CITY& COUNTY
News from Cedar Park, Leander & Williamson County
Cedar Park City Council Meets May 12 and 26 at 7 p.m. 450 Cypress Creek Road, Bldg. 4, Cedar Park • 512-401-5000 www.cedarparktexas.gov Leander City Council Meets May 5 and 19 at 7 p.m. 201 N. Brushy St., Leander 512-259-1239 • www.leandertx.gov Travis County Commissioners Court Meets May 10, 17 and 24 and June 7 at 9 a.m. • 700 Lavaca St., Austin • 512-854-9020 www.traviscountytx.gov Williamson County Commissioners Court Meets May 10, 17, 24 and 31 and June 7 at 9:30 a.m. • 710 S. Main St., Georgetown • 512-943-1100 www.wilco.org MEETINGSWE COVER HIGHLIGHTS CEDARPARK City Council approved April 28 suspending a rate increase for 45 days from Atmos Energy Corp. This increase would raise residents’ average monthly bills by $5.15 per month, or 14.2%. The rate increase would have gone into eect April 26 but is suspended until June 10 to give the city time to evaluate the data. WILLIAMSONCOUNTY Commissioners discussed plans April 26 to add the 480th District Court and County Court at Law No. 5 to the Justice Center in the coming year. County Judge Bill Gravell said the district court will move into the almost completed courtroom on the rst oor of the Justice Center, located at 405 Martin Luther King Jr. St., Georgetown. The courtroom is expected to be ready for occupancy Oct. 1. Gravell said Gov. Greg Abbott will appoint a judge to serve that court prior to then. QUOTEOFNOTE “THIS COMES BEFORE US AS A COUNCIL, BUT YOU’VE GOT A COUPLE OF FOLKSWHO ACTUALLYGOT TO LIVEMANY YEARS OF KNOWINGAND SEEING MYLES. IT’S ALL TRUEHE’S A SPECIAL PERSONAND I THINK THISWOULDBE AN HONORABLE THING.” KEVIN HARRIS, CEDAR PARK COUNCIL MEMBER, ON RENAMING THE CEDAR PARK RECREATION CENTER GYM TO MYLES R. HUTCHESON GYM
Signs banningmost cell phone use in school zones planned
CEDAR PARK Following reported auto-pedestrian accidents near Reagan Elementary School, Cedar Park City Council acknowl- edged that a Texas law— prohibiting cell phone use in school zones—has not been enforced in the city due to a lack of signage. A 2009 state law bans drivers using wireless devices while operating a vehicle in a school zone, unless when using it while stopped or hands-free, according to the Texas Transportation Code. How- ever, cities are not able to enforce the law unless signs about the prohibition are posted. “Jurisdictions that have BY ZACHARIA WASHINGTON
[signs] up right now in our area ... it’s city of Leander, city of Round Rock, city of Georgetown,” Mayor Corbin Van Arsdale said in the April 14 meeting. “Basically it sounds kind of like most of the other [cities], except for us.” The Texas Department of Transportation devel- oped a standard sign in response to the law in 2009 for cities or school districts to install, but Cedar Park did not install them due to installation costs and the sign’s inconsistency—it implies that all cell phone use is prohibited, accord- ing to city documents. The city considered three options for moving forward, but council voted
SAFETY FIRST Cedar Park aims to make school zones safer and will install new signage alerting drivers of the laws about wireless device use when not stopped or using hands-free.
2009 state laws ban wireless devices 2017 state laws ban electronic messaging 72 school zones in the city $7,000 to install new signs
SOURCE: CITY OF CEDAR PARKCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
April 28 to go with the option to install TxDOT’s standard sign, which implies that even using Bluetooth or using a cell phone while the vehicle is stopped is prohibited. Cedar Park has a total of 72 school zone signs within city limits, said Stephen Hanuscin, assistant
director of public works and eld operations. He said it would cost the city roughly $7,000 to install the signs in all school zone locations. “Sounds like the best $7,000 we’d spend all year,” Council Member Jim Penniman-Morin said at the meeting.
Leander opens new activity center, adds more programming
Old Town Leander plan gets funding
own, and that’s amazing innovation.” The Leander Activity Center is located at 11880 Hero Way W., Lean- der, the previous meeting location for Hill Country Bible Church Leander. There is a three-year lease on the building with the option to add two years. The city is still in the process of planning and developing recreation and senior facilities, which voters approved in the 2016 bond.
BY AMY DENNEY
LEANDER On April 21, City Council selected consulting rm Kimley-Horn to complete its Old Town Master Plan that will direct developing and revitalizing the district. Council also approved amend- ing its initial $75,000 budget to accommodate Kimley-Horn’s entire scope of the proposed process for $130,000. Kimley-Horn will assist the city with stakeholder engagement, analysis of the city, mapping and visioning.
BY ZACHARIA WASHINGTON
LEANDER On April 9, the city of Leander held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new 14,400-square- foot activity center that will oer a variety of recreational activities and programs as well as community events for all ages. “A lot of cities say, ‘We want a rec center,’ and they just go out and build it,” Mayor Christine DeLisle said at the event. “[The parks and recreation sta] found the opportunity and found a space and made it [their]
N
City to create plan for athletic center at SanGabriel Park
BY AMY DENNEY
The contract is for master planning, engineer- ing studies, design and construction at the 77-acre park on the north side of the South San Gabriel River. Amenities could include softball elds,
multipurpose elds, trails, picnic shelters and a cov- ered sports court, accord- ing to city documents. Funding comes from the 2016 bond, in which voters approved $26.65 million for parks.
183
LEANDER City Council approved April 21 a con- tract for $1.86 million with Parkhill for the Leander Municipal Athletic Center at San Gabriel Park, located at 2401 US 183, Leander.
B
N
15
CEDAR PARK LEANDER EDITION • MAY 2022
Powered by FlippingBook