas as the District’s prevailing wage rates. The contractor for the Project must pay not less than the specified prevailing wage rates to workers employed by it in execution of the contract.

(8/27p)

See POOL, Page 8

MISSING PROPERTY If you believe the police department may have a found item that belongs to you, you can call the Property Division directly at 512-548-5530 or email at ekrause@libertyhilltx.gov. When contacting the Property Division, describe the item(s) you are looking for, in detail, and we will let you know if we have it. If we do, we will make arrangements to get it back to you.

(8/27)

LEGAL NOTICE Application has been made with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission for a Wine and Beer Retailer’s Permit (BG) and a Food and Beverage Certificate (FB) by RAW Agape, LLC dba Agape BBQ, to be located at 3610 RM 1869, Liberty Hill, Williamson, Texas.

Owners of said Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) are Brandon Reinoehl (General Manager), Jeremy Archer (Pitmaster), and Timothy Wendling (Business Manager).

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SPORTS

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT Thursday, August 27, 2020 Page 6

Panthers continue to gear up Liberty Hill will kick off new football season Sept. 28

By SCOTT AKANEWICH Sports Editor During this all-new and unusual fall sports season, the Panthers of Liberty Hill are chomping at the bit more than ever in anticipation of the regular season gridiron opener against Killeen Ellison at home on Sept. 28.

Despite a shorter run-up than normal, head coach Jeff Walker’s club is still going about its business with the same amount of intensity – if not more, he said. “We’re progressing as normal – nothing has changed within our program,� he said. “Obviously, we won’t get all the tune-ups we would have gotten before COVID-19, but everyone is in the same boat.

UIL has done a great job of letting us work on some football prior to our season and I feel that’s going to help tremendously. Our kids are in great shape and we probably have more offense in right now than in years past.�

Liberty Hill’s ďŹ rst two games

– against Ellison and Del Valle on the road the following week – feature Class 6A opponents and while playing up during the non-district schedule is nothing new for the Panthers, the fact they are in Class 5A themselves now means upping the ante even more – which will certainly provide plenty of opportunities for Walker and his coaching staff to evaluate their squad before moving on to league play, he said. “Yes, we’ll be playing schools that have double the enrollment of ours, but I’m hoping it will get us ready for district and post-district play,â€? said Walker. “Both teams will be very, very athletic. I believe Del Valle has ďŹ ve or six Division I players. We won’t see the speed and athleticism after our ďŹ rst two games until maybe the state semiďŹ nals – if we’re lucky enough to get there.â€?

The fact the Panthers have three open dates on the schedule – including back-to-back byes on Nov. 6 and Nov. 13 is

ALEX RUBIO FILE PHOTO

Liberty Hill senior running back Blake Simpson (#42), who rushed for 1,702 yards and 18 touchdowns last season, will be up against tougher defenses this year as the Panthers move up to Class 5A competition. a bit troubling, but nothing his players can’t successfully navigate, he said. “It’s not good,� said Walker. “Taking that time off can make you rusty, but we have an experienced team that will be able to handle it.�

Following the annual Purpleand-White intra-squad scrimmage on Sept. 12, the Panthers will host New Braunfels Can-

yon – another Class 6A team – on Sept. 18, as the ďŹ nal warmup before the season kicks off for real the next week, which doesn’t allow Walker as much time as usual to gauge talent under game conditions before the games count in the standings, he said. “We only have one scrimmage and it may be a very long one so we can evaluate

our players,â€? said Walker. “It’s important to me to make sure we have the best 22 players on the ďŹ eld.â€?

As for shaking off the ghosts of last season’s 7-6 campaign, which saw the Panthers get off to a 2-5 start to the season, Walker said no inspiration is being taken or built on despite a ďŹ ve-game winning streak, which got Liberty Hill to the

fourth round of the playoffs. “No, we’re trying to forget last year,� he said. “I’m very proud of how our seniors responded in the playoffs, but overall nobody got to see what Liberty Hill football is all about. We’re working extremely hard right now to get last year out of our minds.�

ALEX RUBIO FILE PHOTO

Haley Kuhlmann (#21) and Ailie Hair (#19) are a pair of juniors the Lady Panthers will be counting on this season to perform at a high level, as Liberty Hill will be competing in Class 5A for the ďŹ rst time in school history.

Sticking with the program

Lady Panthers to remain on point during pandemic

By SCOTT AKANEWICH Sports Editor Gretchen Peterson knew the 2020 season was going to be a challenging one for herself and her Lady Panthers volleyball squad.

After all, Liberty Hill will be competing against the big girls this fall after moving up to Class 5A for the ďŹ rst time in the school’s history.

However, what Peterson didn’t count on was a shorter season – including not as many tournaments and non-district matches to properly hone her team’s skills before embarking on the brave new world of

Panthers athletics.

Funny what a global pandemic will do to the best-laid plans.

The veteran Purple-and-Gold sideline boss has seen about everything one would expect unfold on and around a volleyball court during a coaching career spanning nearly two decades, but certainly the threefold challenge that now lies before her and her players is quite daunting, indeed.

