Vice-Chair- Bob Calvisi, Williamson County Human Resource Management Association

Secretary-Sandy Schultz, Liberty Hill Public Library

Treasurer-Kim Dirner, Advocare

Director-Jason Stanley, Edward Jones

Director-Chris Ramstedt, The Citren Group

Director-Teri Moore, Liberty Hill Bookkeeping Services

Director-Dave Gould, Hope House

Director-Greg Haley, KC Engineering, Inc.

Executive Director-Valerie Zapien

A New Liberty Hill High School for 1,600 students will be built on land currently owned by district on State Highway 29.

Building Features: 48 classrooms, nine science labs, 10 computer labs, one competition gym and two smaller practice gyms, career and technology classrooms, band hall, choir and an auditorium

Site Features: Parking for 1,100 vehicles, a football stadium for 5,000, 8-lane track, two practice fields, baseball field and softball field (both with seating for 500), tennis courts and field houses, a weight room and concession stands

Materials and Sustainable Design: Energy efficient, low-E glass windows; ground sources heating and air-conditioning (geothermal); carpet tiles that incorporate sustainable technologies; insulated masonry wall system; terrazzo flooring; energy management system; occupancy sensors; natural daylight in all classrooms

Schematic Design Presentation

Dear Prospective Members, Members and Former Members,

We at the Liberty Hill Chamber of Commerce would like you to know that your Board of Directors and newly hired President, Valerie Zapien have been very busy serving you!  Your current directors are: David Pope-Chairman, Jason Stanley-Chairman-Elect, Kasee Powers-Vice Chairman, Gene Pollastro-Treasurer, Rich Tulp, and Shelly Wilkison.

One of the major projects we are currently undertaking is revising the bylaws.  We would like to open up two of the nine Board positions to nonprofit organizations and individual members.  This decision is being based on the results of a survey completed by members who attended the general meetings held in August and September 2011.  We would love to have every member’s input so we are attaching that survey to this letter.   We will be reviewing and hopefully approving the bylaw amendments, and filling the currently vacant Board positions at the December 13, 2011 Lunch and Learn.

Our general membership meetings (Lunch and Learns) are being held the second Tuesday of every month from 11:30-1 p.m.  They are being held at the VFW and the cost of your meal, the networking opportunity and the costs of the speakers are covered with $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers or anyone who did not rsvp.

Our regularly scheduled Board Meetings will be held the first Friday of every month.  Time and location are determined by the Board and are posted on the Chamber’s online event calendar.  You are invited to attend our next Board meeting, November 4, 2011 at the Community Resource Center, 155 Hillcrest at 8:30 a.m.

The past three months have also involved; increasing the number and quality of your membership benefits without increasing the membership fees.  Most of these benefits involve increasing advertising for our members.  We’ve improved our website, Facebook page and software benefits, improved and updated our membership directory, maintained a comprehensive and up-to-date online community event calendar, invested in creating a print ad that is featured weekly in the Independent Newspaper (The Chamber’s Corner), invested and designed a Chamber web ad that is permanently featured on the Radio Free Liberty Hill website, scheduled  ribbon cuttings for new businesses and organizations and consulted with other successful Chambers in the area.

Another major project we are currently working on is creating a new Chamber map.  This map would include the City of Liberty Hill map, a Williamson County map, and all points of interest in the Liberty Hill area.  The last map of Liberty Hill created for Liberty Hill was done in 2008.  The decision to pursue this project stemmed from the high demand of phone and email requests to the Chamber every day!  This map could be another advertising opportunity for your business.

Our first Annual Special Awards Banquet will be held in February 2012.  This will be an opportunity for the Chamber to recognize individuals and businesses for their contributions and involvement in the Liberty Hill area.  Please take some time to think about nominations for this event and submit them to president@libertyhillchamber.org.

Our Directors are ensuring that the Chamber is regularly represented at community events and meetings.   The voices of our members are being heard.  Now is the time to be involved in your Chamber!  The more active you are, the more you will receive from your investment.  If you are not a member, you will miss out on opportunities to connect with your community, to be involved in the decision making and to build a more successful business through advertising, networking and educational opportunities.

