The Llano County Commissioners Court on Monday had its first look at the proposed budget for fiscal year 2009, a budget of estimated expenditures of $11,803,539.

With few exceptions, departments of the county had submitted estimated budgets with less than a five percent increase; the 500-pound gorilla in the room being fuel costs.

The proposed budget estimated revenue at $10,525,592.

“The goal was to keep reserves above 20 percent, but spend some without raising taxes,” said County Judge Wayne Brascom.

“The market value of property in Llano County is now estimated at $4,894,207,533,” he said. “Freeze-adjusted taxable value is at $2,574,818,474.”

With the support of almost every fire fighting organization in the county, Llano County Commissioners on Monday reinstated a county wide ban on outdoor burning.

“Most of them just wanted to know why we waited so long,” said County Judge Wayne Brascom.

In a now well-established trend, the court wrestled with floodplain development issues in the final reading of a plat for the Catherine Cove Subdivision in north Kingsland.

The large new development is funded by a group organized as NSS Investments. Along a new channel adjacent to Lazy Oaks Subdivision, the development incorporates a small bridge across Williams Lakeshore Drive and includes lots raised from floodplain levels with fill.

At issue was the court’s requirement for compliance with a new technical bulletin from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requiring a letter of map revision (an LOR) on certain projects. Mark Chapman was represented not only by a Cuplin & Associates surveyor, current engineers for the project from Willis Engineering and attorney Chuck Lacallade and the original project engineer, Brad Shaw, was in attendance.

They complained that all the requirements of the checklist for development in the county subdivision ordinance had been met and they should not be required to comply with a late-arriving technical bulletin, which they felt was open to interpretation.

“In all the other counties we deal with, we have never had to do one (an LOR) on channelization and we have three channelization projects coming up,” said Tony Plumlee of Willis Engineering. “We have been doing work in Horseshoe Bay for the last 35 years and you know all the dredging and changes that have been done there, far in excess of changes in this little project.”

”Our problem is that this is obviously a project with a lot of financing and approval of the plat is required,” said Lacallade.

“FEMA has told me this bulletin (which had just arrived) is the minimum requirement we have to adhere to,” said Ron Moore of the Department of Environment and Emergency Services (DEES).

The commissioners voted to hire Halff Associates as an outside engineering firm to act as a consultant to the county. In preparation for its June 24 workshop on county subdivision regulations, the court may make FEMA technical bulletins he first topic on which it turns to Halff.

Another will be the use of fill in the floodplain. Moore said that in the Catherine Cove project for example, about 50 percent of lots in the floodplain would be raised with fill dirt.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Johnnie Heck submitted the results of his review of the four engineering firms that had responded to the court’s request for qualifications. He said he found all four respondents equally qualified, but put forward Espey Consultants, Inc. as the only one of the four that provided examples of fire protection.

“I am more concerned with floodplain issue and Halff has a very broad background in flooding issues, “ said Precinct 3 Commissioner Duane Stueven as he proposed the firm finally approved. “I think they would be better qualified and more familiar with our territory.”