Or is it? “We still did our best in terms of scheduling tough preseason matches and trying to get as many in as we could – we

have a number of duals, so that’s going to help with conditioning we lost in not having tournaments,� said Peterson, of her squad’s early-season schedule. “There’s a ton of talent in the central Texas area, so we’re lucky to be able to stay close, but it’s also good to get some road games in early, so the players can work through those situations, as well. We need to hit the court running and make adjustments each match.�

Liberty Hill will open the regular season with an away

See VOLLEYBALL, Page 8

ALEX RUBIO FILE PHOTO

Greg Miller (#2141) is a veteran leader for the Liberty Hill cross country squad who will be depended on for leadership this season.

Getting up to speed

Runners increase mileage ahead of opening meet

By SCOTT AKANEWICH Sports Editor Inside every runner is a clock.

One that ticks and tocks, acting as a gauge by which one can measure his or her performance.

Increased mileage in training results in higher endurance levels, which in turn results in the ability to run faster for longer periods of time.

At the end of the road, a runner can use this newfound energy to post faster times on the other clock – the one at

the ďŹ nish line.

Liberty Hill’s cross country team begins its quest for a return visit to the state championships with a meet at Cedar Park on Sept. 12 and has been gearing up for its initial venture into Class 5A competition, said head coach Kim Holt. “We’re on schedule,� said Holt. “We’ve been having weekly time trials and we’ve been adding half-a-mile each week to our time trials – the last one was 2.5 miles. Next week, we’ll have our 5K

time trial. The kids are doing great.�

Although the boys will still be racing at the same distance as before, the girls will now ďŹ nd themselves also competing at the 5-kilometer distance this season – up from the previous 3.2-kilometers, something Holt has already taken into account – in order to alleviate both physical and psychological barriers that must be broken down, she said.

See RUNNERS, Page 8

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Thursday, August 27, 2020

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Page 7

Fond Back-to-School memories -- depending on who you are

By SCOTT AKANEWICH Sports Editor When I was but a lad, there were three words I dreaded more than any other.

Back to school.

The very same short phrase, which caused weary parents to be instantly filled with glee, causing them to jump for joy would fill us young sparkies with fear and trepidation as August and September approached like a gathering storm on the horizon to rain relentlessly on our summer parade.

All of a sudden after three blissful months of sleeping late, not having homework and no pesky curfews to curtail our young social lives, it was back to the grind of alarm clocks, textbooks and “be home early – it’s a school night!”

Ugh. Especially galling was when you would walk into a store in June or July and already see those three nasty words going up on signs in the traditional retail jump-the-gun marketing schemes to get mom thinking early about those new shoes or backpack when it was the absolute last thing we even wanted to consider.

Funny how perspective changes at various points in one’s life depending on current conditions.

Ever since I’ve been covering high school sports at the various stops on our career tour, summer has been a melancholic period of time.

For you see, even though the dog days always provided a respite from the nonstop sports cycle that relentlessly ran all during the school year – allowing for a much-needed breather, we might add – after a very brief time, you were already looking forward to

having practices and games to cover once again.

Of course, the year 2020 has seen us all on summer vacation since mid-spring, so normally when we would have been just about reaching the finish line of no sports for about two-and-a-half months, we were just arriving at where we would usually find ourselves in mid-May. But, alas and at long last, the time is nearly nigh once again.

After the very real possibility of fall sports being canceled, we all got the news that indeed the games would resume – a bit later than usual and with shorter seasons to make up for lost time – but we would have our beloved competition back.

For the Panthers, that means the Big Four of the fall are back.

Football. Volleyball. Cross country. Tennis.

As sports editor of The Independent – as well as the self-proclaimed Mayor of

By SCOTT AKANEWICH Sports Editor When Sherry Rhoden instructs young tennis players at her academy in Cedar Park, she usually meets with aspiring stringers once per week to offer wisdom in the ways of the hardcourt.

However, as Liberty Hill’s new varsity coach, that kind of imparting can be done on a much more frequent basis – something that tickles Rhoden tremendously, she said.

“The difference that I’m most excited about is getting to work with my team every day as opposed to once a week, like many of my lesson-takers,” said Rhoden. “I love building relationships and it’s easier to do this on a daily basis. Also, my players will improve faster when we work together five days a week.”

More time together equals faster progression for not only the players, but her, as well, when it comes to getting a proper read of the heartbeat of her team from a technical standpoint, she said.

“We do drills every day that focus on the main parts of the game,” said Rhoden. “I’m constantly observing their form. If it’s crucial to their immediate improvement that I address it on the spot, I believe immediate and positive feedback is huge.”

According to Rhoden, sometimes the most effective way to eliminate bad habits or techniques is to have the players police one another in this regard.

“If I see several players developing the same skill, I’ll group those players together

for small-group instruction for a period of time or assign them a drill to do together,” said Rhoden. “Sometimes, I do peer mentoring and have a teammate who has already mastered that particular skill work with the player in the developmental phase of learning – this can benefit both teammates in various ways.”

But, perhaps even more critical in evaluating a player’s overall skill level is a thorough examination of how much tennis knowledge lies between the ears, she said.

“I ask many questions when I’m coaching because I want to understand how they’re thinking so I can understand their thought process better. From this point, I can coach them from their current level of understanding in the direction of skill mastery,” said Rhoden.

“When I meet a new player, many times I simply ask them what their strengths and weaknesses are. I can find out real quick how well they self- evaluate and how well they know the game of tennis.”

Keeping it simple is also an effective way of improving one’s overall game by only focusing on a couple aspects at any one time, so as to not overwhelm a young player who is already under the heavy load of a 12-month tennis routine, she said.

