By Denise Gamino

Musicians are making more house calls these days. House concerts are the next best thing to music around a campfire. The musician is close at hand, the audience is small and quiet, and the setting is intimate and relaxed.

A private house concert is, indeed, held in someone’s home. Hosts remove or push aside their furniture to set up chairs. Friends and strangers alike are invited via email or social media, and the donation for entry goes directly to the musical guest. Not-for-profit house concerts are growing in popularity in Central Texas, and they feature both local singer/songwriters and out-of-state troubadours. 

House audiences are well behaved — they don’t text, tweet or talk over the music.

“House concerts have been around since the beginning of time,” said Cheryl Duckett of Brenham. She and her husband, Glen, used to host concerts in their Washington County home, beginning in 1997 while raising three young sons. “If you go back to the 1800s here, people would visit each other and they would break out the instruments.”

Musicians are fond of house gigs because they are lucrative and laid back. They even can save money by spending the night with the hosts, and house audiences buy lots of CDs. Many guests pay more than the suggested donation. 

And for a musician, bringing down the house is a matter of fact.

Above Mosaic Art & Home

SMITHVILLE 

Just two days after playing the Kennedy Center in Washington, virtuoso fiddler Warren Hood of Austin performed in a living room above a corner store on Main Street here.

“It sounds better in here, believe it or not,” said Hood, who’s been touring since he was a teen. He likens the acoustics to a church.

The airy, second-floor home of Jeri and Walter Winslett has 12-foot ceilings and was built in the 1890s. The Winsletts run Mosaic Art & Home furniture and art gift shop downstairs. At times over the past 120 years, the store housed an undertaker, a furniture store, a five and dime, a Piggly Wiggly grocery, an art gallery and a drugstore. The second floor has been home to law offices, a lodge hall, a dance studio, and dentists and doctors, which allowed doctors to send prescription slips to the drugstore through a hole in the floor.

At a recent Friday night house concert, many of the 65 guests sat in chairs the Winsletts bought at a Methodist church garage sale. Others sat on stools or on the family couch. Jeri Winslett perched on the kitchen counter. 

“My favorite part of playing a house concert is the intimacy with the audience,” Hood said later. “Oftentimes the audience is so close they could reach out and touch you if they wanted to — but they usually don’t.”

Hood was accompanied by cousin Marshall Hood and friend Willie Pipkin, both playing guitars. The trio stood in front of large arched windows with blinds closed to the evening light of Main Street. A spotlight atop a bookshelf shone warmly on the performers. 

(Jay Godwin photo)Singer/songwriter Butch Hancock performs an Arhaven House Concerts show hosted at the Cedar Creek home of Joe and Bev Angel.

They opened with Doug Sahm’s tune “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone?” and the audience was hooked. One couple danced in the kitchen.
Guests for “Above Mosaic” concerts drive from as far as Houston (120 miles to the east) and Austin (45 miles to the west). During intermission, they mingle and nibble on potluck appetizers and desserts. The living room showcases Walter Winslett’s grand piano and the kitchen is brightened by succulents and a mobile of toy airplanes.

“You can tell the musicians really like being here, just by the way they play and how the audience responds,” said Craig Behn, a glass bender who lives outside Bastrop. 

During the second set, Hood described a road trip visit to a Starbucks that had replaced a historic jazz club — the King of France Tavern, which operated from 1784 to 2003 in the basement of the Maryland Inn in Annapolis. 

“With your help, this will never be a Starbucks,” Hood said of the Winsletts’ historic home. “Please don’t stop having concerts. It sure is nice to play in someone’s living room. Thank you for listening.”

The audience cheered in agreement. 

Arhaven House Concerts

CEDAR CREEK

Acclaimed Texas singer/songwriter Butch Hancock lives in the village of Terlingua, near Big Bend National Park. It’s far flung, so he picks gigs carefully because they often require long road trips.

