A rural area within the city limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction of Lakeway could soon get a new emergency services district.

Though no action was taken Lakeway officials Dec. 17 discussed the creation of Travis County Emergency Services District No. 16. Lakeway’s approval would clear the way for Travis County officials to set a time, date and location for a public hearing to consider creation of the ESD for the purpose of funding emergency medical services in the area.

Kyle Swarts, Pedernales Professional Firefighters Association president, along with Pedernales Fire Chief Troy Wentzel, delivered a presentation to Lakeway City Council that highlighted the need for the new district.

Council Member Ron Massa established the people living in the area for the proposed ESD already pay taxes for emergency service to ESD No. 8 and questioned whether an additional tax would be a positive thing.

Wentzel said ESD No. 16 constitutes the formation of a district that will provide an additional level of service and therefore would be an additional taxing entity. Mayor Sandy Cox pointed out as an ESD it would be capped as a taxing entity at $0.10 per $100 of valuation.

Wentzel said the taxes would pay for personnel and training, and right now he is running below the national standard at three firefighters per truck. The national standard is four, he said.

The petition must be cleared by the cities of Lakeway and Briarcliff due to the proposed district’s geographic location, which borders Lake Travis’ southern bank from Lakeway to near the community of Spicewood. Swarts said the city of Briarcliff already gave consent, and its residents were enthusiastic about the addition of a new ESD.

Discussion of the advancement of the entity comes following the submission of a petition signed by a group of more than 100 western Travis County property owners. The group, led by area residents Matt Coffel, Ashlee Coffel, Ronald Dingwall and Laura Lea Luchsinger, submitted the petition to Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt on Oct. 31.

Cox said that she anticipates the item to be back on City Council’s agenda during its January meeting. That will effectively be the deadline for Lakeway officials to make a decision on the matter in order to keep the timeline for a May election through Travis County.