Dear Editor,
Llano residents and businesses struggling with high utility bills should be aware their bills can soon go dramatically higher. The city council met in a special meeting February 23 and approved a groundwater lease on Riley Mountain. This meeting was held behind closed doors without benefit of stakeholder input or public comment.
Dear Editor,
Why can’t we dredge our river instead of drilling wells? Why isn’t the city taking out sand off of Oregon Street? I went to the city manager last Friday and asked him to get the mayor and let me show them 2 what a mess Chanas has made close to Blue Hole.
Dear Editor,
Nell Ross was a private, thoughtful person and a loyal friend. Years ago, Nell wrote a letter to her children, Brian and Nancy, that said when her time came to die, she did not want a funeral or an obituary. For those of us who were lucky enough to know Nell, humility was ingrained in her strong, rural Texas upbringing.
Dear Editor,
It's hard to believe that Llano Central Appraisal District began to appraise Llano Gospel Church property / sanctuary in 2002.
In 2014 they increased the appraised value of the church by more than 300% above the 2010 value, and more than 500% above the 2008 value. Today Llano Gospel Church, which had never been appraised / taxed from 1958 – 2001, owes more than $4,500 in property taxes.
It's also hard to believe that in 2015 the appraisal district removed the homestead exemption ...
In my last article, I mentioned Town Lake would be lowered. The lowering of the water level of the lake was accomplished early Tuesday morning of February 3rd, and took a little over 14 hours. The lowering of the lake level had been planned for Monday January 26th, however the first attempt to open the south maintenance gate was not successful.
Dear Editor,
The City Manager recently changed the format of our electric bills, and, at the same time, people from all over the city had huge and undue increases to their electrical usage.
Combined with this we have been told that the LCRA undercharged us by about $400,000 for the electricity they sold us last year.
Dear Editor,
Question: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time. Recently, City Council moved to apply for more grant money. The idea is to replace the gates on the dam (that are rarely opened) with remotely operated ones. During the discussion, Gail Lang asked why we don't apply for the grant in order to fix piping systems and roads in low income areas of Llano which is also in the scope of these grants.
Citizens of Llano,
I, Allen Hopson, would like to express my sincerest apologies for the tremendous lack of communication, and explanations given regarding the utility bills for the December-January cycle. As a council member, I take responsibility for the situation. Council is responsible for the actions of administration, and I personally feel that transparency and communication is lacking greatly.
Dear Editor,
I have had unlimited local and long distance service at a fixed price with Verizon for several years. My September bill increased about $25 and October increased by $160.
After an investigation, I found that Verizon had allowed a third party phone company to take over my long distance service - without my knowledge or permission.