Hancock has played the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, The Late Show with David Letterman and A Prairie Home Companion. He’s played all over the world and on Rio Grande raft trips through Santa Elena Canyon.

To say he has venue choices is an understatement. 

Yet he chooses to drive more than 500 miles to be a repeat guest at the country home of Bev and Joe Angel off Texas 71 near the Colorado River west of Bastrop. Their Arhaven House Concerts, started in 2011, regularly draw about 70 music fans, and there’s not a bad seat in the family house. Guests see shelves of books and a Kachina doll collection.

“People who attend house concerts come to listen,” said Joe Angel, a retired research geneticist. “All the chattering and getting food and drinks takes place in the breaks. During the performance, it is usually so quiet you can hear the proverbial pin drop.”

Or, an electric mixer. At Hancock’s show, guests heard Bev Angel whipping eggs in the kitchen as the Lubbock-born musician tuned up for his second set. She was making quiches for the post-concert potluck meal. In her stocking feet, Bev Angel, a retired schoolteacher and lawyer, brings an informal and festive atmosphere to the shows.

“House concerts build community and it’s always a joy to watch everyone standing around before the concert or during the break visiting with each other knowing that many of these folks first met one another at a previous concert and, over time, have become friends,” Joe Angel said.

Hancock played unplugged. “Having a mic up there just puts a wall between the audience and the performer,” Joe Angel said. Hancock stood just inches from the first row of chairs in the vaulted ceiling living room. It was two weeks after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, so Hancock opened with Johnny Cash’s “Five Feet High and Rising.” Then Hancock used his trademark wit to break up the somber moment.

“Well, I’ll tell you what,” Hancock said. Then he paused. “What?” someone in the audience finally asked. “When you grow up in Lubbock, you’re not expecting an answer,” Hancock said. “The extended version is, ‘You can tell me this and you can tell me that, but I’ll tell you what.’ ”

Hancock is known for his whimsical wordplay and ad lib digressions during which he ponders life’s amusing mysteries. His songs have been recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker, Emmylou Harris, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Billy Joe Shaver.

He introduced his “West Texas Waltz” by saying, “Someone wanted to hear this. I’ll sing it anyway.” At the line about milkshakes and soda pop, everyone popped balloons at the word “pop.” It’s a tradition at his shows.

At show’s end, Hancock said, “This has been wonderful. Let’s do it again tomorrow.”

“We’ll be here,” Joe Angel said.

House Concerts in the Arbors

ELGIN

The front porch of Julia and Randy Sulsar’s house looked like an umbrella shop, but inside singer/songwriter Dana Cooper of Nashville was singing about “the sun coming up like a medicine ball.” 

Two dozen guests were singing and whistling along to Cooper’s “Great Day in the Morning.” They had the best seats in the house — directly in front of the fireplace where Cooper stood. One woman was so comfortable she slipped her shoes off.

For Cooper, the rainy day house concert in a neighborhood off Texas 95 outside Elgin was a nice wrap-up to a 13-day tour through Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico. Five of his eight gigs were house concerts.

“House concerts are kind of the ideal gig,” he said, because they are private performances that allow the musician to pocket all of the entry donations and sell CDs to supportive guests. 

The Sulsars are live music fans who regularly attend the Kerrville Folk Festival, where they have met many musicians. After moving from Lockhart in 2016, they decided their Elgin house would make a good concert venue. They call it House Concerts in the Arbors. Guests see Amado Peña posters, a glass case filled with African violets and orchids, and a nice view of the green backyard.

“The requests to play come in regularly” from eager musicians, Julia Sulsar said. “Our 2018 (schedule) was fully booked by February (2017). We're getting requests from all over the United States and Europe for the opportunity to play.”

Cooper has played guitar for 50 years and considers himself a road warrior. He knows how to read and connect with an audience, no matter the size or situation. At one point, one of the strings on Cooper’s Gibson guitar broke and the small audience was close enough to see the string fly over his right shoulder. Ever the pro, Cooper continued with five strings. “It sounds pretty primitive,” he said, but no one minded.

