Courtesy photo

by JEN BIUNDO

Marjorie Martinez, the soft-spoken but quietly determined director of the Buda Public Library, passed away on Saturday, July 24, at the age of 61, following a long illness. She leaves behind a lasting legacy of literacy and lifelong learning.

“She was a very quiet yet effective leader in the community,” said Buda City Secretary Toni Milam. “She was absolutely devoted, not only to the library itself, but to the thousands that visited the library.”

Susie Bishop, a long time city and library employee, said Martinez was passionate about supporting literacy.

“She would go out of her way to find anything that anybody needed,” Bishop said.

Born in Ohio to Alphie and Mae Catherine Miller, Martinez met her husband Enrique in Mexico, where they lived for several years.

Martinez came to work at the Buda Public Library in 1989, when the library occupied a tiny portable building on the greenbelt. She helped coordinate the construction and move to the newly constructed Basil Anthony Moreau Library in 1993, and over the years worked to bring the library into the 21st century of technology.

“She started this library from the ground up,” said librarian Melinda Hodges.

In 1997, Martinez earned her master’s of library and information science from the University of Texas at Austin.

She retired this April and was honored by the mayor and council with a proclamation recognizing her two decades of service and dedication to the city.

“She really cared about people learning, and she really enjoyed being a librarian,” said co-worker Lupe Herrera.

Audrey Elder, a long time library volunteer who served on the Library Board of Trustees, said Martinez had a soft-spoken quality that belied her determined nature. Elder said her friend battled through her long illness with quiet courage, and she showed that determination until the end.

“On Friday, she told her husband, ‘One more day,’” Elder said. “She wanted to see her grandbabies one more time.”

Visitation was held Tuesday at Harrell Funeral Home, with a funeral mass and burial Wednesday morning. The library closed Wednesday morning so staff members could attend the services.

Martinez is survived by her husband, three married sons and seven grandchildren.

Three years ago, this farmers market, just south of City Hall in Buda, quietly shut down. A group of local merchants are trying to replant the seeds of a new farmers market in Buda City Park. (Photo by Jen Biundo)

by JEN BIUNDO

During her high school years, Jennifer Denton spent her weekends getting her hands dirty at a farmers market in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.

“That just really got me started with Parker County Peaches and east Texas tomatoes,” Denton recalled.

Now an aesthetician at Sheer Impressions Salon, Denton is leading the drive to replant the seeds of a farmers market in downtown Buda.

When she moved to Buda three years ago, Denton frequented the small farmers market that set up shop once a month on the greenbelt just south of City Hall. But tucked away and unpublicized, that market quietly faded away around 2007.

“I had actually inquired about what would be required to get the little market back where it used to be,” Denton said.

Denton went down to city hall and collected a thick stack of documents, but realizing the size of the task, she turned to Buda Drugstore owner Tammy Gray and the Buda Downtown Merchant’s group for help.

The organizers are reaching out to farmers and vendors who might be interested in renting a booth space at the re-envisioned market.

In addition to produce and herbs, they hope to attract vendors selling high-quality prepared food, some hand-made crafts, and products like breads, pies, jams, jellies and hot sauce. In keeping with the local food movement, they plan to restrict all products to a 100-mile radius from Buda.

Unlike the old farmers market, tucked off the beaten path south of City Hall, the new market will likely set up shop under the pavilion in Buda City Park, offering protection from rain and access to parking, bathrooms and electrical outlets.

Though they haven’t yet set a regular schedule for the reinvented market, the merchants are considering setting it up on one or more Thursdays each month, to coincide with the “First Thursday” events.

While the new market may not be up and running until next spring, the group is hoping to launch at least one market day in the late fall before closing for the winter.

Buda Tourism Director Alisha Burrow is working with the merchants to organize the new market.

“Ultimately, I think that having the farmers market here in Buda would promote that ‘buy local’ concept,” Burrow said. “It would really benefit the community all the way around.”

A prosecutor in Branson, Mo., has dropped a weapons charge against Buda murder and arson suspect Mark David Simmons in order to expedite his release to Hays County authorities, officials say.

“We’ve dismissed our charge in an attempt to get him down to Texas faster,” Taney County Prosecutor Jeff Merrell said on Tuesday.

Officials say that Simmons, who faces a capital murder arrest warrant in the April homicide of his business partner, Steven Woelfel, is still fighting extradition back to Hays County, where prosecutors could seek the death penalty.

On Monday, Hays County District Attorney Sherri Tibbe filed a request for a governor’s warrant with the Texas Governor’s Office as part of the extradition process.

“He can fight extradition, but one way or another he has to come back,” Tibbe said. “It doesn’t matter if he wants to or not.”