“I will only break their game down if they are no longer able to improve from their current level and it is detrimental to their future success. I prefer to break down their current tennis system in the offseason when they have six to eight weeks to zone in on that goal

for improvement,” said Rhoden. “Tennis is a year-round sport. These players go from team tennis to spring tennis to the tournament season quickly.

There isn’t much down time for them, so my coaching style is to work on small improvements throughout the season in simple steps. Each player has no more than one to two goals to work on at a specific time. Tennis is a huge mental game and I don’t want to bog down their mental status with a to-do list. I always make sure they know all the positive things they’re doing before adding more for improvement.”

Rhoden said while she enjoys the opportunity to mold fresh tennis minds into the players she believes they can be, working with those who are further up the skill ladder also has a gratification all its own.

“I absolutely love my beginner players. I would venture to say most coaches would agree – it’s so fun to see the fast development of the beginning player. They are dry sponges waiting to absorb the content presented,” she said.

“Of course, I also love working with the high-performance players and their private-lesson coaches, as well. Working with other teaching professionals and these high-performance players can be exhilarating as we team up and learn from each other. It’s so rewarding to see the more advanced players work on a specific skill or tactic for an extended time and come out of a match or tournament knowing they hit their goals. We all celebrate with them.”

Pantherville – we have a certain comfort level entering this season we definitely didn’t have last fall – what with having been on the Purpleand-Gold beat for an entire calendar year now as we move forward.

Liberty Hill’s long-expected move up to Class 5A competition was already going to make the autumn a bit more compelling, but now with the condensed schedule, we won’t have to wait nearly as long to see exactly how much of a difference the jump will make for the Panthers from a competitive standpoint.

Not so much for the gridiron gladiators, though, as the football team’s new district opponents combined last season for a not-so-sparkling 15-46 record.

But, the Lady Panthers’ volleyball squad will almost certainly not breeze through the district schedule as they have in years past or last season

when they failed to lose even a single set once league play began.

Instead of the likes of Burnet, Lampasas, Taylor, Salado and Eastside Memorial, head coach Gretchen Peterson and her charges will be facing the two Georgetown schools, the three in Leander, Cedar Park and Marble Falls.

But, truth be told, that kind of fierce competition won’t kill the Lady Panthers, but it will make them stronger come playoff time, which is a good thing.

Exactly why coach Jeff Walker has a pair of Class 6A opponents to kick off the football season in Killeen Ellison and Del Valle.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, the Panthers’ cross country and tennis teams will duly toil about in their relative usual obscurity, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still plenty to pay attention to on the trails and courts.

Head cross country coach Kim Holt will unleash her runners on the competition with a burning desire on both the individual and team sides to return to the state championships again this year like last, with a full stable of fillies and mares ready to run wild until they achieve their goals.

On the purple hard courts, brand-new tennis head coach Sherry Rhoden will bring nearly two decades of coaching experience with her in order to provide proper tutelage to those who choose to hammer fuzzy, yellow balls out of the reach of their opponents as their primary athletic endeavor.

So, see?

Not so bad, after all.

Back to school?

Bring it on!

New court coach embraces full-time instruction

LAURA COLEMAN PHOTO

Liberty Hill head tennis coach Sherry Rhoden is embracing the opportunity to coach her players on a daily basis, which leads to more rapid improvement in their overall game.

But, it’s what’s inside a player – the very core that controls, motivates and influences an athlete’s progression – which is the toughest nut to crack, but also the most rewarding, said Rhoden.

“It’s almost always more dif-

ficult to get to know a person’s heart because some players are not ready to share what’s going on mentally,” she said. “Some players need time to process their mental state. My prayer is time will build trust and trust will develop deep relation-

ships as we unite as a tennis family. On the court, their strokes and court experience shows me where they have been – their mind leads them to the next levels in tennis.”

Kemper always a Panther at heart

By SCOTT AKANEWICH Sports Editor Susie Kemper always wanted to come home.

As a Liberty Hill alum who went on to compete as a middle-distance runner at both the University of Alabama and the University of North Texas, she yearned to return to the place that shaped her as both an athlete and a person.

After having already served as an assistant cross country and track coach for the Panthers since her hiring as a teacher at her alma mater, Kemper has now been handed the reins as head girls’ track coach – something that completes a circle of sorts for the lifelong Liberty Hill resident, she said.

“I envisioned being a coach starting in middle school and I always thought it would be fun to come back to Liberty Hill and coach and teach with the awesome people we have here,” said Kemper. “As for being a head coach, that’s the pinnacle of coaching, so of course I wanted it, but didn’t know it would happen so fast.

I’m really grateful and excited for it. At one point, I wanted to be a college coach, but I found a place with great coworkers and kids. I feel like I can make a difference in the role of a high school coach in kids’ lives and if it’s giving back to the community that helped raise me, then that’s just icing on the cake.”

Despite the fact Kemper –

who still holds school records in the 800 and 1600 meters – never competed in many of the events she will now be charged with providing guidance in, she’s confident she has gained enough knowledge and wisdom during her years around the sport to provide a proper launching pad for participants – regardless of the discipline.

“I was a middle distance runner, but I’ve spent 14 years of going to track meets and being around all kinds of events,” she said. “I knew I wanted to coach all along, so I’ve collected all types of workouts and info over the years. I’m not sure if that makes me a pack rat, or a planner – but over time, you just pick up pieces of knowledge here and there. I also made sure to open my eyes and watch what other event groups did back while I was in college, spent time getting certified as a USATF coach, as well as learned from the coaches I’ve worked with here about their events.”

