By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Lakeway Regional Medical Center, the nearest full-service hospital to Four Points, received its 3-Star LEED award from Austin Energy on Thursday during its two-year anniversary celebration.

“The Lakeway Regional hospital is an excellent example of providing advanced, state-of-the- art healthcare while still considering the impact on the earth and the surrounding community,” said Liana Kallivoka, LEED project manager with Austin Energy.

On May 15 Austin Energy awarded LRMC with its Green Building Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design 3-Star Rating of Distinction.

“We think it puts the hospital as a showcase in the community, as a standard of taking care of folks and being a good steward of the environment,” said Kregg Elsass, principal at architecture and engineering firm Page Southerland Page Inc.

L-R Kregg Elsass, principal at Page Southerland Page Inc., Joyce Hein, interim Lakeway Regional Medical Center CEO, and Liana Kallivoka, project manager with Austin Energy Green Building were part of the LEED award ceremony at LRMC on Thursday.

LRMC, located at 100 Medical Parkway off of RM 620 S., opened its doors in April 2012. Today the hospital has 280 doctors on staff, has admitted more than 3,400 patients, and has delivered more than 419 babies, said Joyce Hein, interim CEO.

When the hospital was just a concept in 2008, Elsass was part of the LRMC design team. He helped initiate the plans to go green which led to the LEED certification last week. Continue reading →

By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

With traffic congestion in Four Points continuing to be a major concern, officials with the Texas Department of Transportation will unveil details for a new traffic plan concept for the RM 620 and RM 2222 area at the Steiner Ranch Neighborhood Association community meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, at Steiner Ranch Elementary, 4001 Quinlan Park Rd.

The TxDOT concept includes new capacity and intersections to separate traffic flow at RM 620 and RM 2222, and improvements to RM 2222 and River Place Boulevard, said SRNA Chairman Brian Thompto.

Brian Thompto

“Steiner Ranch Neighborhood Association is very pleased to announce that concept plans are finally ready to provide major improvements for 620 and 2222,” Thompto said.

“These improvements are designed to take the Four Points area into the coming decades with significant reductions in congestion and traffic delays,” he added.

TxDOT will present the plan details at the May 28 meeting along with facts, figures, and simulations of the proposal.

“We intend to show traffic modeling as developed for possible projects and improvements, for sharing and discussion with the local officials,” said Christopher Bishop, TxDOT spokesperson.

“The ideas are being presented for discussion and information only, with no final decisions having been made. We look forward to working with officials and citizens to develop feedback and ideas for future development,” Bishop said. Continue reading →

By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

Evacuation during a wildfire is something most Four Points families lived through in September 2011, and with the continued drought and threat of wildfire, one local parent wants to know more about the evacuation plans for Vandegrift High School and Four Points Middle School.

Vandegrift High School traffic after school on Monday. There is one road in and out of the campus and some parents are concerned that during an emergency, one road is not enough.

Leander ISD parent Jannine Farnum said all she wanted was a better understanding of the school’s evacuation policy in case of emergency, prior to her son starting school at Vandegrift. She contacted VHS but said she was given a vague answer.

“I’m not asking for information on a bomb threat, which I can understand why you might keep that info private,” Farnum said.

“My question is in response to a wildfire. These two schools, FPMS and VHS, are at the end of a dead end road that backs to a canyon preserve that, if it caught on fire, would travel up the canyon to the schools direction. There is only one way in and one way out for those schools and several apartments,” Farnum said.

But, according to officials, a vague answer is all Farnum and other parents will get. LISD spokesperson Veronica Sopher said it is standard practice for school districts to keep their schools’ evacuation plans out of the public eye.

LISD emergency response plans

Veronica Sopher, Leander ISD executive director of school/community relations.

“Security experts recommend not putting out your evacuation plan information,” Sopher said. “The state allows you to keep it private. We’re not going to release that kind of stuff. Having said that, we have to assure the community that we do have (evacuation plans). We have different variations and we practice them by law. That’s always the way it is at every school.”

Sopher said that emergency response plans differ depending on the type of emergency, and regardless of the type, LISD always works with and follows the recommendation of emergency management officials.

Continue reading →

By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

Steiner Ranch residents Van Hilderbrand and Ted Tongson are co-owners of Hilderbrand Jewelers, specializing in high-end, new and pre-owned watches and jewelry.

After decades in the jewelry business, Hilderbrand and Tongson opened their own store a couple weeks ago in the Trails at 620 shopping center.

​L-R: Sales representative Shaun Coates and store owners Van Hilderbrand and Ted Tongson manage the newly-opened Hilderbrand Jewelers, located at the Trails at 620 Shopping Center, 8300 N. R ​M 620, Bldg. D, Ste. 500​.
Photo by Cassie McKee

Continue reading →