After Cooper finished another song, the guests in the Sulsars’ living room clapped and then went silent.

“Well, you guys are quiet here in Elgin,” Cooper said.

“We’re serious listeners,” said Javier Chaparro, one of the Sulsars’ neighbors.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Cooper said in jest.

Chaparro, however, wasn’t kidding. He plays violin professionally and is concertmaster for the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra in College Station. He is also an official Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Artist for 2016-2018.

And, naturally, he hosts house concerts in his own home.

The gusts of wind and rain began late on Friday, Aug. 25. Before it was over, Hurricane Harvey blasted Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative’s service area with destructive winds and drenching rains. Crews responded to 602 service calls, 396 of which were power outages that affected 12,760 members. 

There was flooding throughout the co-op’s 3,800-square-mile service area, from Washington County to Hays County and everywhere in between. Cities along the Colorado River — Bastrop, Smithville, La Grange — saw the waters rise higher and higher, covering roads and seeping into homes and businesses. Days after the storms, collapsed roads and flood damage continued to take a toll on Central Texans. Several counties in the region have been declared disaster areas.

During the course of the storm, Bluebonnet had 50 co-op crews and just as many contractor crews working 12-hour shifts, around the clock, for more than three days. Many outages were caused by downed power poles and line.

Although the extent of the damage in Central Texas did not rival the devastation and loss of life Harvey brought to the Texas coast and Houston, it brought normal life to a standstill for thousands of our region’s residents. The storm’s impact will be felt for months in Bluebonnet’s service area.

The fact that no lives were lost in the Bluebonnet region during the hurricane is evidence that heeding warnings and taking safety measures pay off.

During the outages, Bluebonnet members had a lot of questions about the causes of their outages and what they should do during protracted periods without power. We’ve compiled the most frequently asked questions and our answers. Our infographic on pages 20-21 shows you how we restore power during a storm. We've also got some tips and lists, and we'll have more at bluebonnet.coop/outages.
  
Hopefully we’ll never see another storm like Harvey, but it’s good to be prepared.

Frequently asked questions about outages

When I report outages to 
800-949-4414, what information should I include?
If you call from a phone number tied to your account and have information to share, such as a tree falling into power lines or that you heard a loud pop, please leave that in the message. If you call from a phone number that isn’t tied to the location of the outage, please leave a message with the full address, contact phone number, the name on the account and any other relevant information.

Do I have to report the outage to have my power restored? Or does Bluebonnet know my power is out even if I’m not home and am unaware of the outage?
Members should report every outage to ensure that it is included in the co-op’s outage management system. You may be part of a larger outage that has already been reported, but it’s always best to report your outage.

I called to report my outage, but I don’t see it on Bluebonnet’s online outage map. Does that mean I need to call back?
If you called from a phone number tied to your account, the outage will typically show up on the co-op’s outage viewer within a few minutes. It is important to make sure the contact information on your account is up to date. You can update your information by logging in to your online account at bluebonnet.coop or via our mobile app, or by calling member services at 800-842-7708 from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

I’ve called the automated 
outage phone number to 
report my outage. Can I also talk to a member service representative?
Bluebonnet’s outage line allows the co-op to receive many calls about outages simultaneously. It’s efficient and effective and enables us to serve more members quickly, rather than having individuals answer each phone call. If you leave a message requesting a return call, we will make every effort to contact you, although that can take time during large outage events. 

Electricity is critical to the health of someone in my household (like someone who uses an oxygen machine). Should I let Bluebonnet know about this?
This is something important that should be documented with Bluebonnet well before any storms or outages occur. Please inform Bluebonnet as soon as possible about the health concern in your home. Call 800-842-7708 and speak to a member service representative. The representative will send you a critical care form to fill out and have signed by a physician. Unfortunately, no utility can guarantee constant service or immediate restoration, especially during widespread, weather-related power outages. Bluebonnet recommends having a plan in place to accommodate medical needs in the event of prolonged outages.