According to Kemper, in order for a track team to have success when dealing with so many athletes in different events – there can always be one thing they all have in common – attention to detail.

“As an athlete, I was always about the details – I don’t really like cutting corners, so that’s important to me as a coach, as well,” said Kemper. “I think most successful coaches feel the same. I know

I’ve heard Nick Saban talk about that. I want my team to do the little things – warmup, running form, recovery, weight room – correctly, so that on race day, it’s all about showing up and celebrating the hard work we’ve put in. I think as a coach, if we can instill in our athletes that small details lead to big results, we will be successful. Obviously, we want to have fun while we do that – no one wants to work tirelessly without having fun, but to me, making memories together and reaching the team goals we set is what makes this sport fun.”

Kemper will be joining boys’ head coach Kent Walker in leading the Panthers’ track squad, but there are certainly plenty of Purple-and-Gold influences she competed under the tutelage of – as this new chapter in her career begins.

“It’s been great getting to know (Head Cross Country) Coach (Kim) Holt and (Head Volleyball) Coach (Gretchen) Peterson as people, mentors, coworkers, co-coaches – whatever you want to call it – after already having the coach-athlete relationship with them,” said Kemper. “Honestly, we have a lot of fun out there – we joke around almost constantly, but at the end of the day, I continue to learn a lot from them.”

Kemper added both Holt and Peterson have distinct management styles she tries to emulate.

Susie Kemper, (left) a graduate of Liberty Hill High School, has taken over as the girls head track coach for the Panthers this year. She appears in the photo above with Coach Kim Holt and Coach Gretchen Peterson. (Courtesy Photo) “Coach Holt is pretty detail-oriented when it comes to planning things, which has led to her successfully going to state in cross country, I believe, every year since 2010,” she said. “Coach Peterson is a big part of the support system I feel I have here at Liberty Hill, as well as a big part of why I’m able to have this opportunity – she’s really good at the relationships and communication part of our job.

She knows how to talk to kids and get them to respond and fix what they need to, which I appreciate. She’s also good at balancing multiple roles – I

honestly don’t know how she does everything she does.”

However, Kemper is similar to her counterparts in one very important way – she simply wants her new team to be successful – and not only that, but establish itself as a powerhouse that won’t ever back down from the challenges of competition.

“I’m like any other coach, I want to get to state and win.

Winning is fun. The past two years at cross country state, I’ve watched some coaches stand with their teams on the podium and I know how good that feels as an individual and

it makes me jealous. I honestly want to be able to do that and experience that with our track girls,” she said. “We’ve had some really great years in track and winning a team title in track is extremely difficult, but if we don’t have dreams like that, then what’s the point? Besides being successful, I just want our team to be known for their presence.

I want to be the most professional-looking, the most put together and the most focused at meets when it’s time to get to work.”

Page 8

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Bivone named LHHS head dance director

By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer Melanie Bivone is in her third year with Liberty Hill ISD and is stepping up to lead the Liberty Hill High School dance program. Having served as the head of the junior high program and the JV Stars squad, Bivone is ready for her new role.

“My goal is to continue our high level of education and performance with them,” she said.

“They have increased their technique, and they’re honestly little powerhouses now.

They’ve been working hard over the last two years, and the goal is to continue that.”

Dance has always played a significant part in Bivone’s life from a very young age.

“My family always joked that I danced before I could walk,” she said. “Anytime music came on, I would dance around the house. I started at a studio at age three and never stopped.”

Watching her sister performing served as a catalyst for Bivone’s budding passion. The dream of following her sister and putting on the same uniform drove Bivone to her high school drill team.

“So, my sister is actually 10 years older than me and was also on the high school drill team,” said Bivone. “That was the high school that I went to, and I always knew I wanted to wear that uniform, and I wanted to dance under the Friday night lights. I knew when I was on the other side that I wanted to watch my kids dance under the Friday night lights.”

With her life goal in focus, Bivone made the necessary decisions to reach her proverbial pot of gold at the end of her rainbow.

Melanie Bivone served as the head of the Stars JV dance squad and assistant director of the dance program before stepping into the role of head director in her third year with Liberty Hill. (Courtesy Photo) “I grew up in the Austin area, and at a very young age, I decided I wanted to be a drill team director,” she said.

“All of my decisions have led me into a dance teacher and drill team director path.

I studied dance education and minored in special education.

After graduating, I taught in Pflugerville and Hutto then ended up in Liberty Hill, and now I’m starting my third year here.”

The biggest goal for Bivone in her first year as director of the dance program is to give her girls a genuine experience. The experience she was able to experience, even in the face of a pandemic.

“My goal is I want them to be able to experience all that they would get to experience in a normal year like football games and contests if that’s what we can do this year,”

she said. “I want them to get the chance to experience that, and I also have high goals if we do get to contest. I would love to see us take home first place and have them form as a team and be committed to becoming the best dancer and person that they can.”

Despite being in her third year with the district, this specific year feels like a restart for Bovine, one that she feels prepared for thanks to the school district’s support.

“It’s basically because of the pandemic that it feels like everyone is starting their first year over again,” she said.

“Because of this, everyone is in the same boat of not knowing what to do, but we’re all here to support each other.

