Editorials see more »

If I had written this column last week, I probably would have titled it “Peace on Earth,” because (for a couple of days) there seemed to be absolutely nothing happening in Llano. Stores were closed, streets were empty and people were indoors (for a couple of days). Of course, there were Christmas Eve services at several of the churches Thursday night. I snuck into a few and took some pictures, but I didn’t want to get in the way and disrupt the services, so I mostly stayed in the back and didn’t use the flash. That’s my excuse for not getting any really good pictures.

I did get a chance to do a little “history” reading, and learned a lot about Abby Najar, the Prairie Mountain School and Llano events during the year of 1985. The “Abby’s Kitchen” story should be in this week’s paper; the others will have to wait.

One of my “photo opportunities” that didn’t make the paper this Christmas season was the “Christmas Stroll,” sponsored by the Llano Memorial Healthcare System and supported by quite a few area churches. I was impressed by the turnout that night, and by the wide range in the ages of the participants. It looked like the event really represented the whole community, and I was proud to see little children, high school football players, working people and senior citizens, all braving the cold to walk from church to church in downtown Llano. I think the involvement of the churches in so many of Llano’s activities is a definite plus for the whole town.

The livestock show is something else that exemplifies the good side of small-town living. It’s healthy for children to grow up understanding the basics of life, and agriculture, even with all the modern advances, is about as basic as you can get. I like sports, but I also like the idea that Llano recognizes responsible kids (whether or not they are athletically inclined) for their willingness to do some honest hard work. Kudos to all who are involved in this big event.

If it weren’t for the livestock show, the appearance of the famous Bellamy Brothers at the Lantex Theater January 9 would be the biggest show in town. They’ll be performing twice that Saturday, at 2:30 and 7:30; get your tickets in advance; there won’t be any left at show time! I’m always impressed with the class acts and great audiences that Tracy Pitcox brings to the Country Opry; I think that’s something else we can be very proud of here in Llano.

Something else I did during the “peaceful” days last week was to go through the newspapers of the last year, looking for highlights (see my “Retrospect” article on the front page). One of the items that startled me was a February story which reported a $475,000 state grant to help build a 64-unit “affordable” apartment complex west of town. I have seen the sign there, and I’ve heard that neighbors aren’t thrilled by the prospect of another complex, but I really hadn’t known much about it until I heard at the city council meeting that the “Park Ridge” developers had offered to pay for necessary repairs to the lift station at the “Legend Oaks” complex next door in return for future shared use. That seemed like a good idea, and a neighborly thing to do, so my impression was quite positive. Then Mark Mayfield, who seems to be in charge of the proposed complex, made a presentation to the county commissioners court on Monday, and I started to wonder about Park Ridge.

Now, it’s probably too late to do much about it, even if I wanted to. Mr. Mayfield tells me that construction is set to begin in a month or two, and in several ways, that sounds like a very good thing. For one thing, it’s been a lot harder to find construction work in Llano County this past year than it used to be, and this project may provide jobs for some unemployed workers. That may help other aspects of the local economy.

Mr. Mayfield also tells me that I will be “stunned” to see how nice these “affordable” apartments will be. His company just finished a 28-unit complex in Johnson City, and I’m planning to stop by there on a trip I have to make to Dripping Springs later this week (I’ll let you know what I think). In general, I’m in favor of working families having comfortable places to live; that’s another point in Park Ridge’s favor.

And, Mr. Mayfield told the commissioners court on Monday that his plans include a “community resource center,” which will help “underwrite the overhead” (I like the juxtaposition of those two words) of a variety of non-profit entities. His center would supply space and support for community service groups, allowing them to put their whole budget into direct services; it would also create a “one-stop shop” for those needing services, some of whom would probably live right there at Park Ridge. That makes one more point for Park Ridge.

Unfortunately, I’m one of those conflicted individuals who sees BOTH halves of the glass – one half full, one half empty. My three main concerns are: 1) Park Ridge will NOT be paying any property taxes – not to the city, not to the county, and not to the school district; 2) we may not need any more affordable apartments in Llano right now, and Park Ridge may just hurt landlords who ARE paying property taxes; and 3) as far as I can tell, the funding for this project, whether directly or indirectly, is coming from the taxpayers. The real owners of Park Ridge are going to be Wall Street brokerage firms who are investing more in tax credits than in property. I’m going to study this a little more before I come to a final conclusion, but I hope we’ll carefully consider each project in the future.