David Greear, assistant public works director at Travis County, answered many questions from residents at the Travis
County Steiner Ranch Area Evacuation Plan Open House on Thursday. LYNETTE HAALAND
Nearly 200 local residents attended the Travis County Steiner Ranch Area Evacuation Plan Open House on Thursday, and the vast majority seemed to want to weigh in on their opposition to the county’s preferred route F – the only permanent road being considered.
On display were maps and designs of three routes still up for consideration. Teams of Travis County officials were answering questions and hearing feedback at the April 18 event at Canyon Ridge Middle School.
Vandegrift sophomores Emily Huang and Nidhi Katta building their commissioned piece called “Ariel”. THAO ROTH
By CODI FARMER, Vandegrift Voice
Vandegrift sophomores Emily Huang and Nidhi Katta started celebrating Earth Day early this year. The VHS Art Club they lead received a check from the Leander Parks and Recreation board for a sculpture of wings entitled “Ariel”. The piece was made entirely out of recycled materials and was submitted for an Earth Day sculpture competition last year. Not only did the club win first place for their category, but it also got commissioned to create a more durable version of the wings to be placed in the new Leander park being designed called Lakewood Park.
“Originally, we made it out of cans and cardboard and the cans were cut into feathers,” Huang said. “We ended up winning first place in the wall hanging category of the competition and we were paid extra money to make another set that would be more durable so it could be put outside.”
The Leander Public Arts Commission had been searching for sculptures for the park and after not getting many responses from area artists, the commission decided to go searching in school competitions.
Ryan Wells is credited as a hero for his act of bravery in subduing Britt Howe until police arrived after Howe shot his gun during an aggravated assault and kidnapping case at the Meritage at Steiner Ranch apartments on Sunday. “I only did what I’ve always been taught,” Wells said. “Protect the ones you care about, especially if they can’t protect themselves.”
By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News
The victims are still shaken as the investigation continues on Britt Howe, who remains in custody, charged with aggravated kidnapping and assault, after he drove his mother at gunpoint to his ex-wife’s apartment in Steiner Ranch before firing shots into the apartment on Sunday.
“They are slowly coping. They are very upset and very scared of every little bump,” said Ryan Wells, the family friend who rescued the family and subdued Howe until police arrived at the scene.
Wells said that it is not helping that Meritage at Steiner Ranch has yet to come and fix the door that was bashed in.
This near one-mile, $7.2 million road would connect Steiner Ranch’s Flat Top Ranch Road with RM 620. It is called route F and it is the preferred choice of
Travis County engineers. Source: Travis County
The Travis County Transportation & Natural Resources department has a preference to move forward with route F as a new permanent road for Steiner Ranch. The near one-mile, $7.2 million road would cut through the greenbelt to connect Flat Top Ranch Road with RM 620, intersecting RM 620 close to Mansfield Dam.
“TNR has a preference and route F is the preference,” said Kathy Hardin, an engineer with Travis County Transportation & Natural Resources Capital Improvement Projects. “This is the route of least resistance.”
