Letters – Water, Stock Show and Case Hearing

Meeting asked to provide more seats

To the Editor:

On Wednesday, March 25, at p.m., there will be a meeting of the Board of Goforth SUD at their location on Niederwald Strasse in Niederwald.  However, the home page of their website (www.goforthwater.org) states “There is limited seating (30 seats available) in board room.”  It is n

ot clear whether the 30 seats include seating for Board members and staff. In any event, there will be too little seating for the many citizens who are expected to attend from various towns in Hays County.

Please contact the Goforth SUD Board members to ask them to provide more seating or to schedule the meeting elsewhere.  Ratepayers of Goforth should be shown the courtesy of having a place to sit to listen to their Board. It is, after all, an open meeting for which a welcoming Board should provide ample seating.

The only email address given for Goforth is info@goforthwater.org. You can send an email to the Board at that address.

The names of Board members are:

President – Ms. Debbie Sandoval  (Place 4)

Vice President – Mr. Ronald Bell (Place 3)

Chief Financial Officer – Ms. Lesley Simpson (Place 5)

Place 2 – Mr. Jack Hodges

Place 1 – Mr. Joe Maxwell

Place 6 – Ms. Megan Pivec

Place 7 – Mr. Travis McDonald.

Or you can phone to (512) 376-5695, fax (512) 376-7631 or write Goforth Water SUD, 8900 Niederwald Strasse, Kyle , TX 78640-4034.

Please plan to attend the March 25 meeting. Many bodies are wanted to indicate to the Board that their actions are adversely affecting citizens near to and far from Niederwald.

Barbara Hopson

Wimberley

Directors thank Show supporters

To the Editor:

The Caldwell County Fair Association would like to thank everyone who helped make our 2015 Caldwell County Jr. Livestock show a success. So many folks and businesses gave donations and time. A wonderful crowd attended our auction and supported our sell.

Thanks to all.

Sincerely,

CCFA Directors

Court action will bring added costs

To the Editor:

My wife and I want to publicly thank Judge Kenneth Schawe for trying to do the right thing for this County.

As I watched the Commissioner meeting on Monday, I hoped all the Commissioners had read about contested case hearings. Maybe they haven’t.

TCEQ’s website says “A contested case hearing is a legal proceeding similar to a civil trial in state district court.” The Texas Campaign for the Environment describes them the same way. I’ve been a party in civil trials in state district court, and it’s never been free. I’ve never been able to “get out any time I wanted.”

Why did the commissioners believe it when someone told them we could get into this thing, and it wouldn’t cost us anything, and we could get out any time that we wanted? I don’t believe that. Growing up in East Texas, my father used to tell me that everything stopped being free as soon as the lawyers got involved.

One of the ladies that talked to the commissioners said they should not leave a non –profit to fight the battle. My wife and I think she was wrong. If the non-profit has the support they say they do, they can raise the money in their organization to fight. Caldwell County should not be a party to this action. We don’t have the financial resources for a long legal fight, and there are a lot of taxpayers in this county who don’t want the fight, anyway.

A few years back, an “undesirable element” came into our neighborhood. We worked with our homeowner association to fight it, and the homeowner association worked with the Sheriff’s office to fight the criminal element. We lost the fight, and we chose to move, and raise our children in a neighborhood that was what we needed, for our family. We were lucky to have the resources to make the move. But we never asked our neighbors to fight our battles for us.

I read social media, and I see lots of accusations and hypotheticals. What no one has showed me is proof this project will be bad for Caldwell County. If they had, I would be glad to donate to helping to fight it. I don’t like the idea of using my tax dollars to fight a war I’m not sure I want to be in. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen that they have done good in the communities they have come to, including bringing jobs – not just jobs in the landfill, but other jobs. Don’t always believe Google Maps. Google Maps information is as much as four years old.

The commissioners took away my right to be a “conscientious objector.” They chose to jump into the war, and take my tax dollars with them. If you think this move won’t cost the county, you’re fooling yourself, and you’re lying to everyone you tell otherwise.

Eric B. Tiemann

Lockhart