River safety remains at center stage

By LPR Staff

Editor/POST-REGISTER

Although the river-based businesses in Caldwell County are currently experiencing an off-season lull, the owners continue to work with law enforcement and with the Caldwell County Commissioners to ensure that the growing summer popularity of the San Marcos River will create less chaos than it did last season.

Rocco Moses, the owner of Texas State Toobs, approached the Commissioners during their Tuesday morning meeting to review the actions that he, along with owners of Don’s Fish Camp, have taken to increase security and reduce trash along the river during next year’s tubing season.

Among those preparations, he said, the river-based businesses have begun working with the Caldwell and Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Departments to schedule increased patrols on “peak days,” as well as introducing additional private security at the entry and exit points to the river.

Further, Moses said, he has entered talks with a diving club who will help to remove trash from the river periodically throughout the season.

Addressing what has been a main sticking point in years past, Commissioner Neto Madrigal once again pressured Moses to work with Fish Camp owner Don Nelly to reach an agreement regarding access to the property.

Currently, Nelly’s property contains a private driveway, while Moses’s customers reach his business via county-maintained Meadow Lane. Madrigal and the neighbors along Meadow Lane have pushed the two businesses to enter an agreement that will divert traffic away from the residential neighborhood.

In other business, the Commissioners continue to grapple with their procedures regarding the appointment of volunteers to sit on various boards and commissions.

Historically, those appointments have come from recommendations from the organizations themselves. However, Commissioner Fred Buchholtz recently introduced the notion that he would like to see more people get involved with boards and commissions, and set out to write a policy change that would require the organizations to advertise, and the Court to take applications for the positions.

Although the other Commissioners imply that they like Buchholtz’s idea, they are also hesitant to change the current procedure, suggesting that the organizations themselves know who and what they need.

Madrigal and Commissioner Joe Roland both said they prefer to allow the organizations to continue bringing forth nominees, to prevent people from just “deciding they want to serve on the board of directors” without having previously been involved in an organization.

Buchholtz will continue working on a draft of a procedure and present it to the Court at a later time.

In brief news:

The Court approved proclamation declaring the week of Jan. 21, 2013, as “Martin Luther King, Jr., Week.”

They reappointed three commissioners to the Caldwell County Emergency Service District No. 2, and one director to the Luling Foundation.

The Court discussed an interlocal agreement with the City of Martindale regarding subdivision regulation within that city’s extraterratorial jurisdiction. Despite several weeks of negotiation, Assistant District Attorney Mack Harrison has not yet been able to reach an agreement with Martindale’s City Attorney on the contract.

Commissioners also discussed the status of an unpaved in the Lytton Springs area, between County Line Road and Lytton Lane. It is unclear whether the abandoned roadway is in Bastrop or Caldwell County, and after additional research, the discussion is expected to return to the Commissioners to determine whether the roadway should be legally abandoned.

The Caldwell County Commissioners Court meets on the second, third and fourth Monday of each month at 9 a.m. in the Conference and Training Room of the LW Scott Annex, 1403 Blackjack St. (FM 20E) in Lockhart. The meetings are open to the public and interested stakeholders are encouraged to attend.