Small Town News

Year in Review City of Kyle

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Top 10 of 2010 This year's good, bad and ugly

NEW LIBRARY GETS BOOKED

A picturesque 20,000-square-foot library is slated to be added to Kyle's old town district after plans of the more than $3.6 million building were approved in May. Inspired by the architecture of the new city hall, the library will cost roughly nine percent over the original budget of $3.2 million. A ground breaking ceremony is scheduled at the proposed site on South Meyer Street on Jan. 13 at 1 p.m. Completion of construction is expected by the end of 2011. The Friends of the Library fund has raised at least $155,000 to go toward the new library that will replace the current 5,000-square-foot library.

CITY MANAGER ORDEAL

Following a long search, Leon Valley City Manager Lanny Lambert was finally tapped to become Kyle's new city manager Nov. 16. The position was temporarily filled by Assistant City Manager James Earp after former City Manager Tom Mattis resigned in April among concerns about his performance. As part of his contract, Mattis was expected to receive up to $250,000 in termination pay.

CITY COUNCIL SHUFFLE

At the age of 26, Councilmember Lucy Johnson became the youngest mayor in Kyle history following a Feb. 13 special election. Councilmembers Russ Huebner and Jaime Sanchez also won enough votes to be elected to fill in Johnson's councilmember role as well as former councilmember Ray Bryant's slot. Former mayor Mike Gonzalez had resigned to vie for the seat of Hays County Pct. 2 commissioner. In May, councilmembers Diane Hervol and Brad Pickett won their elections to replace former councilmember David Salazar, who did not seek re-election; the other slot belonged to former councilmember Michelle Lopez, who resigned to run for mayor.

KYLE COP FIRED IN PEDOPHILE CASE

After an arbitration hearing, a hearing examiner upheld the firing of a police officer who let an alleged pedophile drive away with a 14-year-old runaway during a traffic stop in February. Police Chief Michael Blake terminated Officer Karl Cranek for not properly investigating the scene when he stopped Kyle resident Dustin McFall, who had the minor in the car. McFall, 33, and the boy were eventually detained upon re-entering the U.S. from Mexico. McFall is currently in prison awaiting trial on two counts of sexual assault of a child, as well as an earlier assault causing bodily injury charge. His trial has been pushed back to Jan. 10 at the 22nd District Court in San Marcos.

INFANT DIES, CARETAKER ARRESTED

Christina Suzanne Lyons, 32, turned herself in to authorities in late November after the Hays County District Attorney's Office increased her bail to $500,000 in connection to the death of a 10-week-old baby who suffered fatal head and chest injuries at her home daycare in Kyle. Lyons is currently in jail for first-degree felony of injury to a child.

WASTEWATER LEAK

Roughly one million gallons of untreated and undertreated wastewater spilled into an unnamed tributary of Plum Creek on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 when a pump at the intake area at the Kyle wastewater treatment plant failed to engage, causing a backup of sewage. When the problem was discovered, workers turned on booster pumps which sent the backed up wastewater into the plant and caused under-treated effluent to spill out the other end into the creek. The spill is blamed for the death of about 2,000 fish in the creek between the plant and Plum Creek's crossing at Texas 21. Aqua Texas, the contractor that operates the plant for the city, faces fines from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

KYLE'S NEW LIFELINE

The mammoth 21,000-square-foot Kyle Fire Station #1 on Main Street opened earlier this year, boasting enough room for six fire and rescue vehicles in its three large bays and 13 bedrooms for firefighters on rest between calls. The $3.6 million building also has a large classroom for training purposes.

TAX CUTS IN BUDGET

A frugal city council allowed Kyle residents to pay almost four cents less in property

taxes this fiscal year compared to the three-cent hike first proposed in July. In September, the council approved a revamped Fiscal Year 2010-11 budget, which lowered the tax rate to 41.54 cents per $100 property evaluation. The first proposed budget had a tax rate of 45.39 cents and last year's tax rate was 42.4 cents. The lower tax rate was made possible in part by the council's decision to reapply $2 million from a 2008 bond which was to be used to buy land for an economic development park. The council also spent hours in budget workshops trimming the proposed budget by more than $257,000. The city still has an outstanding debt of $68.7 million.

KYLE CEMETERY DESECRATED

In June, the Kyle Cemetery had at least 33 gravesites vandalized, including those of

the grandparents of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Katherine Anne Porter, confederate soldiers Charles Word and Major Edward Burleson, members of the Kyle, Groos and Whisenant families, and Ed Green, a prominent San Marcos politician and greatgrandfather of actor Robert Redford. The cemetery is the oldest community cemetery still in use in Hays County and is maintained by a volunteer committee. Hays County Crime Stoppers offered a $1,000 cash reward in August for any information leading to the arrest of the vandals.

PUBLIC WORKS GETS THE WORKS

In August, the maturing Kyle Public Works Department moved out of its deteriorating headquarters into a new $2.6 million site on the city's eastside. The 14,000-squarefoot site added roughly 10,000 square feet of workspace compared to its previous aging metal hanger shop, a few miles down the road on FM 150. The new site, comprised of two buildings, is home to

the public works administration and maintenance bays. The department maintains city streets, water systems, wastewater systems, and drainage systems as well as other responsibilities.



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© 2011 The Free Press Buda, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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