2022 National Night Out at KF Park • THANK YOU Wells Branch! by Margaret Sufke, President, WBNA
We had an excellent turnout at National Night Out! Thank you everyone for taking time to join us. Our tremendous sense of community is what shapes this neighborhood most. Your ongoing involvement is what makes Wells Branch such a great place to live.
Continue reading 2022 National Night Out at KF Park | THANK YOU Wells Branch!
It would be frightful if we didn’t thank the WB MUD and our community members for joining us at the 2022 WB Trunk-or-Treat Event.
The WBNA hosted a scary trunk photo op, while handing out ghoulish goodies! A special thank you to Daniel and Sherrie White for helping to hand out candy! Sherrie wowed the crowd with her period costume of a hand-sewn copy of Ann Boleyn’s wedding dress.
A very special shout out to Pam Wachholz, her daughter Bekah and her partner “Dr. Acrula” for serving as emcees and leading the costume contest. As always the contest was a real challenge to judge because all the kids looked amazing! Congratulations to the winners! See you next year!
Photo courtesy of Steph Davlantes
Fall is HERE!Wells Branch Recreation Department hosts this fall event filled with fun and live music entertainment. Bring a lawn chair and a friend to enjoy the show! In the event of rain, the concert will move inside the community center.
Pumpkin Patch! Pick your pumpkin! FREE!
10am-Noon in front of the Chuck Walters Pavilion at KF Park on Alpha Collier
Pumpkin Painting in the Park
10am-1pm inside the Chuck Walters Pavilion at KF Park
(enter from Alpha Collier)
Admission: 1 canned good or $1 donation to St. Andrew’s Food Pantry
Pumpkin Painting has been a WB tradition for more than a decade with real pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. It’s always a lot of fun and you get to take home a pumpkin to decorate for Fall!
Calling all princesses, monsters, super-heroes and other-worldly beasts! We’ll be holding our annual costume contest on the Community Center steps beginning at 6pm sharp! Check HERE for updates.
Ghosts, Ghouls, and Goblins abound in the CC parking lot on Klattenhoff where there will be a multitude of scary treats for all your little monsters as the WB MUD Recreation Dept. hosts Halloween Trunk or Treat! A plethora of enthusiastic community members will be on hand with candy. If you’d like to decorate a car or truck please visit the WB MUD’s special events page for more information and to register your vehicle by October 24.
Pitch your tent around the Homestead and enjoy an evening getting back to nature! Bring your family and unplug to enjoy the glow of the campfire while spending quality time with your loved ones. Wells Branch Recreation will have activities and crafts to keep all of our frontier campers entertained. Dinner and breakfast will be provided by the Wells Branch Recreation Department. The event will begin at 4pm on Saturday, November 5, and clear out will by 8am the following morning. This event is free but will be limited to 30 families. Registration will be available beginning October 5 at wellsbranchmud.com.
Get your daubers ready — you’re in for a real treat! WB Rec Dept. is hosting Bingo Nights this winter. Grab your bingo buddy and lucky charm and join us at the Rec Center. The lucky winners will have a selection of gift cards to choose from. Light refreshments will be available at no cost. Bingo will begin at 6:30pm and prizes will wrap up around 8:30pm.
Bring a covered dish or dessert to share with family, friends, and neighbors as we all gather for Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey, ham, dressing, potatoes, bread, and beverages will be provided by the WB MUD. Brown Santa barrels will be on-site so please bring a non-perishable food item and/or a new or gently used toy.
oin us for National Night Out –Each year, the WBNA hosts National Night Out for the Wells Branch community. Please join us for supper to visit with your neighbors and area first responders. The WBNA will be serving up FREE hotdogs, sausage wraps, chips, and drinks! Enjoy FREE Culver’s frozen custard provided by the Friends of Wells Branch Community Library and hear about all the exciting Fall programs the library has planned for Wells Branch. While waiting for this event to start, attendees can play games such as 카지노사이트.
Travis County Commissioner Jeff Travillion and distinguished members from the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, Pflugerville Fire Dept./Travis County ESD2 and Precinct 2 Constable’s Office will be on hand to visit with residents and answer questions. Make plans to speak with local first responders and receive information on Neighborhood Watch and other programs available to residents.
Activities include: Prize drawings for home safety products throughout the evening, interactive tours of the Fire Safety House, a fire truck, and an ambulance hosted by Pflugerville Fire Department / ESD2. The Wells Branch MUD will have representatives there with information on upcoming events and safety on the trails. Plus, we’ll have folks on hand to register voters and share NOV 8 ballot information.
Meet with local law enforcement officers and politicians to see what you can do to help reduce the opportunities for crimes to occur in our neighborhood. National Night Out’s purpose is to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness, generate support for and participation in local anti-crime efforts, build neighborhood spirit and strengthen our law enforcement-community partnership. Help send the message to criminals that Wells Branch is organized and fighting back.
Take a stand against crime. Turn on your porch light and join your friends and neighbors at the park for food and fellowship. If you have a local Neighborhood Watch group on your block, set a date after the event to meet your neighbors and discuss how you can make your homes and our community safer. If you don’t have a group yet we’d like to encourage you to make plans to set up a new group. We’re here to help!
We hope to see you at NNO!
by Jon Klekman & Ben Williams
Thanks to everyone who came to the Property Tax Discussion.