Tibbe says that the extradition process could take weeks or up to six months if Simmons is against it. For now, the Texas Governor’s Office will handle it.

“We’re just at the beginning of this whole process,” she said.

Before Simmons is released to Hays County, paperwork will first be reviewed and pushed through the state of Missouri’s attorney general’s office, its department of corrections and finally its governor’s office.

“We will certainly cooperate fully with the state of Texas on this,” said Scott Holste, spokesman for Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s office.

On June 29, after allegedly robbing two local motels, Simmons surrendered peacefully following an eight-and-a-half-hour standoff at the Walnut Lane Motel in the small Ozarks tourist town of Branson.

Branson police found one rifle and two handguns in his motel room, the same weapons stolen from Woelfel’s home, investigators say.

The murder charge, coupled with the stolen guns claim, gives authorities the right to issue the offense of capital murder, punishable by the death penalty in Texas.

Branson police found Simmons’ silver-blue 2008 Hyundai Sonata, believed to be used in the robberies, parked at the motel. Investigators ran the plates on the car and tied the vehicle to the Hays County case.

Taney County officials had charged Simmons with unlawful possession of an explosive weapon by a convicted felon, but that charge has been dropped. Prosecutor Merrell says that his office may pursue the charge and others related to the motel burglaries depending on the outcome of the murder trial.

Cecil and his wife Wayne Clark stand in front of Clark’s Grocery in Buda in 1954. Clark is the latest subject in the “Voices of Hays County History” series, produced by the Hays County Historical Commission. The oral history documentary will be screened July 30 at Buda Elementary. (Courtesy photo)

by SHELLY HENRY
Special to the Hays Free Press

After nearly a century living in the Buda area, Cecil Clark has more than a few memories to share in the latest “Voices of Hays County History,”a documentary produced by the Hays County Historical Commission (HCHC).

The public is invited to attend a screening of the documentary at 6:30 p.m. July 30 at the Buda Elementary Kunkel Room, located at 300 San Marcos Street.

Cecil Clark was born in 1912 in the community of Goforth, just east of Buda, to S.J. and Ida Clark. Along with his three brothers and three sisters, Cecil spent his early years helping his father on the family farm, where they raised cotton, cane and corn. His two younger sisters, Dorothy and Doris, now live in Austin.

In 1936, Cecil wed Wayne P. Foster, and the couple had been married 71 years when she died in 2007. Their two children, Cecil Allen and Bobbie Joan, reside in Buda.

In his oral history, Clark tells how he learned to plow with mules when he was very young. He also recalls working with the fire department during World War II at Camp Swift in Austin and talks about his many years as a store owner in Buda.

Clark has spent many years as a dedicated caretaker for both the Live Oak Cemetery, just across the county line in Manchaca, and the Martin Church Cemetery at the old Goforth community. His care and attention are greatly responsible for the beautifully-tended grounds visitors enjoy at both sites today.

For the oral history, Clark was interviewed by HCHC member Jim Cullen. The documentary was filmed by Richard Kidd of the HCHC, with sound recording by Bonnie Eissler.

The “Voices of Hays County History” documentaries are available for viewing on the HCHC website at www.hayshistoricalcommission.com.

[View with PicLens]

More photos from this week along with other photos published in the Hays Free Press are available for viewing and purchase here. Look for folder entitled “Week of July 14, 2010.”

by BRAD ROLLINS

Invoking the Mayberry RFD ideal, Plum Creek’s sleepy streets of front porches and plank board homes has become something of a model for Central Texas developers who lay claim to the New Urbanist mantel.

The tree-lined environs proved to be a hit with homebuyers since construction started in 1999 and the development was a major component’s of Kyle’s decade of unprecedented population growth. Plum Creek’s first residential phase is all but fully built out with 1,500 units; lots in a second phase, expected to add 350 more homes, are being sold now.

“We feel that if you are building something right it will get better over the years instead of deteriorating,” said Terry Mitchell of Momark Development, a consultant to partners Benchmark Development and the Negley family that owned the land.

Austin Community College’s purchase last week of 96 acres fronting Kyle Parkway and Kohler’s Crossing underscores Plum Creek’s potential as a commercial center.

The college district’s tentative plans for a campus there are sure to push further commercial development along FM 1626, which has boomed in recent years with the opening of Seton Medical Center Hays just across the interstate and a major retail node anchored by HEB Plus, Target and Kohl’s.

