By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

The River Place Municipal Utility District has notified the federal agencies that it intends to reopen the upper trail prior to Golden-Cheeked Warbler nesting.

“The River Place MUD board is delighted to reopen the River Place Nature Trail on February 7,” said Jim Casey, president of the River Place MUD.

“We’re really excited for this,” said Sandy Perry, president of the advocacy group Friends of River Place Trail. “We are grateful for the MUD having hired the right people to get to this point.”

On Sept. 17, Alan Glen, noted environmental attorney with Sedgwick Law, on behalf of the River Place MUD informed the US Army Corps of Engineers and US Fish and Wildlife Service of their Notice of Intent to Sue both agencies.

The NOI stated that the agencies have no jurisdiction over the MUD owned, conservation land and there has been no harm of the Golden-Cheeked Warbler. Glen asked the agencies to respond within 30 days.

“I had a long series of conversations with their lawyers and they were very productive. They were listening and sensitive to all of the issues,” Glen said.

“They have made no formal response so we are going to open the trail,” he said.

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By CASSIE MCKEE, LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Officials from Leander ISD will meet with representatives from the City of Austin and Travis County this week to hear their proposals regarding the construction of a new 1-mile road through the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve to Vandegrift High School and Four Points Middle School.

Pam Waggoner, Leander ISD School Board President and leader of the Four Points Traffic Committee advocacy group, is ready for the Jan. 23 meeting.

“We are not discouraged. We plan to continue working to build this road along side the improvements we want to 2222,” Waggoner said. Those potential improvements would include another lane along RM 2222 and improving the road’s intersection with McNeil Drive.

USFWS permit

LISD hired Attorney Alan Glen to work on the Road to Vandegrift.

Meanwhile, LISD is also moving forward with plans to file its own permit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that would allow construction of a new road. She said the district hopes to have the application completed later this month.

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By SARAH DOOLITTLE, Four Points News

Drug and alcohol addiction does not discriminate. That is what two local experts have found in their work at Happy Mental Wellness Center in River Place.

“When I first entered the field, I truly thought of the alcoholic as the person under the bridge. And then I (treated) the doctors, the lawyers, the person working at McDonald’s, the homeless person,” said Rebecca Sheehan, a licensed professional and chemical dependency counselor. In other words, no one is immune from the dangers of substance abuse, she added.

Drug and alcohol abuse can stem from a variety of causes: social use, a medical condition, a family history of addiction. However, Nadia Bening, MD, a psychiatrist who treats adults and adolescents, does point out a common condition present in addicts.

“Our research shows that 75 to 85 percent of people with substance abuse problems will have a dual diagnosis (of substance abuse and) a mood disorder,” such as depression or bipolar disorder, Bening said. Substance use may start simply as an effort to self-medicate, she said.

Rebecca Sheehan and Nadia Bening, MD, at Happy Mental Wellness in River Place provide a variety of mental health services including treatment for substance abuse.
Photo by Sarah Doolittle

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