As an entire school district, we’re all pulling together and making this work for the kids’ benefit.”

Priore prepares for her first year in Liberty Hill

By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer Taking on the dual roles as lead instructor of the Liberty Hill High School JV Stars dance squad and assistant director for the Liberty Belles dance team, Kenna Priore is ready to lead her dancers and help them succeed.

Priore hails from San Antonio and is an alum of Texas State University. She was a member of the Texas State Strutters dance team and majored in dance education.

The new assistant director started her dance career at a young age before taking a hiatus to indulge in sports for a while. It was after joining her high school dance team that she realized her passion for dance.

“I started dancing when I was young, like around three or four,” she said. “I wanted to play soccer, so I got out of dance and played every other sport there. I took a dance class in high school, and my dance teacher thought I should try out for the team and so I tried out and made the team. I didn’t want my journey to stop there, so I went to college and pursued what I was passionate about.”

Priore is relatively new to the world of being an educator, now in just her second year.

“Last year was my first year of teaching in Kerrville ISD. This year will be my second year of teaching being an assistant director and the Junior High dance teacher for Liberty Hill Junior High,” she said.

Part of Priore’s responsibilities with the Belles is assisting director Melanie Bivone. As the head of the Stars squad,

Kenna Priore is taking on multiple roles in her first year with Liberty Hill. The Texas State alum will serve as assistant director to Melanie Bovine, head of the JV Stars dance squad and instructor of the Junior High dance program. (Courtesy Photo) Priore’s priority is getting to know her new dancers.

“For Stars, I’m creating new content and just getting to know them as dancers since I haven’t met them or had a lot of experiences with them,” she said.

Priore’s third role with the district is as a dance instructor for the junior high. Relying on established ideas from her first year of teaching helps balance her multiple roles.

“With my junior high kids, thankfully, I did teach last year, so I’m taking most of the same content and applying it here since I know they like the dances, and it works.

That’s how I balance things out. By not having to start from scratch. I started prepar-

ing Stars things in summer so I wouldn’t be too overwhelmed.”

In her first year with Liberty Hill and just her second year teaching, Priore has the tall task of having to adjust to changes forced by COVID-19.

“It’s a big change, and it’s a little stressful, but I’m thankful I’m not a first-year teacher,” she said. “So, I have a little bit of experience that makes me a little more confident going into this year with the pandemic. I’m hoping too much won’t be different.”

Priore is approaching expectations and goals for her Stars as she usually would but is prepared to pivot if situations change.

match against Copperas Cove on Sept. 15 and begin the home portion of its schedule with a contest against Cedar Creek on Sept. 19. In all, the Lady Panthers will only play seven matches before the district opener at Rouse on Sept.

29.

Peterson said the opponents her club will now face will provide much more rugged and intelligent competition as compared to years past.

“Play and tempo will be faster, teams will be more athletic and there will be more depth,” said Peterson. “Also,

most of the teams we will face have players who have played volleyball for many years through really sound club programs, so the level of volleyball knowledge is high.”

Still, all that being said, all she and her team can do is continue to get ready.

“We’re getting to work, focusing on our weaknesses and building on our strengths,” she said. “We have to get the reps in practice and try to make the most of every time we’re on the court, working to make each day our best day.”

Peterson said her players

have used recent months as an opportunity to stay focused on improvement – at all levels.

“We’re blessed to have a group of athletes that haven’t really taken the summer off completely,” she said.

“They’ve been in the weight room and worked during skills sessions -- they put work in -- freshmen through seniors. We’re going to show up every day, work hard, pray everyone stays healthy, do our best and enjoy every moment we’re on the court -- that’s all we can do.”

Volleyball Continued from Page 6

Thursday, August 27, 2020

WilCo Commissioners approve budget, set tax rate

GEORGETOWN – The Williamson County Commissioners Court on Tuesday unanimously approved the total county budget of $394,690,355.64. That is a slight increase of .00214 percent over last year’s adopted budget of $393,843,886.

The Commissioners Court also adopted a total tax rate for tax year 2020 of $0.458719 per $100 of valuation. The total tax rate is comprised of the General Fund, Road and Bridge Fund, and Debt Service Fund tax rates. That rate is the same as the County’s current total tax rate. This represents an increase of $10 for the year for the average valued home.

The FY21 General Fund budget is $222,981,680. In this budget, the Commissioners Court strategically moved six positions from one department to another based upon need while not increasing the total number of employees from the previous year.

The FY 21 Road and Bridge Fund budget is $44,862,760.64. As in previous years, this budget includes $5 million towards funding the County’s long-range transportation plan.

The Commissioners Court approved a law enforcement and corrections step pay increase of 2% and allocated 2% to go towards merit earned, lump sum payments for civilian em-

Runners

Continued from Page 6

“Since the girls are running 5K this year, we’re adding mileage for them,” said Holt. “We’re having weekly time trials building up mileage each week – this is helping them to be ready for the first meet. Since the girls and freshmen have never raced at 5K, this is really helping them not to be scared to race at the 5K distance.”

Holt added these weekly rac-

Pool

ployees.

“During these unprecedented times, we took a very conservative approach with our budget and did not add to our total number of employees. County employees have served on the front lines during the pandemic response, and I am grateful for them. Non-law enforcement employees are eligible for a lump sum merit increase based upon performance,” said County Judge Bill Gravell.