Eight hundred of the 2,200 acres that comprise the Negley family’s former Mountain City Ranch are being marketed for commercial uses, ranging from large greenfield acreage being offered as “employment sites” to the fledgling mixed-use Uptown district sprouting up around Hays CISD Performing Arts Center. The area is primed for attracting large employers, particularly in the medical and technology sectors, because many of the properties already have access to utilities such as water/wastewater and communications, said Brett Arabie, a broker with Oxford Commercial, whose projects included the Mueller development in Austin.

“The commercial that we do have is ready to go. One of the things that we have been able to show people is that we have sites they can start building on today. That was a big deal for ACC,” Arabie said.

Although ACC is the biggest fish Plum Creek has landed to date, it is not the first commercial project to take hold there.

• RSI Inc., which manufactures ruggedized computers, moved into a 40,000-square-foot facility on Kohler’s Crossing in late 2007 after relocating from Austin. The defense/aerospace sector company brought 70-100 engineering, manufacturing, management and support jobs to the community.

“It’s a great success story for us to kind of point out an economic development deal that the community got behind and supported,” Arabie said.

• The 264-unit Vantage apartment community opened earlier this year across FM 1626 from the ACC site. The complex encompasses 233,000 square feet. Next door, TrustTexas Bank also opened earlier this year.

SIMMONS

by SEAN KIMMONS

Buda murder and arson suspect Mark David Simmons remains in Branson, Mo., on a charge of unlawful possession of an explosive weapon by a convicted felon after being arrested following a standoff with police, officials said Tuesday.

Simmons, 51, who faces a capital murder arrest warrant for killing his business partner, Steven Woelfel, has a court hearing this Thursday and could face other charges for motel robberies, Taney County Prosecutor Jeff Merrell said.

Merrell says that Simmons doesn’t want to be sent back to Hays County, where prosecutors could seek the death penalty.

“I do believe that he is fighting extradition,” Merrell said. “He’s not willing to waive his rights for extradition.”

If he fights it, Hays County investigators will have to testify at a hearing and provide sufficient evidence to get custody of Simmons, Merrell said.

Last week, Simmons surrendered peacefully after an eight and a half hour standoff at the Walnut Lane Motel, where police found one rifle and two handguns in his room. Investigators say the weapons were stolen from Woelfel’s home.

The murder charge, coupled with the stolen guns claim, gives authorities the right to issue the offense of capital murder, punishable by the death penalty in Texas.

Simmons was on the run until a couple of motel robberies in Branson caught up to him. Branson police say that he is suspected of robbing a Super 8 Motel at gunpoint after unsuccessfully attempting to rob the Spinning Wheel Motel a few days before the standoff.

Branson police found Simmons’ silver-blue 2008 Hyundai Sonata, believed to be used in the robberies, parked at the motel. Investigators ran the plates on the car and tied the vehicle to the Hays County case.

Simmons’ mother, Wanda Simmons, had said that her son, a paranoid schizophrenic not currently medicated, stole the Hyundai from her home in Rockport, Texas, on April 1, the last time she saw him.

On April 17, the decomposing body of Woelfel was discovered in the charred rubble of his garage. Investigators say the 55-year-old had been dead for at least a week.

Authorities believe Simmons was staying with Woelfel and started the fire to cover up his murder. It appears that he also rigged the house to explode and possibly harm emergency personnel called out to the fire, an arrest affidavit said.

About five minutes after Buda firefighters arrived at the garage fire, an explosion blew out the windows of the home and ripped the back wall off the structure. No injuries were reported.

Investigators say the explosion was caused by a lit candle left near a disconnected gas line to the stove.

A strong odor of cleaning products was also detected throughout the house. The guest bedroom and bathroom in Woelfel’s home were wiped clean and bedding was stripped from the bed, as if the person living with him wanted to hide his identity, the affidavit says.

Investigators say that bedding was located in the burnt garage along with a torn-up note, matching Simmons’ handwriting, on how to clean up a crime scene. Sources close to the investigation say Woelfel was shot in the head execution-style.

Simmons also has an active arrest warrant for illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon out of Aransas County, Texas.

Residents in the Hays and San Marcos school districts will have opportunities this month to weigh in on Austin Community College’s annexation service plans.

The Hays CISD public hearing is 7 p.m. July 7 at Buda Elementary School, 300 N. Main Street in Buda. The San Marcos CISD public hearing is 6:30 p.m. July 15 at Goodnight Middle School, 1301 Texas 123.

On Nov. 2, voters in both districts will vote up or down on joining the college district’s taxing jurisdiction, opening the door for Kyle/Buda and San Marcos campuses.

