Run-off timeline
HUTTO – On Tuesday, May 16, a special city council meeting was held to swear in the winners of the election for Place 1 and Place 4. Brian Thompson defeated incumbent Robin Sutton and will begin his first term in Place 1. In Place 4, Peter Gordon was elected for a second term, winning against challenger Nicole Calderone.
The special election for Place 5 will have a run-off. The two candidates for the runoff will be officially announced after the votes are canvassed on May 16. At this time the runoff appears to be unofficially between Dana Wilcott with 608 votes and James Weaver with 346 votes. Weaver edged out candidate Marcus Coleman by only two votes so canvassing may change the run-off participants.
Early voting for the run-off will take place from May 30 to June 6, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Williamson County Hutto Annex, 321 Ed Schmidt Blvd. Election day will be June 10 at the same location, and the winner will be sworn in to office on June 15.
City enforcing homeowner protection with new development
Hutto City Council approved a planned unit development – known as a PUD – for a new rentalonly neighborhood at the corner of Emory Crossing and Ed Schmidt. The development will be called CTC at Emory Crossing.
The neighborhood will contain approximately 330 homes of which an estimated 80% of the homes will be detached homes and 20% will be attached.
The 56.3-acre development adjoins an established neighborhood to the north. The PUD includes protections for the existing neighborhood limiting the height of new houses bordering it to one story, with no balconies or patios facing north.
The new development will also be required to have 20.9 acres of public parkland. The parkland is planned to connect to existing city trails.
Brown tap water alerts
The topic of “dirty” tap water in Hutto neighborhoods has recently come up on social media posts. The City has responded by letting residents know that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality routinely requires the city to flush out sections of the municipal water system.
“When we’re flushing, your neighborhood or facility may see a temporary discoloration in your water since flushing can stir up non-hazardous sediments,” the City wrote in a public message.
Residents who are concerned about their water quality can contact Hutto Public Works at 512-759-4016.
Hutto’s online Citizen Request Tracker at www. HuttoTx.gov also has a specific link just for reporting drinking water concerns.
New grocery store not coming soon
Hutto Economic Development Corp. announced earlier this month that the private developer who was purported to be bringing a national grocery store to Cottonwood Properties, located between Fritz Park and County Road 132, is expanding their search.
“The grocer had a long lead time to open, well over two years. In addition, the City must nail down infrastructure designs such as traffic signal locations and access points, before any development project at the intersection of CR 132 and US 79 can move forward,” the HEDC wrote in a public statement.
The developer is talking with various retailers and is still in some discussion with the grocery chain, but HEDC is striking off on their own hoping to actively market the entire 250acre site rather than just one corner. They hope to have a selection of retail development proposals ready for discussion by late summer.
