Bastrop residents savor chance to chat with City Manager Sylvia Carrillo

Fourteen residents sat down to a sleek long table at the back of Bastrop City Council chambers on Jan. 18, after enjoying complimentary coffee and pastries.

“You guys get to ask me whatever you want to ask me,” Bastrop City Manager Sylvia Carrillo said in a welcoming tone. “I can also meet one-on-one if I can’t answer your questions tonight or do follow-up with emails. I’m happy to do it.”

Carrillo has been reaching out to residents in a series of informal sessions called "Sit with Sylvia." The sessions are “wide open” ― in her words – in the topics covered and an apparent hit with participants. Residents were soon conversing with Carrillo on topics ranging from planned new housing and retail, traffic jams at the Texas 71/Hasler Boulevard intersection near McDonald's, the Agnes Street extension to Texas 304, the Old Iron Bridge status and the impacts of Elon Musk’s various area works.

Carrillo said she has held similar community sessions in previous employments.

“I have held 'Sit with Sylvia' in every city I’ve worked in,” Carrillo said. “It’s a great opportunity for folks to have direct access to me outside of a council meeting or a city hall ― both of which can be scary and imposing for them sometimes. I hold the (sessions) at City Hall, local restaurants, the library, etc. It’s a way to connect with the residents about what’s important to them. I also usually bring no staff. No question is off limits, and we get some doozies at times. I’ve always had great success with the sessions, and they are appreciated.”

Street repairs, Musk and Burleson East

Carrillo revisited the city increasing its source of funding for street repairs. Under a proposition approved by voters in the November 2023 election, the city acquired three-quarters of the half-cent of sales tax previously allotted to the Bastrop Economic Development Corporation to fund its economic development projects. The reallocation of the BEDC funds will provide the city an additional $3.3 million annually to help fund its $70 million street-maintenance program. Carrillo said the program has been aided with the results of recent television-capture inspections below streets proving mostly positive.

“A lot of our infrastructure is good, so that means we can get started on streets faster,” Carrillo said. “The problem that was previously keeping us up at a night is, do I touch the street above if I know the infrastructure underneath is bad. But we know a lot of it is good now.”

Carrillo told participants there were “several development agreements involving Burleson East, but we can’t share those yet, because the developer hasn’t given us permission.”

Carrillo also spoke during the session ― and in an email follow-up to the Advertiser ― about the effects of the Elon Musk properties in Bastrop County.

“The Musk properties currently have a temporary wastewater treatment plant that will discharge into the Colorado (River),” Carrillo said. “Obviously, that’s not a good long-term solution. By partnering with Corix ― the utility provider ― and SpaceX and the city, we can have a regional solution that would benefit the entire area ― not just one company ― and save the Colorado. It’s super important to know what is being discharged.”

Chats 'very informative'

Bastrop native Thomas "Bubba" Jefferson said the session with Carrillo “was very informative. It’s very helpful to know what’s coming into Bastrop and the growth.”

Jefferson said he’s had good interactions with Carrillo before.

“One of my main concerns is just growth and its effect on the drainage problems, especially in the area south of Highway 71 around Newton Street and Jasper Street ― which I’ve talked with Sylvia about before,” said Jefferson, who lives in the neighborhood. “When they did all the new construction above us along the 71 frontage road with Jack in the Box and CVS Pharmacy, that was creek bottom previously, just a channel. So when they developed all that, the water got rerouted towards us.”

As for the rebooting of plans to repair the Old Iron Bridge, Jefferson said, “That’s a tough question – they’ve been talking about that Old Iron Bridge for years. Way back, when (the Texas Department of Transportation) built the new bridge, the plan was to tear down the Old Iron Bridge, but then the city fought that, to keep the old bridge. At this point, I say just go on ahead and repair it.”

The next "Sit with Sylvia" session will be Feb. 22 at 7:30 a.m. at the Bastrop Convention Center, 1408-B Chestnut St., across from Bastrop City Hall. Coffee and donuts will be served.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bastrop residents enjoy chat with City Manager Sylvia Carrillo