What caused my power to go out?
Weather is the top reason for power outages. In major weather events that cause widespread outages, high winds and heavy rain can uproot and fell large trees or blow their limbs into power lines. Equipment — from transformers to insulators and fuses — can be damaged. Sometimes power poles are knocked down or partially broken. Flooding typically prolongs outages because crews have limited access to the place where repairs are needed. Lightning often damages equipment, and sometimes that damage cannot be seen by a crew on the ground.

Can Bluebonnet tell me when my power will be back on?
It is difficult to estimate restoration times because each outage and every outage event is different. Repair work is affected by the cause of the outage, how much damage was done, weather conditions, number of outages and time of day. In the case of a major weather event, it’s even harder to estimate restoration times. Standard estimated restoration times are posted on Bluebonnet’s outage map viewer, which you can see at outage. bluebonnetelectric.coop:82 on our website or via our mobile app. The information is also available via the outage phone line, but exact restoration times vary. 

Does Bluebonnet ever call with information about an outage caused by a storm, especially if there are many without power?
Frequently, the co-op sends out automated calls to members who will be out of power for an extended time. Sometimes, Bluebonnet member service representatives will call individual members who will be out of power for an extended time.

How else can I find out about outages during and after a storm?
The co-op tries its best to keep members informed through its website, bluebonnet.coop, as well as its online outage viewer, social media (Facebook and Twitter), automated calls and traditional media such as TV, radio and newspapers. In a major event, Bluebonnet may also keep members updated by extending the hours that member service representatives are available to answer calls.

My neighbor’s lights are on, but mine aren’t? Why is that happening?
Even though your properties are close, your home or business could be on a different section of power line, or your outage may be an isolated incident. The source of any outage may be miles from your location, not visible to you. You may see Bluebonnet trucks on roads near your house, even though your power is still out. That’s because we have different types of crews doing jobs. See the infographic on pages 20-21 for details.

I think I see a live power line on the ground. What should I do?
Call 911 and stay far away! Then call Bluebonnet’s outage line at 800-949-4414. A live line on the ground is extremely dangerous and can electrocute someone 25 feet away or farther. An energized line doesn’t always spark or arc, or do anything to indicate it is still electrified. Assume all downed power lines are electrified.

What else can I do to plan ahead for various weather events?
We have more tips, lists and advice on the Outages and Storms page on the co-op’s website at bluebonnet.coop/outages.
 

Flooding safety: Stay safe when the waters rise

Flooding is the most common type of natural disaster in the United States. Here are a few recommendations for planning:

• Know and follow all directions from local officials for community evacuation or seek high ground for localized flooding. Plan ahead by knowing your community’s local flood evacuation plan. Identify escape routes from your location if roads are flooded.
• Consider buying a NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards receiver, which receives broadcast alerts directly from the National Weather Service. You can purchase these at many retail locations or online. For more information on them, visit nws.noaa.gov/nwr.
• Avoid walking or driving through flood waters. Just 6 inches of moving water can knock you down, and 1 foot of water can sweep your vehicle away.
• If there is a chance of flash flooding, move immediately to higher ground. Flash floods are the No. 1 cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S., not just during Hurricane Harvey.
• If floodwaters rise around your car but the water is not moving, abandon the car and move to higher ground. Do not leave the car to enter moving water.
• Avoid camping or parking along streams, rivers and creeks during heavy rainfall. These areas can flood quickly and with little warning.
• Return home only when authorities say it is safe.
• Watch out for debris where floodwaters have receded.
• After the storm, avoid standing water because it might be contaminated.