“I want to thank the County department heads, elected officials, and employees who worked with us to develop a lean budget that meets the needs of our County but is mindful of the unique time we find ourselves in,” said Precinct 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long.

The FY 21 Debt Service Fund budget is $126,845,915 and includes $25 million to pay down debt early.

“The Commissioners Court has made paying down debt a priority as part of our annual budget process. Over 20 years, Williamson County has saved more than $135.6 million in interest through its efforts to pay off debt early and refinancing,” said Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey.

“The tax rate for 2021 is the result of all of the departments in Williamson County government really stepping back and working through each of their

es are used to determine where each runner is in the grand scale of things.

“We’re using the time trials to see where the kids are,” she said. “We also evaluate them in practice.”

In addition to her returning runners, Holt has a brand new crop of freshmen who must be integrated into the team and the most effective method of doing exactly that is to throw

Continued from Page 5

the shallow water is. That’s where the kids are.”

The kiddie pool concept is one Dean said primarily serves as a cleaning challenge, collecting lots of sediment, and it only works for toddlers.

While the price tag is higher, Dean said there are advantages to the original design with the popularity of a splash pad with a greater age range of kids, and the zero entry that not only makes it easier for lessons and younger swimmers to enter the pool, but also accommodates swimmers with disabilities and eliminates the need for a lift chair.

“This is not a bad design,” Dean said of the originally approved plan. “I know it’s a little more expensive than the other one, but this is a really good design.”

Agenda items Under current rules, City Council members must find a second Council member to sponsor items they want to add to the agenda for consideration at meetings. Council members Tony DeYoung and Kathy Canady hoped to change that Monday, by offering a proposal to allow each member to place up to two items on the agenda each meeting without a sponsor, with the stipulation that if the measure failed by vote that it could not be brought back for consideration for at least six months.

Following a brief discussion, the motion failed 2-3, with Canady and DeYoung as the only two Council members supporting the proposal.

Bailey Lane improvements The Council is looking into potential improvements to Bailey Lane, but postponed any action until more information could be gathered on a number of other improvements suggested Monday such as acceleration and deceleration lanes, possible future signalization, and potentially the realignment of Loop 332 – currently just to the west – to Bailey Lane.

Bailey runs north from SH 29 just to the west of Golden Chick and Dairy Queen.

The two-lane road currently goes to Liberty Manor Apartments, but a new business park planned for the property between the apartments and restaurants is expected to in-

crease traffic flow, and the Council is looking for ways to improve the road and its capacity.

The proposal brought to the Council Monday was for widening only, and improving the entry from SH 29, with an estimated price tag provided by Steger Bizzell Engineering of $440,695.

New EDC website The Council unanimously signed off on a Liberty Hill Economic Development Corporation (EDC) initiative that will create a website where local properties for sale can be showcased, and regularly updated to help promote local economic development.

“Currently, all the City of Liberty Hill has is just a link to LoopNet,” said interim EDC Executive Director Matt Powell. “LoopNet, if any of you have used it, is not an all-encompassing tool and it tends to favor larger developers.”

The new site will work in conjunction with LoopNet, but will be much more specific to local properties and developments.

The website will be created by GIS Planning, and will have a $5,000 annual fee for creating, updating and maintenance. It is expected to take 45 days to get the site up and running.

“Think of it as GIS planning creates the infrastructure, then you have to fill it with the data,” Powell said. “They will fill it for you the first time, but how do you keep it updated?

There’s something called LoopNet that is based in Austin and all they do is scour and they actually have a system that if it is not scoured any developer can actually go on and enter their own properties on there.”

The cost for LoopNet is $3,500 annually, and the data on the site will be updated twice a week through LoopNet. Butler traffic signal The Council authorized Mayor Hall to enter into a professional services agreement with HNTB Corporation for services related to the implementation of a traffic signal as part of the intersection improvements of SH 29 and the new Butler Farms development on the north side of the highway and west of Liberty

individual budgets to identify those items they must have or maintain, then limiting their asks to those. It was a team effort in these very trying times.

I’m so proud of everyone,” said Precinct 1 Commissioner Terry Cook.

Williamson County will end the fiscal year with an estimated $99.9 million in uncommitted general fund cash reserves and $20.8 million in Road and Bridge fund uncommitted cash reserves according to Williamson County First Assistant County Auditor Julie Kiley.

“Taxpayer money is precious, and as a Commissioner, setting the budget is one of the most important things we do. It is how we set our priorities. Considering the pandemic and the uncertain economy, this budget focuses on maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of the County,” said Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles.

The adopted FY 2021 budget is available for residents to review on the Budget Office website, under the section titled “Budget Overview”.

The link is www.wilco.org/ Departments/Budget-Office/ Budget-Overview. A hard copy of the recommended budget can be accessed at the County Clerk’s Office in the Justice Center located at 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Street, in Georgetown.

the rookies right in with the veterans, she said.

“The freshmen practice with the older kids, so that helps them to see what it’s like,” said Holt. “They have great leaders this year to guide them and we have some freshmen that are doing really well, so I think it gives them confidence to see they can compete with the older kids.”

Hill High School. The not to exceed price is $111,628 and the City should eventually be reimbursed for those costs by the Butler Farms Public Improvement District.

According to the scheduled scope of the project, it is anticipated to open bids in January and be completed by April 2021.

