BNCW

Native Trees are part of a Healthy Landscape

Michelle Molina — Sun, 12 Nov 2023 22:16:05 +0000

November month to plant Evergreen Sumac

A healthy landscape includes a diversity of trees, shrubs and grasses. And while the majestic Live Oaks are synonymous with the Texas Hill Country, monocultures promote diseases and insect pests which can wipe out the entire species of trees that attract them.

Live Oaks and Red Oaks are especially vulnerable to oak wilt, a fungal disease called Ceratocystis fagacearum. Oak wilt is major disease threat to Live and Red oak trees in our area. A short drive to Kerrville and Fredricksburg will reveal large acres of dead and dying live oaks affected by oak wilt.

Before you take down any more understory small trees or shrubs, or plant only Live Oak or Red Oak trees, check in with your local county extension office and your local chapter of the Native Plant Society (NPSOT) and use this list to add some healthy diversity to your yard. The trees, birds, and other wildlife will thank you.

Native Plant Society of Texas: HomeNative Plant Society of Texashttps://npsot.org

https://kendall.agrilife.org Kendall County Extension office

https://comal.agrilife.org Comal County Extension office

Trees to Plant: And what a Variety it is! A quick search on internet and you will see how beautiful these trees are!

Texas Red Bud

Mexican Plum

Texas Buckeye

Possum Haw

Mexican Buckeye

Carolina Buckthorn

Walnut

Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum

Flameleaf Sumac

Evergreen Sumac

Eve’s necklace

Goldenball lead tree

Mexican Plum

Lacey Oak

Burr Oak

Chinquapin Oak

Live Oak

Red Oak

Shin Oak

Post Oak

Shumard Oak

Pecan

Spring and Fall Planting:

Texas Red Bud

Mexican Plum

Texas Buckeye

Possum Haw

Mexican Buckeye

Carolina Buckthorn

Walnut

Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum

Pecan

Live Oak

Chinquapin Oak

Burr Oak

Best Month to Plant it in:

September – Red Oak, Shin Oak, Post Oak, Shumard Oak, Lacey Oak

October – Flameleaf Sumac

November – Evergreen Sumac

December – Eve’s necklace

January – Goldenball lead tree

February – Mexican Plum

The list of trees provided by our Comal County friends and Texas Master Naturalists, Veronica Hawk and Lea Anzalotta.

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The Saving of Honey Creek, A Comal County Dream Come True!

Michelle Molina — Sun, 09 Jul 2023 17:16:17 +0000

Dear BNCW members,

Thank you for all of your support, speaking up, speaking out, and showing up for Honey Creek! We are appreciative of your recognition of this special place and its inhabitants.

On June 22, it was announced, the Urbanczyk family agreed to sell all 515 acres of what was to become the Honey Creek Ranch subdivision to Texas Parks and Wildlife to expand the Honey Creek Natural Area.

We are thankful to the Urbanczyk family, The Nature Conservancy, and Texas Parks and Wildlife for coordinating this agreement.

We are thankful to the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, Texas Cave Management Association, Honey Creek Spring Ranch, and the Dawson and Elmendorf families for all of their work and coordination with Ronald Urbanczyk during the TCEQ meditation process.

Thank you to the families who hung banners on their fences, placed signs in their yards, and bumper stickers on your vehicles. You kept “Save Honey Creek” on all of our minds!

With Appreciation! Michelle Molina and the BNCW Board!

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HOPE FOR HONEY

Michelle Molina — Sun, 06 Nov 2022 20:03:39 +0000

Hope For Honey

The final pieces are falling into place to save Honey Creek, a Hill Country treasure.

by John H. Ostdick Photography by Sonja Sommerfeld. Click on Hope For Honey below to read the whole The Texas parks & wildlife article.

Hope For Honey

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Texas Parks and Wildlife votes preservation over development for Honey Creek Ranch

Michelle Molina — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 21:41:11 +0000

The future of a Comal County freshwater creek is looking fresher today.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission voted Thursday to acquire and prevent development at Honey Creek, one of the most iconic streams in the Texas Hill Country. Read more here. TPWD Votes Preservation for Honey Creek Ranch

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San Antonio built a pipeline to rural Central Texas to increase its water supply.

Michelle Molina — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 20:54:10 +0000

Now local landowners say their wells are running dry.

A pipeline helped secure water for San Antonio for decades to come — at a potentially high cost to some rural residents who are losing groundwater to the big city. Is it a preview for the rest of the state as climate change brings more water scarcity and cities keep sprawling? Read more here.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/02/san-antonio-water-supply-rural-wells/?utm_source=articleshare&utm_medium=social

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Fish killed after more than a million gallons of drinking water spills into Comal River

Michelle Molina — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 21:39:48 +0000

Chlorine attacks gills of fish and other organisms. Read more here Chlorine Fish Kill.

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Honey Creek Final Settlement Agreement

Michelle Molina — Mon, 17 May 2021 21:05:29 +0000

On April 1, 2021, Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance (GEAA), Bulverde Neighborhoods for Clean Water (BNCW), Texas Cave Management Association (TCMA), and adjacent landowners signed a final settlement agreement with Silesia Properties, L.P./Mr. Ronald Urbanczyk regarding the Honey Creek development and Texas Land Application Permit (TLAP).

We would have all preferred the Silesia properties not be developed at all, or developed as luxury size acre lots to ensure the safety of Honey Creek caverns, spring, and creek, but understand the development was going to move forward regardless of our concerns.

Proceeding with mediation and not going to a Contested Case Hearing allowed beneficial requests of Silesia Properties. These requests would not have been available to the protestants had the permit gone to Contested Case Hearing.