By Kathy Warbelow

In 1994, when developer Pete Dwyer first bought land in Manor, east of Austin, he paid just $1,100 an acre. While Austin was on the cusp of a historic technology boom that would cause its economy to surge, things remained slow in the largely rural town of about 1,000 residents on U.S. 290. 

Manor had lost out on a shot at becoming the site of a new regional airport when the city of Austin chose the closed Bergstrom Air Force Base property for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, which opened in 1999. Most housing developers were looking west at that time, not east, to build homes for Austin’s growing population. 

These days, it’s a different story. 

Manor, Del Valle and other communities in eastern Travis County are enjoying their own boom, one that is bringing thousands of new homes, plus acres of commercial development, over the next several years. 

New development is also springing up in Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative’s southwestern territory, in the San Marcos area. 

The co-op added 3,050 meters last year. Even with a modest growth forecast of 3 percent, Bluebonnet is expected to have almost 94,000 meters by the end of 2017. 

The western side of the cooperative’s service area has 16 residential developments either started or on the books, and they account for 90 percent of all planned home development in Bluebonnet’s territory. Thousands of homes have been built, and thousands more are planned for the next few years. 

Since Jan. 1, 2016, a total of 2,759 residential lots have been developed or are being built now. Another roughly 3,000 homes are scheduled for the next few years. Three new Manor ISD schools, one new Del Valle ISD school and various retail, medical and RV park locations are also being built. 

Though not booming at the same rate as Bluebonnet’s western areas, there are other housing developments dotting the co-op’s service area. Bastrop County will add 500 houses in five developments in the next few years. The EDC Business Park is slated for Giddings. Brenham has several smaller housing and retail developments. Bluebonnet also continues to see steady business from oil fields.  Growth in other Bluebonnet Counties

Real estate consultant Eldon Rude of Austin said his clients once weren’t interested in the communities along the Texas 130 toll road corridor. 

“That’s not the case any more,” said Rude, principal of 360 Real Estate Analytics. “There is significant interest like I’ve never seen before.”

Manor now has 14,000 residents, including in its extraterritorial jurisdiction, and is forecast to hit nearly 18,000 by 2020. 

As one measure of the area’s new appeal, Dwyer, the area developer, said some commercial sites along U.S. 290 now sell for as much as $1 million an acre. His company, Dwyer Realty in Manor, is behind 10 completed or active residential and commercial projects in and near Manor. 

Local school districts are scrambling to keep up with enrollment growth. The Manor and Del Valle school districts are building new schools to accommodate families moving into the area. 

Manor ISD has 8,700 students now, but forecasts that enrollment could double within five to 10 years. The district already is building a second high school, a New Tech Middle School and its ninth elementary. 

In the Del Valle district east and southeast of Austin, construction trucks crowd the newly paved streets in residential projects such as Easton Park, near William Cannon Drive and McKinney Falls Parkway. The 1,500-acre project from developer Brookfield Residential eventually will have 10,000 residences, almost all of them single-family homes. 

Whisper Valley, just south of Manor and east of Texas 130, has amenities such as solar panels to provide electricity, geothermal heating and cooling and homes pre-wired for Google’s high-speed fiber internet service. Whisper Valley model homes opened in May, and Bluebonnet is providing underground electric lines for the development. 

Boston-based developer Taurus, which started work on Whisper Valley earlier this year, plans 7,500 residences on the 2,000-acre tract. 

“Finally!” said Tom Bolt, Manor’s city manager, commenting on the city’s growth. The city hired its first full-time planner a couple of years ago, he said, and is adding other staff to handle the wave of development and permit applications. 

The city plans to expand its wastewater plant, with bids going out in June. “We’re expanding capacity where we need to,” he said. 

Rude, the real estate consultant, said the growth in Bluebonnet’s western communities is partly the result of the “natural movement of the market.” 

“There are not as many areas left (in Central Texas) where land is available, with water and electricity access, in the lower price ranges,” he said. 