We are looking forward to meeting you, building a relationship with you and serving the needs of your business and our community.  Most of your needs can be met through our website.  You may view the business directory, submit new events and search for events in the area, post and search for job postings by our members, advertise your business, link to our Facebook page, publish discounts and coupons for fellow members and the public, and read current news and articles for the Chamber.  We highly encourage you to apply to be a member of the Chamber online, www.libertyhillchamber.org.

We are looking forward to seeing you officially become a member beginning January 1, 2012.  The tiered membership benefits are attached and are also available for review online.  We have included separate rates for non-profits. Membership checks should be made payable to LHCC and sent to PO Box 586, Liberty Hill, TX 78642 or may be dropped off with Teri Moore at Bookkeeping on the Loop downtown.  If you have questions, suggestions or concerns, please contact Valerie Zapien either by email at president@libertyhillchamber.org or leave a message on the Chamber voice mailbox 512-548-6343.

See you at our next event!

Respectfully,

The Liberty Hill Chamber of Commerce

Board of Directors

The Chamber Board of Directors has developed a strategy to help drive traffic to your business. We start by playing a more visible role in the community. Then, we provide marketing tools to help you reach more customers. And finally, we offer opportunities for you to network with other area business leaders because building relationships with our peers makes a difference.

We are currently researching all of our options for an office location.  Once a location is chosen, you can help make the Chamber office a more valuable resource by providing information and materials about your business so that we can promote you to those making inquiries.

As a Chamber member, you will want to take advantage of advertising opportunities on our website, in the Chamber’s Corner of The Independent, in the Chamber’s newsletter and by being a sponsor at our events.

Your Chamber of Commerce will play an important role in the coming years as the Liberty Hill community continues to grow. Knowing this, the Board is constantly looking for ways to involve more of our members in the organization. In recent years, members have met once a month during lunch to hear engaging speakers on a number of topics. We will continue to provide these opportunities, but are also working to schedule networking opportunities at different times of the day to make them more accessible to those who may commute or are not able to break away during regular business hours. While your Chamber Board of Directors has developed a promising strategy to benefit the business community in 2012 and beyond, its success is directly connected to the involvement of members.

Liberty Hill school district gets top rating in spending report; Round Rock also rates high

By Jamie Stengle

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Updated: 12:04 a.m. Friday, Sept. 16, 2011

Published: 7:58 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011

MESQUITE — Texas Comptroller Susan Combs released a report Thursday rating school districts on student academic performance in the context of district spending, with findings nearly mirroring those from the report’s debut last year.

Once again, only about 4 percent of districts got the top rating. Of the 46 districts getting the top rating of five stars this year, Combs noted that half of those were getting the designation for the second year, including the suburban Dallas school district of Mesquite, where she announced the report’s results.

In Central Texas, the Liberty Hill school district in Williamson County, Star Charter School in Austin and the McDade school district in Bastrop County earned five stars.

The Round Rock, Del Valle, Wimberley and Dripping Springs districts earned 4.5 stars.

“We are diligent in our efforts to be good stewards of our taxpayer dollars while providing a quality educational experience for our students,” Round Rock Superintendent Jesús Chávez said in a statement Thursday.

The Austin school district earned 2.5 stars, ahead of the Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio districts but behind Houston and El Paso, which both earned three stars.

Austin district officials said they could not immediately comment Thursday.

Combs said she would like to see more districts earn the top rating but noted that the purpose of the study is to inspire districts.

The website featuring the report, she added, offers examples of ways districts are achieving greater efficiency while also seeing students achieve academic success.

“It’s meant to be positive. It’s not a ‘gotcha,’ it’s a ‘wow,’\u2009″ she said.

Combs was asked by the 2009 Legislature to compile a report that showed which districts were getting both academic success and cost effectiveness in the way they spent money.

In the face of a $27 billion state budget shortfall, the Legislature this year cut

$4 billion over the next two years in funding for school districts.

For this year’s report, Combs ranked 1,237 school districts and charter schools.

A district getting the highest designation ranks among the top 20 percent of districts in academic progress with spending kept among the lowest 20 percent of fiscally comparable districts.

About 21 percent of districts got ratings of four to 4.5 stars this year, compared with about 20 percent last year.

About 34 percent got ratings of three to 3.5 stars, compared with about 36 percent last year.

Meanwhile, about 30 percent got two to 2.5 stars this year compared with about 31 percent last year. And about 11 percent got one- to 1.5-star ratings this year, compared with about 10 percent last year.

Additional material from American-Statesman staff reports.