Kiosk The City will install a kiosk on the outer wall of the municipal court building, creating a drive through where payments can be made for everything from court fines to water bills.

“People will be able to stay in their cars, they will be able to pull up there 24 hours a day, and they can make a payment for utility payments and for court,” said Finance Director Becky Wilkins.

All City payment services will then be switched to the same service making it easier to take payments in person, through the kiosk and by phone.

Convenience fees for utility payments will be included when customers use the kiosk, ranging from $3.95 to $9.95 or 3 percent for transactions over $1,000. Payments for citations or warrants will have a 5 percent fee.

Charter committee In February, the Council established a committee to create a proposed city charter, but the process was paused as the COVID-19 pandemic slowed many things.

There was an item on Monday’s agenda – sponsored by Canady and DeYoung – to consider possible removal of Matt Powell as the committee facilitator, but after the item was moved to executive session there was no discussion or action in open session.

Hall said the charter effort would see some changes, but was not specific.

“They did meet last Saturday and there’s been some enlightenment out of that meeting and I think we will probably bring back in the next couple of council meetings a reboot and give the charter committee more direction as far as what our expectations are from that committee,” Hall said. “And we will open up and allow other citizens to get involved in it before we really get going with it.”

Thursday, August 27, 2020

ELECTION

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Continued from Page 1

In 2018, there were 336,148 registered voters in the county for the November election with a 62.25 percent turnout. In the last presidential election, in 2016, there were 306,811 registered voters and a 67.1 percent turnout. The number of registered voters has only continued to increase, and predicting how many will show up to vote is a challenge. “It’s like an equation and that’s one of the most important numbers is just the number of voters that we anticipate to show up,� Davis said. “We’ve got 362,000, depending on what day you ask, registered voters in Williamson County, more than it’s ever been. And there will still be a rush of people to get registered before the deadline, which I think is Oct. 5. That’s a number we’re concerned about and how we handle that.�

In addition to ever-growing numbers of voters is the fact that this November’s election

CITY

will include races from the presidency down to local races that would usually be decided in May elections, but were postponed last spring. “The length of the ballot is going to be a concern due to the number of participating entities,� Davis said. “Along with president and senator and congressman, and all these down-ballot state, district and county races we’ve got what were already going to be city, school district and utility district elections that were set to occur in November, as well as those entities that have postponed their elections to November. A lot of those entities not only have candidate elections, they’ve got charter amendment elections, ballot proposition measures, and it is going to make for a very long ballot.�

It will be lengthy, and a longtime method of voting quickly has been removed beginning with this election.

Continued from Page 1

voice,� DeYoung said.

Silent to that point in the discussion, Hall spoke up, defending his leadership and management. “I would welcome Tony, Kathy, Gram, Steve, Liz, please go talk to any staff you want to,� Hall said. “If I’m doing something that needs to be corrected I’ll be happy to do that. I feel like we have a great staff inside City Hall, inside the municipal court, inside the police department, inside the public works department, and if I’ve done something to offend any of them, please, I don’t want Councilmen to have to come tell me. I want my staff to come tell me.�

He also did not respond to any of the previous allegations, instead focusing on his support for the staff. “I’m here to promote a positive workplace, I’m here to support and I feel like I’ve done a great job, and if I need to do more please let me know,� Hall said. “I will support my staff 100 percent and I give them 100 percent.�

But with Hall assuming the supervisory role when the City chose not to ďŹ ll the City Administrator position, ques-

tions have been raised over the last 10 months about where employees can go with complaints or concerns.

In August 2019, City Administrator Greg Boatright was forced to resign, and at the end of that meeting Hall said the City was already active in the process of looking for a new administrator.

But in October the Council voted to “temporarily assign the duties of the city Administrator to the Mayor.â€? By March, the City had not replaced the City Administrator, and instead hired a Chief Operating OfďŹ cer, making the previously temporary supervisory duties permanent.

Since March, the City has terminated four staff members and chose not to renew the contract of another.

Human Resources Director Becky Wilkins, who led the internal investigation of former Police Chief Maverick Campbell, said opportunities have been provided for staff members to raise concerns, but there have been no complaints about Hall or his behavior. “If I felt like there was a concern I would have come to you and said ‘maybe you want to

“This will be the ďŹ rst general election without straight-ticket voting,â€? he said. “That was outlawed in 2017 and delayed implementation until this election. That time-saving measure a voter has had in previous even-numbered Novembers they will not have any longer.â€?

For voters who plan to cast their ballot by mail, Davis’ suggestion is the same – do so early. The elections department website has information on how to request a mail ballot, and the deadline to request one is Oct. 23. The department has already received more requests for ballot by mail than in any previous election. “We’re getting a lot of calls from folks interested in voting by mail and clearly they’re doing it for the ďŹ rst time, so they’re asking a lot of questions that we’re trying to answer on the phone, but also provide an FAQ list on our website so they can get their

own answers,� Davis said.

The plan is to have 19 early voting locations across the county, including the Liberty Hill Municipal Court building at 2801 RR 1869. There will also be about 60 election day polling locations.

But due to space restraints and the need to keep people socially distanced, there could be fewer machines at locations. “We’re just trying to get to the best equilibrium on both sides of the equation on how we can get voters in and out, because we don’t want them spending more time than they have to in line and certainly in voting,�

Davis said. “It is clear it is becoming this perfect storm now where voters can spend a lot of time in close proximity to each other during focused periods of time.�

And some locations that are traditionally used for voting are no longer options. “We’ve dropped some, being

nursing homes, assisted living facilities, that are just off the table now given that we’re operating in a pandemic situation,� Davis said.