The stage was set for the development boom about 10 years ago. First, rising demand in recent years pushed up prices of homes on Austin’s west side, putting them beyond the reach of many young families. The continuing gentrification of East Austin has had the same effect. Developers looking for flat, affordable land turned their sights farther east to build houses, especially attractive to first-time buyers. 

By the mid- to late-2000s, a number of projects in eastern Travis County had been approved and permitted. Then the recession hit, and everything came to a halt. 

When the economy began to recover a few years later, the area had plenty of projects poised to fill the pent-up demand. 

“We had an abundance of lots ready to go” in Manor, Bolt said. 

And builders were interested, including both local companies and national names. 

D.R. Horton, the country’s biggest home builder, is building in several developments in the Manor area and has committed to buy 491 lots in Austin’s Colony, off Webberville Road east of Texas 130, said Vera Massaro, vice president at developer Qualico, a Canadian company. Other D.R. Horton subdivisions in the Bluebonnet service area include Cottonwood Creek near San Marcos and Windridge near Lockhart.

Qualico also is the developer of Sun Chase in Bastrop County east of Texas 130 near the Circuit of the Americas race track, where plans call for 2,500 singlefamily homes as well as condominiums and townhomes. Major utilities are in place, and the first 100 lots are being developed, Massaro said. 

“In the last 24 months or so, the level of demand has really increased,” Rude said. 

So who is buying the houses? The mix includes newcomers to Central Texas and a few retirees, but mostly young couples and families looking for housing they can afford. Some work at Samsung’s giant chip plant in northeast Austin, Dwyer said. 

“Slowly but surely, millennials are getting married and starting to realize that living in an apartment at $3,000 a month (in central Austin) isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Dwyer said. 

The new homes sell in the range of the $150,000s to the mid-$200,000s in developments with parks, trails, playgrounds and other amenities. By contrast, the median price for a home in the city of Austin is about $330,000, according to the Austin Board of Realtors. 

Recent transportation improvements have made the area east of Austin more attractive to both builders and buyers. 

The 6-mile Manor Expressway toll road along U.S. 290 opened in 2014, cutting travel time from the east to jobs at major employers such as Samsung. In 2015, Parmer Lane was extended south from U.S. 290 to Texas 130. This year, a stretch of Texas 71 near Texas 130 was opened as a toll road, also. 

Last year, Capital Metro, the public transportation system that serves Austin and parts of Travis and Williamson counties, started local bus service in Manor, with a loop route that connects to a weekday express bus from downtown Elgin to downtown Austin. 

More is coming. The Texas Department of Transportation plans to add a lane in each direction on Texas 130, using what’s now an extrawide grassy median. 

The housing boom also is attracting more services and retail, including health care. Next year, the Seton Healthcare Family plans to open an emergency care center on Texas 71 in Bastrop, with 12 in-patient beds and a medical office building for primary care and specialty doctors. 

Baylor Scott & White will build a new facility on Gregg Manor Road at the Las Entradas North development in Manor. That facility will include a lab and X-ray services and eventually will employ four to six physicians. 

“We’ve always had our eye on Manor,” said Colleen Sundquist, the company’s president for clinic operations in Central Texas. “The community just made sense for us,” but until recently wasn’t quite large enough. Baylor Scott & White also is building a hospital in Pflugerville, just 10 miles away, she said. 

In the past few years, Walmart and H-E-B have built or expanded stores in Manor, Elgin and Bastrop. H-E-B has purchased 17 acres for a new store east of the Austin airport, at FM 973 and Texas 71. The company has not set a timetable for construction. 

Other employers are adding jobs. This year, Capital Wright, a beer distributor, opened a 438,000-square-foot distribution center and warehouse on U.S. 290 in Manor, with temperature-controlled storage for beer and a pickup area for keg buyers. The company is the distributor for Miller and Coors beer brands in 14 Central Texas counties.