If the measure passes in either or both jurisdictions, property owners will pay the district’s property tax rate, currently set at 9.46 cents per $100 in property value. The college offers a standard $5,000 homestead exemption, and senior citizens and homeowners with disabilities receive an additional $105,000 exemption, for a total exemption of $110,000. For example, the owner of a $120,000 house would pay about $108 a year, or less than $9 a month, including the standard $5,000 homestead exemption.

Residents in annexed areas pay $39 per semester credit hour in-distrit tuition and fees rate instead of the out-of-district rate of $137 per semester credit hour.

The college district last week announced it has a contract to buy 96 acres at the intersection of Kyle Parkway (FM 1626) and Kohler’s Crossing. In San Marcos, ACC has accepted the donation of 51 acres on Texas 123 in the Cottonwood Creek subdivision and has an option to buy 21 more.

Last year’s fireworks display at Buda City Park drew a crowd of thousands. This year Buda and Kyle are planning more fireworks, and Buda will also be home to the Brew-B-Que Festival. (Photo by Sean Kimmons)

The corridor cities are hosting fireworks displays this weekend to celebrate Independence Day with all due “pop” and circumstance.

In Kyle, a 20-minute show is planned to start at 9:30 p.m. Sunday from a hill behind Wallace Middle School.

Public viewing is available in the field below the football field in Gregg-Clarke Park. Residents are asked to enter from Center Street, across from its intersection with Cisneros Street. Weather permitting, viewing will also be available at the Gregg-Clark Park football field on Ranger Road.

The Kyle swimming pool will stay open late until 7 p.m. prior to the fireworks.

In Buda, residents can enjoy the annual, free Red, White ‘n Buda fireworks display at 9:30 p.m. Sunday at Buda City Park, which opens at 8:30 p.m. for spectators.

Tickets are also available for $15 for the second annual Texas Brew-B-Que, also at City Park. The Brew-B-Que runs 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and kids under eight years old are admitted free.

The event features games like (non-alcoholic) beer pong and the strong man keg toss, as well as Chihuahua races. The Lumber Jack show features chainsaw racing, obstacle pole racing, cross-cut sawing, log rolling and other chopping contests.

Entertainment at the Brew-B-Que includes Jason Boland & The Stragglers; Cory Morrow; Sean McConnell; Mark McKinney and Ryan Beaver.

Brew-B-Que organizers will charge an entrance fee until about 8:30 p.m., then open up the gates for the free fireworks show. Spectators can also stick around to catch the final concert, The Jeremy Miller Band, after the fireworks free of charge.

Neighbors try to extinguish a fire that started in a boat parked at firefighter Matt Owens’ home on Cedar Street in Buda. (Photo by Debbie Owens)

by JEN BIUNDO

Investigators with the Buda Fire Department say they haven’t yet determined the cause of a blaze that destroyed a boat and damaged a house on the 200 block of North Cedar Street in downtown Buda early last Thursday morning.

Buda Fire Marshal Mike Duffy said that the electric system or battery on the boat might have triggered the fire, though arson remains a possibility.

“There wasn’t anything there that really points to whether it was intentionally set or accidental,” Duffy said. “It may end up that at some point in time we’ll get additional information.”

Matt Owens, a professional firefighter with the Pflugerville Fire Department and a volunteer with the Buda Fire Department, had been on shift for 16 hours at his Pflugerville job when the blaze started. His sister was asleep inside the house at the time.

The fire was discovered at about 1:45 a.m. June 24, when a neighbor across the street went into the front yard to let her dog out. Firefighters were on the scene in three minutes and quickly extinguished the flames. There were no injuries.

The fire started in the boat, which was parked under the carport, Duffy said. The flames jumped into the attic space above the carport, which was connected to the house. Though the blaze didn’t travel to the main portion of the house, the roof and sheetrock had smoke and water damage.

The boat, which was fully paid off and valued at about $8,000, was a complete loss, Duffy said. Both the boat and the home, appraised at about $80,000, were insured.

Owens said that his sister called him while he was on shift to tell him that the boat was on fire and spreading to the house.

Owens was scheduled to sign the closing papers to purchase the house from his grandmother on Thursday morning, just hours after the fire. He’s not yet sure how extensively his new house was damaged.

“I don’t have a number, but it was pretty much contained to the carport, other than smoke damage and a little bit of water damage,” Owens said.

The Kyle area has seen a string of random arson blazes in some lower-income neighborhoods east of IH-35, primarily set by thrill-seeking teenagers in abandoned trailers or vehicles, though Buda hasn’t experienced similar crimes. Owens says that he can’t speculate on whether the fire was deliberately set or accidental.

As a professional firefighter, Owens said that he never expected his own home to catch fire.

“It’s not really supposed to happen that way,” Owens said.

The investigation remains open.