A $18,300 grant from Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative and the Lower Colorado River Authority will help the newly incorporated City of Ellinger establish its first city hall.

The Community Development Partnership grant, paired with matching funds of $4,575, will allow the Fayette County community of about 200 residents to purchase a portable building to house city records and act as a hub for city-related business. The grant also will cover the costs of creating a gravel pad for the building, establishing electrical service to it and making the site accessible to disabled visitors.

“We can’t keep city records effectively in our own houses,” said City Commissioner Joseph Lamer, who was elected in November when voters approved incorporating Ellinger as a Type C municipality governed by a mayor and two commissioners. “We’ve got to keep the paperwork somewhere and have a place where people can come in and access the information. This building will function as a meeting place and a source of information for our residents. I think it gives the city a home.”

Lamer said the new city hall will include desks for him – he’s also the city secretary – and fellow commissioner Kenneth Stojanik, who also serves as the city treasurer.

“Believe me, if it wasn’t for this grant, we wouldn’t even be talking about a building,” Lamer said. “This is something that’s going to be city hall for 20 or 30 years at least. If we aren’t in there in six months, I’ll be disappointed.”

The community grant is one of seven grants being awarded by Bluebonnet and the LCRA through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program, which helps volunteer fire departments, local governments, emergency responders and nonprofit organizations fund capital improvement projects in LCRA’s wholesale electric, water and transmission service areas. The program is part of LCRA’s effort to give back to the communities it serves. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative is one of LCRA’s wholesale electric customers and is a partner in the grant program.
 
Applications for the next round of grants will be accepted in July. More information is available at lcra.org/cdpp.

A $16,499 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority and Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative will help the Beaver Creek Volunteer Fire Department purchase new emergency gear for its firefighters.

The Community Development Partnership Program grant, along with $4,123 in matching funds, will allow the department to replace aging self-contained breathing apparatus units and purchase portable 5-gallon poly fire tanks that hold water to aid in fighting grass or brush fires. The grant also will help purchase fire-resistant hoods to protect firefighters during emergencies and pagers to quickly notify first responders of an emergency call.

“We’re in desperate need of new equipment to protect our firefighters, especially the self-contained breathing apparatus,” Fire Chief Joseph Walden said. “Donations have slowed down and we are unable to make these purchases on our own.”

Walden said 80 percent of the department’s calls are brush or grass fires.

“The poly fire tanks will help us get closer to fires — beyond where a firetruck can take us, and the fire-resistant hoods will protect a firefighter’s head, neck and face from a fire,” he said.

Beaver Creek VFD supports a community of about 1,500 in Beaver Creek and an additional 10,000 in surrounding areas.

“The population is increasing,” Walden said. “I see more mobile homes moving into the community and that means more people, more calls, more emergencies and the need for more equipment.”

New pagers will replace a phone tree system to notify firefighters of calls more quickly.

“It’s a more effective and reliable way to communicate,” Walden said.

The community grant is one of seven grants being awarded by Bluebonnet and the LCRA through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program, which helps volunteer fire departments, local governments, emergency responders and nonprofit organizations fund capital improvement projects in LCRA’s wholesale electric, water and transmission service areas. The program is part of LCRA’s effort to give back to the communities it serves. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative is one of LCRA’s wholesale electric customers and is a partner in the grant program.
 
Applications for the next round of grants will be accepted in July. More information is available at lcra.org/cdpp.

Despite the threat of rain, almost 200 members of Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative breezed through the first drive-through Annual Meeting in the cooperative’s history on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. Under large covered tents in the parking lot of The Silos on 77 in Giddings, members stayed in their cars to get information about Bluebonnet. They chatted with the co-op’s Board of Directors, executives and employees and registered to win door prizes.

“We are all happy to return to having our Annual Meeting with members this year,” said Ben Flencher, Bluebonnet’s Board chairman. “It sure was nice to see and visit with our friends and neighbors, even if it was through their vehicles’ windows.”

Though communities and businesses are opening in the wake of COVID-19, out of caution for Bluebonnet’s members and employees, the drive-through format of the meeting, with employees wearing masks when communicating with members, reduced the risk of tranmitting the virus.

During the Annual Meeting two incumbent directors were re-elected. The directors were Shana Whiteley, District 2, Travis County, and Bryan Bracewell, District 3, Bastrop County.

“Congratulations to Directors Whiteley and Bracewell on being re-elected to our Board,” Flencher said. “Bryan and Shana bring their talents and years of experience doing business and living in their communities to our board room. They greatly contribute to Bluebonnet’s success and do an outstanding job representing our members and their co-op.”

Whiteley has served on Bluebonnet’s Board of Directors since 2017.

“Bluebonnet is an organization of exceptional quality and integrity,” Whiteley said. “Every decision is made with the utmost care and consideration for our members. It is my privilege and honor to be re-elected to the Board during this exciting time of growth and prosperity.”

Bracewell has served on Bluebonnet’s Board of Directors since 2018.

“I am honored and humbled to be re-elected to serve Bluebonnet’s members on the Board of Directors,” Bracewell said. “The commitment and care everyone at Bluebonnet has for the members and communities we serve are rooted in the co-op’s 82-year history. I am thankful for the opportunity to contribute to Bluebonnet’s success.”

More than 6,750 Bluebonnet members participated in this year’s Annual Meeting, either in-person or by submitting proxy forms. The proxies established a quorum for the Annual Meeting. There was no new business on the meeting’s agenda, but had there been, it would have been voted on by members being represented by their proxy.

“This was a wonderful Annual Meeting,” said Matt Bentke, Bluebonnet’s general manager. “We weren’t sure what to expect from a drive-through meeting, but, judging from my conversations with members, it was a great success. We are grateful for everyone who came by to ask questions, do a little business or just say hello, and appreciate all the members who were unable to attend the meeting but supported their cooperative by sending in their proxies.”

Bluebonnet members who submitted proxy forms were also entered into the drawings for numerous door prizes, including a 2008 Chevrolet 1500 extended cab being retired from the cooperative’s fleet and two Cub Cadet riding mowers. The names of winners for those prizes will be drawn Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Bluebonnet will contact those winners to arrange for their prize to be picked up or delivered. Prizes were paid for through donations from Bluebonnet vendors.  To see all the information that was provided to members during the Annual Meeting, visit bluebonnet.coop/annualmeeting. You can also watch a video featuring highlights of this year’s Annual Meeting at https://youtu.be/7H5JPgb-f7c.