Local school districts are scrambling to keep up with enrollment growth. The Manor district, with 8,700 students, plans a third high school. Manor Senior High will be for juniors and seniors; freshmen and sophomores will use the current high school. The district also is building a New Tech Middle School and its ninth elementary, Lagos. 

Royce Avery, Manor ISD superintendent, has launched a “growth and innovation plan” that includes expanded technology and robotics programs, a fine arts academy and International Baccalaureate programs. 

High school students can earn two-year college associate degrees in technology fields along with their regular classes, and go on to tech jobs at Samsung or Applied Materials in Austin. 

The district has retained Templeton Consulting to analyze growth patterns in an area that is shifting from rural to suburban. 

“We can’t just take on the growth; we have to plan for it,” Avery said. “Where are these families coming from? When will we need to go back to our voters for more funding?” 

The Del Valle school district, which straddles Texas 130, has 11,300 students now, and Superintendent Kelly Crook said it is braced for growth from new subdivisions such as Easton Park, where it’s already building a new elementary school, and Whisper Valley. 

In Manor, Dwyer has been able to watch the city evolve from rural town to growing suburb from his office on U.S. 290. His early bets on the city — including investments in water supplies — are paying off. 

“I knew it was going to come,” he said.

Long-term planning has Bluebonnet well prepared for growth

The growth transforming cities and school districts in Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative’s western service area is no surprise. The co-op has been laying the technology groundwork for it for years. Today, Bluebonnet is improving processes to make operations more efficient and responsive, and planning new facilities to accommodate growing service demands. 

Bluebonnet added more than 3,000 meters last year, an all-time high, said Eric Kocian, Bluebonnet’s chief engineer and system operations officer. The co-op now has more than 92,000 meters, up from 82,000 in 2011. 

“In the last year or so, we’ve gone through our processes with a fine-tooth comb to make them more efficient for both commercial and residential developers and for our employees,” Kocian said. “We’re working to allow our folks to focus on the things that are most important and to remove redundant steps.” 

A new member-service team for residential projects will be deployed this year to make the construction process more streamlined and efficient. The new member will deal with one person at Bluebonnet. “From the time they first call us to the day the meter is set, this single point ofc ontact will keep the member informed about the job,” Kocian said. 

Technology that Bluebonnet installed a decade ago has made it easier to add new members and adjust as the economy changes. “We did that knowing someday we would grow. It was an investment for today,” he said. 

Bluebonnet makes strategic use of construction contractors to handle work in the Manor/eastern Travis County and San Marcos areas. “We know we’ll need to add more employees as growth accelerates. It’s coming,” Kocian added. 

In the next five years, Bluebonnet plans to build facilities in the San Marcos and Manor areas to be readily available for construction, power outages and member requests. The Texas 130 corridor in Travis, Hays and Caldwell counties will continue to see substantial residential and commercial growth. Building service centers near Manor and San Marcos will allow Bluebonnet field crews to rapidly meet the needs of hundreds of new homeowners. 

The co-op is always looking at future technology enhancements and improved processes. 

“We plan at least five years down the line. We will continue to make a significant investment in Bluebonnet’s growth,” Kocian said. 

Growth in other counties: 

BASTROP COUNTY: Work continues on the Burleson Crossing retail center in Bastrop; Cedar Creek Estates and Pecan Park subdivisions in Bastrop, the Sun Chase subdivision in the Garfield area and Cedar Creek Estates near Bastrop. Planned or proposed residential developments in Bastrop County include Double Eagle Ranch in the Cedar Creek area, Oaks at Cedar Creek and Pleasant Grove Estates in the Elgin area. 

LEE COUNTY: EDC Business Park is proposed in Giddings. 

WASHINGTON COUNTY: Ralston Creek Estates, a subdivision being built in Brenham, and Burton Villas, a 22-lot subdivision in the Zionsville area off FM 2679; The Crosswinds Estate, a 14-lot development near Brenham, is complete.