1. City dog ordinance could be coming

The Bee Cave City Council meeting on April 10 included emotional public comment from citizens whose dogs had been attacked by other pets in the city dog park—including one last week. The council instructed staff to come back at a future meeting with options for a dog ordinance, rules the city has not formalized.

2. Bee Cave to begin annexation process for 33 acres of Lamar Brown tract near Field of Dreams complex

The City Council approved a declaration of intent as a first step to annex nearly 33 acres of land south of the Field of Dreams athletic complex by June 12.

In December 2017, Council approved the purchase of 45 acres west of Great Divide and south of Hwy. 71 and the Lake Travis Youth Association athletic fields. Of that 45 acres, 32.8 acres is located outside city limits.

To complete the annexation by adopting the relevant ordinance, the city is required under state law to first hold two public hearings. As a result, the city will hold a special meeting May 16 and its regular council meeting May 22. In December, the city declared no immediate use for land that takes in a section of Bee Creek.

3. School district gets the OK to install overhead power lines to service new middle school

The council approved a waiver request from Lake Travis ISD to bury electric service lines at the location of the new Middle School No. 3 now under construction at Vail Divide, south of West Hwy. 71. Burying the lines along a 1,705-foot route would cost the district an estimated $600,000 to $700,000.

“Compelling the expenditure of this amount of public education funds to bury overhead electric lines that are barely visible is an undue hardship,” district attorneys wrote to city attorney Patty Akers on March 8.

Further, the lawyers argued the 136-acre LTISD parcel, which is in Bee Cave’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, falls outside Bee Cave’s requirements to install underground electric cables within city limits. Leaving the cables overhead would cost an estimated $100,000, according to the letter.

The wires would not be overly visible, the attorneys wrote, saying the route is heavily treed, and existing temporary overhead lines are “barely perceivable from Vail Divide.”

Recently, the city of Bee Cave worked out an agreement with Austin Energy. In that decision, the council’s preference was to bury electric cables alongside a stretch of Bee Cave Parkway. The city will pay nearly $900,000 to have the utility put the cables out of sight this spring and summer on a stretch of road ending near the Ladera subdivison.