Kerrville Texas Newspaper

City, county reject LCRA settlement

Aug. 03--City and county elected officials held emergency meetings Tuesday morning to consider a last-minute offer to settle with the LCRA over the proposed 345-kilovolt power transmission line along Interstate 10.

Both boards rejected the undisclosed offer before heading to Austin, where oral arguments were expected to be made late in the afternoon before Texas 261st Judicial District Judge Lora Livingston. The judge was not expected to rule on the joint request to overturn the Texas Public Utility Commission's decision, which would place the power lines through what elected officials say is the gateway to Kerrville.

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Tuesday's hearing in Austin and the settlement negotiations are part of the ongoing legal fight that began with the Jan. 24 Public Utility Commission vote to approve the power transmission line through Junction and Kerrville. City and county officials here, as well as city officials from Junction, have argued that there were better routes that impacted fewer people, including the route preferred by the LCRA and the route selected by the administrative law judge who reviewed the evidence and testimony and made a recommendation to the Public Utility Commission.

In all, there were 75 proposed routes. The route selected by the commission follows I-10 along most of the route from Junction to Kendall County, and it impacts about 134 habitable structures, according to the city's complaint. At a cost of $360 million, that route is the more expensive of the three routes. The LCRA's preferred route has a price tag of $266 million, and the administrative law judge's recommended route would cost an estimated $302 million.

In addition to the hearing Tuesday in Austin, attorneys for the city and county have filed a complaint with the Public Utility Commission claiming that LCRA's proposed changes to the route through Kerrville are beyond what was approved by the commission. Lawyers for the LCRA responded by saying possible adjustments to the route were not specific proposals.

The staff of the Public Utility Commission filed a request last week seeking additional time to prepare a statement of position. The staff was given until Aug. 10 to reply.

That complaint and the hearing in Austin on Tuesday are separate.

Known as Competitive Renewable Energy Zones, the Texas Legislature in 1999 set forth a mandate to the LCRA to bring renewable energy from wind farms in West Texas to load centers throughout the state. Plans for transmission lines include routes through several area counties to connect the McCamey D Station, to be located in northern Schleicher County, to the existing Kendall Station, located in western Kendall County.

Judy Sue Robbins - Johnson City Record Courier - Johnson City, Texas

Judy Sue Robbins, 62, born October 6, 1948 in Johnson City, Texas, passed away May 4, 2011 in her home in Kerrville, Texas. She left behind her long time companion, Randy Wood; three children, Kimberley Bindseil and husband, Larry of Corpus Christi, Texas, Wylie Wilkinson and wife, Jody of Kerrville, Texas and Cole Lorenz of Johnson City, Texas; nine grandchildren, Jennifer, Casey, Benjamin and Chelsea Bindseil-Nolte, Hailey Buegeler of Corpus Christi, Texas, Wylie and Nicole Wilkinson of Kerrville, Texas, Destiny Tatsch, and Audrey Lorenz of Dripping Springs, Texas. She was preceded in death by her parents, George Robbins and Gertrude Klappenbach Robbins Unger; brother, Owen Robbins and sister, Mary Helen Robbins.

Judy was known to everyone as "Nanna Banana." Although a little eccentric and strange in her ways, she knew no strangers and many became family. Nanna was a carefree spirit, artistic and creative in every way. She had an eye for the unorthodox and had a need to create anything out of everything. She was always ready to help anyone she could whether she knew them or not. Nanna impacted many lives, more than most of us knew. She will be greatly missed by all that knew and loved her, more than words can say.

"Good bye Mom (Nanna Banana), we love you."

Services will be held Saturday, May 14, 2011 at the First Assembly of God Church, 901 Jefferson St., at 1:00 PM.

The family invites you to send condolences at www.grimesfuneralchapels.com by selecting the "Send Condolences" link.

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Grimes Funeral Chapels of Kerrville.

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