The Texas General Land Office last week approved more than $28 million to improve flood mitigation infrastructure throughout Bastrop County.
The GLO announced the grant awards Friday morning to fund street and drainage improvements in the cities of Bastrop, Elgin and Smithville.
These flood mitigation projects are designed to “directly benefit thousands of residents in majority low-to-moderate income areas” where repetitive storm damage has occurred, including in 2017 as a result of Hurricane Harvey, the General Land Office said.
“Texas has led the nation in disaster declarations, and Bastrop County has had more than its fair share of repetitive flooding and destructive wildfires,” Land Commissioner George P. Bush said in a statement Friday. “Many of the areas hit hardest by natural disasters have never had access to funding for critical infrastructure projects to mitigate flooding and protect residents.
Construction on Bastrop s $395,000 planned skate park in Fisherman s Park is about 30% complete, Assistant City Manager Rebecca Gleason told the council at its May 11 meeting as part of an update on public infrastructure projects.
The first phase of the skate park s construction process features about 5,000 square feet of poured concrete in Fisherman’s Park.
The city awarded the skate park s construction project to Artisan Concrete Services last year. Construction began in March and is scheduled to be finished this summer, according to city documents.
The City Council opted in October to move forward with plans for the skate park despite a construction cost increase of about $100,000. The cost increase came after a geo-tech report performed as part of the design process determined the need for remediation to existing soils at the project site, inflating the project s cost from $289,000 to about $395,000, with all skate park features included.
After unofficial election results showed Jimmy Crouch narrowly defeating Cheryl Lee for the open Place 4 Bastrop City Council seat by just four votes, an official recount in the election will occur Monday.
According to results released by the Bastrop County elections office on May 1, Crouch received 616 votes, or 50.2% of the vote, compared to Lee s 612 votes, or 49.8%.
A statement released by the city on Friday said the city received a petition on Thursday requesting a recount of the votes in the Place 4 election.
The statement said a recount, a process of verifying the number of votes in an election, was requested by Lee.
The city of Bastrop is projecting a hotel occupancy tax revenue shortfall of more than $500,000 this fiscal year compared to initial budget forecasts, leading the City Council to discuss potential cost cutting measures and possible policy changes.
City Manager Paul Hofmann and Finance Director Tracy Waldron presented the stark financial picture during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. Hotel tax funds may only be used to directly promote tourism and the convention/hotel industry, as per the state comptroller s office.
The city, in its approved fiscal year 2021 budget, projected it would collect about $2.26 million in hotel tax revenue. Officials, however, have updated the budget forecast and have lowered the city s expected revenue to about $1.72 million, a $543,400 decline from the initial estimation. Officials are now left scrambling for ways to close the gap.
The Bastrop Economic Development Corporation’s chief executive officer, who was fired last month without cause, has withdrawn a whistleblower lawsuit he filed March 24 against the city of Bastrop, Mayor Connie Schroeder, the economic development corporation and the corporation’s chairwoman, Kathryn Nash.
“As a lawyer that has been doing this for 15 years, I know the emotional toll that lawsuits can put on people, said Cameron Cox, the BEDC’s ousted CEO who also is an attorney. And at the end of the day, it’s not a ton of money. I have a job as a lawyer and I just want to move on.