Seguin loses community legend, supporter

(Seguin) -- A true supporter of Seguin and Guadalupe County is remembered today. The community mourns the loss of James “Tuddy” Dietz, one of the founding members of the Buck Fever organization.

Tuddy’s accolades span several area organizations, garnering him community support throughout the years.

Topping that list and closest to his heart was The Buck Fever organization.

Best known for its twoday Buck Fever event in the fall, the group prides itself in showcasing the horns of local hunters and works to introduce kids to outdoor education and programming.

Club President Rodney Bargfrede says if you ask folks, Tuddy Dietz was Buck Fever.

“His heart was Buck Fever and he loved it and he loved being down there and seeing the people and enjoyed what we did -- what we were able to give to the youth of Guadalupe County and that was our main focus and his main focus too. He always wanted to help, always a helpful soul,” said Bargfrede.

Of course, Tuddy’s passion for outdoor education and the great outdoors led him and other founders to initiate this nonprofit organization which today has awarded just over $1.1 million to local youth.

Support, continued.

Bargfrede says over the years, Tuddy was always making an impact and growing the organization in any way he could.

“Tuddy was one of the founding members of Buck Fever which started 38 years ago and he stayed involved up til present in one way or another. He was president of Buck Fever. He was treasurer but more important, I think he was a mentor to all of the directors and taught us how to make the organization better and he always cared so much about the people and the youth of Guadalupe County and Seguin. That was probably one of the biggest things. More important, he was a friend. He would always be a friend to you no matter what. If you ever needed anything, he was always there for you. Always with a smile on his face and willing to help,” said Dietz.

Bargfrede says what made Tuddy even more incredible was his ability to not only lead -- but listen.

“When you would come to him, he would focus on you. When you had a question or had a problem going on or anything going on in the organization, he gave 100 percent of his attention to what was going on and to you and didn’t deviate,” said Bargfrede.

A former loan officer and agricultural estimator, Tuddy’s passion was being a farmer and rancher who loved fishing and hunting. He spent five years serving on the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court. His countless group memberships also included but were not limited to the Guadalupe County Fair Association, the Kingsbury Fire Department, and the Seguin Noon Lions Club.

Like Buck Fever, Tuddy will be remembered for being instrumental in developing the Irma Lewis Seguin Outdoor Learning Center.

Funeral arrangements for Tuddy Dietz will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 23 at Emanuel’s Lutheran Church. He leaves behind his grown daughter Jami Dietz-Carley.

Dietz was 86.

He says there’s a $25,000 expenditure that will help the group reach an agreement with GBRA and then take a proposal to their property owners to establish the tax rate to help fund any of the necessary improvements.

“The last piece of the puzzle really is trying to come up with a firm number that GBRA feels comfortable with and an acceptable solution. If we’re able to get that, then I think we may have the opportunity to continue the negotiations. I think the goal would be to call an election for the WCID debt issuance or debt rate at a November election to see if the community in Meadow Lake would be amenable to those higher taxes. They would be funding the large majority of that. But is there a difference there, that the city needs to step up with in the future to make that whole project go? And (also) how it will be operated and maintained,” said Steve Parker. Support, pg. 3

Support, continued.

Councilman Paul Gaytan represents the Meadow Lake area, and he was a big proponent of the city helping where it could. Gaytan says this is an important community asset that should be protected. He says there’s a clear financial impact on the community, but he says the potential impact would go well beyond that if the lake is left without the necessary repairs.

“This affects the property values. It affects the environment. (There are) serious environmental (concerns). It also affects our recreation and tourism. You know, tax dollars that we get from people that kayak there, that fish there and use it for recreational reasons. But this is (also) a lake that flows through the city of Seguin. When you see it at (State Highway) 123 and see it intersecting with TOR Drive -- and you look over that bridge, you’re going to see at least half the water gone. That is not the message that we want to be sending to people that are coming to see our beautiful community,” said Gaytan.

Gaytan’s comments were echoed by several representatives from the lake association and Meadow Lake WCID No. 1.

Tess Coody-Anders is a downtown business owner, whose Pecan Town Books & Brews recently won the city’s Downtowner of the Year Award. She’s also a Meadow Lake resident and a member of the WCID board of directors. She says they believe they have a solution to this problem, and this additional support from the city will help them keep that momentum going. Coody-Anders again stressed that this is important to everyone in Seguin and not just those who live along the lake. She says there’s potentially a much broader impact on this community.

“We’re approaching developing a solution for Meadow Lake. We are not just thinking about it as residents, but we’re thinking about it as Seguin residents because what we know is that this lake is not just ours as residents. It’s ours as a community. If we fail to find a solution, there will be real and dramatic impacts to the entire community through impact to tax revenue and depression of the economic stimulus that the chilling effect that would have on spending in our community if we don’t improve the lake. Not to mention the cultural impact (it will have). It is a point of pride. It is a recreational site for our community and it’s ours in Seguin, right? It’s not somewhere else. It’s here in Seguin. It’s at the heart of what we do,” said Coody-Anders.

The council was clearly empathetic towards the need to save the lake, but council members also asked questions that were on the minds of many folks who don’t live on the lake. Councilman Chris Rangel asked about public access to the lake. Staff pointed out that Meadow Lake, unlike some of the other hydroelectric lakes in the area, does offer public access points, including two put-in points in Max Starcke Park. Councilman Jim Lievens says he’s now more comfortable with the city being a part of the solution for Meadow Lake. He says that situation is unique, because of the small number of homeowners along the lake, but it’s also unique because it flows through such a large part of the city of Seguin. He says there’s good reason for the city to be involved, even if it’s just a small bit of funding at this time. He says preserving all of the lakes is important to this community, but he says there are some legitimate reasons for the city to be more involved here.

“One of the major property owners along that lake is the city of Seguin. Meadow Lake and Lake Seguin are right in the heart of old Seguin, or traditional Seguin. So yes, the economic impact from all of the lakes (matters), but those are right here in town. In some ways, I can now, at least in my mind, I can separate those two. To your questions, Chris, I think they were very important. It offers more public access than probably what you can get at some of the other area lakes. I think it’s important for our citizens, and those who choose to benefit from them,” said Lievens.

One story was shared during Tuesday’s council meeting that demonstrated one of the potential threats, should the lake not be saved. Doug Parker has lived on the lake since the 1980s and he told the story about an encounter he recently had with someone just as the lake was about to be lowered.

“You guys need to get out of here. They’re lowering the dam today. It’s dangerous. And they didn’t believe me. (They said) ‘we’ve been coming here for years...your area has those beautiful, primitive alligator gar.’ And I said yes, I see them all the time and I catch them and I put them back. And they said ‘We always bring another guest with us in the hopes of catching one of those alligator gars, so we come to your place all the time.’ So I told him what was happening, and he said: ‘We’ve been doing this for six years three or four times a year. We will not be back,’” said Doug Parker.

The council took no formal action on the request. The city is going to pay the $25,000 needed to move the process forward and potentially allow the lake group to reach an agreement with GBRA. Once that agreement is in place, the WCID would need to call an ad valorem tax election by August. If things proceed as planned, that item would likely appear on the November ballot. The city stressed that this was just a small way for the city to financially participate in this part of the process and that the bulk of the funding would have to come from the property owners on Meadow Lake.