Thank you to Travis County Chief Appraiser Mayra Crigler for attending and lending her considerable expertise!
Thank you to Leslie Little with the Wells Branch Community Library for getting us set up, promoting us, and letting our meeting run WAY long!
And thanks to Vicky Linsalata, a Travis County ESD #17 Commissioner (one of our taxing entities!) for joining us.
Also, be on the lookout for announcements from local taxing entities about their proposed rates for 2023, and see how they affect you directly!
Click HERE for Ben Williams’ PDF presentation on Property Taxes and follow the link below to the Video Replay with Live Presentation Deck synced with Ben’s talk.
We are so grateful for the folks who attended in person, those who expressed interest in this program and to the folks in the neighborhood who want to engage and shape the dialogue with our local institutions. I also need to mention that wonderful hosting and support from our very own gem, Wells Branch Community Library. We will also look to potentially live stream some of these in the future.
The next session will be held at the Library on Saturday, August 6; the topic is in formulation— stay tuned shortly for the blurb.
Link to Zoom Recording of Property Tax Talk (Wells Branch Civics Club)
We hope to see you there! – Jon & Ben
Water Restrictions In EffectEffective June 6, 2022, Wells Branch is under Stage 1 drought response water restrictions.
Water waste is prohibited and can be enforced at all times. Continue reading Water Restrictions In Effect
$500 Reward for Information on GraffitiGraffiti in Wells Branch MUD (the “District”) has increased so it is time to take a proactive approach. Graffiti and other property vandalism not only take away from the beauty and sense of security in our community, but are also very costly. In an effort to stop this activity in our community, the Wells Branch Municipal Utility District will offer a reward of up to $500 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of any person committing a graffiti-related or vandalism offense within the District. This includes parks and park fixtures, signs, utility boxes, and fencing. Persons identified as committing these offenses within the District will be prosecuted to the fullest extent permitted by law. The District will also seek restitution and damages, including the cost of any reward(s) paid, from any person or persons convicted of these offenses within the District.
Please immediately report information related to the act of a graffiti-related or vandalism offense within the District to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office Tip Line at 512-854-1444.
If you spot graffiti in the District please let us know through our graffiti report / removal form: http://wellsbranchmud.com/services/graffiti-report-removal
WB MUD Board of Directors ElectionBoard of Director elections are held on the uniform election date in November of every even-numbered year. In 2022, the election will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022.
A person that desires to be a candidate in the District’s next Director election must be qualified to serve as a Director and must timely submit an application for a place on the ballot to the District. To be qualified to serve as a Director, a person must be at least 18 years old, a resident citizen of the State of Texas, and either own land subject to taxation in the District or be a qualified voter within the District.
Three of the five Director positions are up for election this year. The first day to file an application for a place on the ballot is July 23, 2022. The deadline to file an application for a place on the ballot is 5:00pm on August 22, 2022.
If you are interested in becoming a Director, please visit wellsbranchmud.com for more information.
Collars & Tags & Microchips—OH MY!by Mikella Maughan
Every year we see an increase in lost pets around the 4th of July, as they try to escape the noise and confusion of fireworks. In addition to securing your pets, there are things you can do to help the chances of getting them back home should they somehow escape.
As your pet doesn’t have a voice, the easiest and most obvious option is a collar and ID of some kind. Pet owners on a budget can find collars at local dollar stores. Even without a tag a collar makes it easier for your pet to be safely caught by a good Samaritan so they can be returned to you or turned in to a shelter where you can be reunited. If you are unable to get an ID tag at the moment, you can write your phone number on the collar with a Sharpie or other permanent marker. This is also a great option for those pets who tend to always ‘lose’ their tags. You can also order collars and tags on Amazon or other online pet stores so you don’t have to go anywhere.
When a pet doesn’t have an ID tag or other identifying information, a microchip is an excellent backup plan. Microchips don’t fall off or get lost, and they don’t have batteries that die. They simply sit silently under your pet’s skin until the information you’ve registered can be retrieved with a microchip scanner.
Travis County residents can get a free Microchip and/or a free ID tag for their pet by going to Austin Animal Services at 7301 Levander Loop between 11:00am and 7:00pm. The shelter does not currently assist with chip registration so be sure to register your pet’s chip as soon as you get home.
Williamson County residents can get a free microchip and registration at the Williamson County Animal Shelter. Just email wcras@wilco.org for more information and/or to schedule a microchip appointment. These are provided free through a grant by the Petco Foundation.
You can also get a microchip for a fee from your pet’s veterinarian.
You should register the chip with the manufacturer at least once, but you can also register your chip at Michelson Found Animals Foundation (https://www.foundanimals.org/) for free. Just remember to update your information when you move or change phone numbers.
Now is the time, please don’t wait until your pet is lost and wish you had done something; it may be too late. According to a 2009 study published by the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, a dog has a 52% chance of returning home if microchipped but only a 21% chance of returning home if not. Cats have a 38% chance of returning home if microchipped; an astonishing 1% chance of returning home if not.
IF YOU FIND A LOST PET please call or text the Wells Branch microchip scanner volunteer at (512) 270-1026 for a free scan, or take the pet to your nearest vet office or shelter. Some pet supply stores such as Petsmart, Petco and Tomlinson’s also have scanners.
Please also post lost or found pets on the Wells Branch Lost and Found Pets page on Facebook.