LISD bond survey shows 43% of voters in favor


By KIM ESTES
Four Points News

Of 500 registered Leander ISD voters, 43 percent told surveyors they would support a $454 million bond if school officials put the matter up for a vote in November, said Rice University professor, Robert Stein, reporting results of a community survey to trustees meeting last Thursday.

Thirty-nine percent said they were undecided on the matter, while 18 percent stated that they would vote against it, Stein added.

LISD trustees are considering the bond proposal that supporters said would accommodate growth, improve safety and provide major facility maintenance throughout the district. Officials must decide no later than Aug. 21 whether or not to call for the referendum for it to be on the fall general election ballot.

A Citizens Bond Advisory Committee — formed earlier this year to develop a three to five-year facility plan to meet district needs — recommended the proposal.

As for the community survey, the goal was to gauge interest in certain bond issues, said Dan Troxell, LISD superintendent.

Under Stein’s direction, Consumer Research International of San Marcos conducted 500 live telephone interviews between June 25 and July 6. The error rate for the survey was +/- 4.5 percent.

In addition to questions about a $454 million bond, surveyors asked responders about optional items which would total a $480 million bond.

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Senate panel approves bill that gives communities a vote on annexation

Tim Mattox, an advocate for annexation reform, spoke at the Senate State Affairs Committee on Sunday afternoon in support of Senate Bill 6, which puts annexation into the hands of voters.

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

Senate Bill 6 — which would give communities the right to vote on whether or not they want to be annexed by a city — was approved by a state Senate panel on Sunday during the special legislative session.

SB 6 was heard in the Senate State Affairs Committee on Sunday afternoon. Senate committees met over the weekend, approving bills for the Senate to consider this week.

“HB 6 has been filed and referred to Land and Resources,” said Roger Borgelt, attorney of Borgelt Law. “The bills (HB 6 and SB 6) are virtually identical to each other and the conference committee report that was filibustered in the regular session, so they both have all the language necessary for River Place.”

On Sunday, the majority of a dozen speakers at the Senate committee hearing were in support of SB 6, Borgelt said. Tim Mattox, an advocate for annexation reform, was one of those speakers. He is an 18-year resident of River Place, father of four and a member of the homeowners association board.

“I became involved in this issue because I saw a number of families and couples on fixed incomes being impacted by massive water rate increases associated with the city of Austin taking over our MUD,” he told the committee.

The city of Austin is in the final stages of annexing River Place, which is to be complete by the end of this year. Annexation is a multiple year process and at this point, many River Place residents have been vocal about opposing annexation.

Mattox’s research shows that the potential impact of annexation on property taxes and electric utility rates would be in the thousands of dollars per household per year with no improvement in services and limited input or say from the affected property owners, he said.
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Appalachian Trail hiker shares “happy trails” experience

New Jersey has the lowest elevation profile of any state along the AT. Still the views span for miles and reveal a greener New Jersey than most are familiar with.

By SARAH DOOLITTLE
Four Points News

There were so many reasons to worry as I embarked on my second Appalachian Trail section hike in June. Not for any of the reasons other people worry about when I go on the trail alone — not because of bears, or murderous convicts, or rattlesnakes around every bend — but because of the fact that I would hike 74 miles (the width of New Jersey) in five days and had not trained.

Last time I hiked the AT, when I covered 150 miles in 9 days, I trained for two months in advance, hitting the trails in Steiner Ranch and beyond at least three days a week, two hours a day, with a weighted pack and poles. By the time I got on the actual trail, my body knew exactly what to do, and I covered miles and climbed peaks with relative ease.

This year, as I walked away from my sketchy motel in Delaware Water Gap, Pa. at 9 a.m., my body felt like I was taking it out for a test drive. The morning air was typical to a trail town (what hikers call the many towns, mostly small, that are on or near the AT): green, humid and smelling of diesel and diner breakfasts.

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River Place author pens newest nonfiction book

By SARAH DOOLITTLE
Four Points News

Stephen G. Yanoff — the author and world traveler who lives in River Place with his wife Patty — released his newest work in April, “Turbulent Times: The Remarkable Life of William Henry Seward”.

Last year he also published “Run for the Money,” the seventh installment in his ongoing detective series features insurance investigator Adam Gold, inspired by Yanoff’s real-life 20-year career in New York investigating high-ticket insurance claims. And now that “Turbulent Times” is out, Yanoff is already at work on his next two books.

It’s not surprising considering that Yanoff’s second career as a writer is about more than just telling great stories. “For me personally, this is still a hobby even though it’s going quite well. I like meeting people and going around the country,” said Yanoff.

As with his other books in the Adam Gold series, “Run for the Money” centers around an actual claim Yanoff investigated during his career, in this case one in which a wealthy racehorse owner paid to have one of her horses killed in order to collect the insurance money.

River Place author Stephen G. Yanoff released his latest book in April called “Turbulent Times: The Remarkable Life of William Henry Seward”. Already the book was chosen as a finalist in the U.S. History Category of the 2017 International Book Awards.

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