One beneďŹ t is the newest voting equipment in the county, which will be used for its fourth election this time around. “The new machines are working great and they give us a lot of exibility that we’re going to depend on in terms of making sure each polling place has the right number of machines,â€? Davis said. “If we overestimate or over-deploy machines at one place, with these machines we can take from one site to add to another site throughout early voting and even on Election Day. That’s a huge exibility.

With the old machines, whatever we sent out we were stuck with and if we guessed wrong at a place that’s just the way it would be and voters had to suck it up.�

As far as how to deal with the challenges of COVID-19 during the election, Davis said the July primary runoff was helpful in giving his department a glimpse into what it might be like on a smaller scale. “The Primary runoff election was a good kind of election to test out some practices and procedures,� Davis said. “They say it’s better to be lucky than good and we were lucky in a couple of ways in that not only in a primary runoff it’s typically a slower election, but this time it was really slow because there was only one party having a runoff, the Democratic Party, and on that ballot there were only three races. We could actually put in place processes and procedures to look out for the health and safety of both poll workers and the voters. I think it went really well.�

change this’,� Wilkins said. “But no one brought anything up. They had the opportunity to mention it in a group meeting or one on one. There was not one complaint.�

Canady, who has been outspoken in her belief that everything in Campbell’s April grievance to the City was fabricated, pointed to the morale at the police department today, and encouraged Police Chief Royce Graeter to tell the Council how high it was. “The morale is very good currently at the police department,� was Graeter’s response.

The Council never took up the issues alleged in Campbell’s grievance, but the former chief did win an appeal hearing this month with the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), entitling him to unemployment beneďŹ ts. The ruling from TWC stated “the claimant’s (Campbell’s) ďŹ rsthand testimony did not reveal any misconduct and the employer failed to carry its burden of proving any acts of misconduct. Under these circumstances, the (Appeal) Tribunal must conclude that the claimant was not discharged for misconduct with the workâ€? (in accordance with Section

207.044 of Texas Labor Code).

The TWC decision also states that, “The employer received most, if not all, of the information it used to make its decision to discharge the claimant from secondhand sources.�

The Council also did not publicly discuss the sudden termination of Sally McFeron, Barbara Zwernemann, Jonny Ubelhor, or the decision to allow Lance Dean’s contract to expire with the Economic Development Corporation. The City connected the terminations of McFeron and Ubelhor to problems associated with the Wetzel Park Splash Pad, and Zwernemann’s to possible legal action against her, though no legal action has been taken against her to date.

A common denominator in those ďŹ ve situations, as well as Boatight’s was the lack of any previous sign or indication that these employees had been performing unsatisfactorily.

Ubelhor, McFeron and Dean all shared their ďŹ nal performance reviews with The Independent. All were conducted within months of their terminations and all of which included positive evaluations and salary increases. Boatright’s contract

had been extended three years less than a year before he was forced to resign, and he was given a 7.5 percent pay raise at that time.

When asked about how it was that this many employees would be terminated abruptly with no history of performance issues or problems, Hall simply said, “Things change.� “To the best of my knowledge you are correct (that there were no negative reviews or job performance issues). I haven’t seen all of the reviews,�

Hall said. “I know there were a couple and the reviews were pretty good reviews. But from our side looking in when we see what’s going on on a daily basis and there’s something brought to our attention we were not made aware of, it kind of changes. It’s kind of hard to tie their performance evaluations to the reason why they are no longer employed with the City.�

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VOTING

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Continued from Page 9

The longer early voting period could help ease the pressure of voter volume each day, but it will still be necessary to make sure social distancing is observed.

“Whether they’re in line or checking in to vote or actually voting, it is something that is key that we always want to really get right,” Davis said.

“That means that if the space is going to be the same we’ve got to have fewer machines in a space or look for larger spaces, and that’s what we’re

trying to do for November is look for larger spaces that can accommodate socially distanced machines and enough machines throughout early voting and Election Day.” The department has lots of personal protective equipment and supplies to meet the need.

“We were fortunate enough to have that with the help of the county emergency department and the tax office being instrumental in securing a whole bunch of supplies for county departments and we

used a lot of that during the election,” Davis said.

While Davis hopes everyone chooses to wear a mask when they go to vote, he reminds everyone they can’t require it.

“One of the unfortunate things is we can’t require voters to have masks when they come to vote,” Davis said. “We encourage them to, we’ve put out a really good video about what a voter can expect at a polling place. We want to reduce the points of contact, going as much con-

tactless as we can at the polling places, reducing the places a succession of voters have to touch.”

Perhaps the most important piece of the election puzzle will be the poll workers, and while Davis is confident in the poll workers they have, the higher expected turnout and longer voting period means having additional poll workers is going to be important.

“With 18 days of early voting and almost 12 hours every day it is high stress,” Davis said.

Thursday, August 27, 2020

“We’re requiring our poll workers to take at least two days off in that 18-day period and not have them be backto-back days because it is just a lot to ask. It’s bit us in the behind having poll workers at the end of their ropes and mostly drained and it doesn’t serve the voters well.”

Anyone interested in working as a poll worker can find an application on the election department’s website.

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