The TLAP wastewater treatment plant benefits are:

Total homes limited to 1,640
Class A Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator, daily site visits and 24/7 by pager
UV disinfection rather than chlorine
Wastewater Treatment Plant to be designed to allow for beneficial reuse.
Increased effluent storage capacity 6 days
Effluent Limits: Total Nitrogen: 6 mg/L and Total Phosphorous: 0.5 mg/L
Increased TLAP soil depth of 20″ and enhanced soil testing plan
Seeps and Springs monitoring plan
Groundwater monitoring
No new groundwater wells
Developer nor permit holder can apply for or seek a TPDES permit
Dark Sky provisions
Restrictions of use of chemicals on roads
Backup power for lift stations
No use of coal tar sealant on roads
Green space buffer
Adjacent landowner accommodations

View the full Final settlement agreement here:

To ensure compliance with the final settlement agreement, we will be vigilant in attending Bulverde Planning & Zoning and City Council meetings and observing all activities at the Honey Creek development.

Please continue to display your @SAVEHONEYCREEK signs and bumper stickers.

Thank you for your continued help and support to Save Honey Creek!

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Great news about Ammann Ranch Development

Michelle Molina — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 22:29:28 +0000

There is GREAT news from the Bulverde City Council regarding Ammann Ranch development. Please read the attached agenda for the next meeting, Tuesday, Nov 10. We have read it and think that this is a dream come true.

Here are some of the highlights straight from the attached document:

The proposed amendment would effectuate the following changes to the balance of the Goldsmith tract that is as of yet undeveloped:

The high-density portions of the project would be removed, and the project would be reconstituted as a low-density community of 1+ acre lot homesites. The overall density of the tract would be reduced from 934 homes to 309 homes, a 67% reduction in density.
The open space buffer along the eastern edge of the property (adjacent to Persimmon Hill) will be maintained, as well as the prohibition on the creation of any connecting streets between the two subdivisions.
Because of the increase in the size of the lots, the subdivision will be served by individual septic systems instead of a centralized wastewater treatment plant.
The agreement especially requires the developer to utilize Canyon Lake Water Supply Corp. as their water provider. This measure will help protect the wells of existing customers in the surrounding neighborhoods. Previously, this tract was contemplating utilizing a competing water company that depends on unregulated wells in our area to supply water.
The previous portions of the prior agreements related to the Sutherland Development are not impacted by this agreement and will remain in full force and effect.

We are all very appreciative of our Mayor, City Manager, and City Council for their ability to put this kind of agreement together.

Thank you BNCW members, neighbors, and friends for your encouragement, donations, and hard work over these past two and one-half years! Without your help, speaking out, and acting out, we would be looking at a high-density nightmare.

Sincerely, Michelle and Lea

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Successful Mediation with DTB Investments

Michelle Molina — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 21:05:00 +0000

Successful Mediation with DTB Investments for Indian Creek

Thank you to all the members of BNCW and surrounding neighbors for your support in challenging DTB Investments over the past two years. Due in large part to your dedication, we had a successful mediation on August 28th. We achieved many positive permit holder/developer obligations.

These are some of the main points.

TPDES with 210 beneficial reuse (Will act like a TLAP)
Class A Operator
Well monitoring and Water Conservation
Construction traffic, Road, and Dark Sky Provisions
Emergency Power to WWTP, and Screening of WWTP and Discharge point
Stormwater and Development
Runoff Provisions and Impervious Cover per MDP

We hope this Settlement Agreement will serve our neighborhoods well in the future. Our work is not over as we will continue to ensure DTB Investments will honor follow their obligations outlined in this Final DTB Settlement Agreement.

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$10,000 Fundraiser Match Extended!

Lea Anzalotta — Sat, 11 Jul 2020 13:34:54 +0000

Dear Indian Creek Neighbors and BNCW Supporters,

A big THANK YOU! to all who have donated during the $10,000 fundraiser match. Because of your generosity and support, we have exceeded the halfway point of our goal.

Thank you for your commitment and determination to help keep our water clean and our neighborhoods safe from sewage discharge.

Here is a bit of information you may not know: The developer we are challenging is the same person who purchased property in NE and NW Bexar County with grandfathered commercial water wells. Grandfathered means UNRESTRICTED PUMPING AMOUNTS! He has formed at least three water utility companies and has threatened to use eminent domain laws to take property away from our neighbors to the west along Ammann Road and Blanco Road. He continues to try to gain access to other neighbors’ properties. WHY?? To install a large water pipeline to pump and sell water to outlying high-density neighborhoods planned in western Comal County and Kendall County, including the controversial Honey Creek Ranch development. Thankfully, the Bulverde City Council denied his plan to build a pump station with two 4 million gallon water holding tanks on the Ammann Ranch property. The water he wants to sell sits beneath our properties and land owned by families who have lived in this area for generations. He has said if our wells run dry, he will not sell to any of the people from under whose land he has taken water. If water were oil, he would have to compensate the landowners for his actions. Why does this matter? It is a reminder that this developer is not planning on being a good neighbor. He does not care if he dries up our wells. He does not care if he pollutes our wells, the land the discharge will run through, Indian Creek, or Cibolo Creek.

With the current economic conditions and concerns facing many of us, our anonymous donor has extended the offer to match up to $10,000 through September 15th. No amount is too small, all donations are 100% tax-deductible and will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000.

You can donate by mailing a check to GEAA at PO Box 15618, San Antonio, Texas 78212. Be sure to mark INDIAN CREEK in the subject line.

Your donation will help give us the needed funds to proceed with mediation and, hopefully, a binding private settlement. Please help make that difference for all of us!

Click here to Donate Now.

Sincerely,

Michelle Molina and Lea Anzalotta

Donate Now!

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