An explosion of growth in the northeastern portion of Burnet County has impressed Congressman Roger Williams, R-Austin.
Williams toured Burnet County on Tuesday, Aug. 17, and visited with Bertram Mayor Mike Dickinson. During this meeting, Williams learned there are some 7,500 new homes being built in the vi cinity which could cause the population of this tiny hamlet to expand tenfold virtually overnight.
“Bertram is an interesting little community in our district,” Williams said. “It’s starting to really grow and they have a new mayor (Dickinson) and I went by to see him. He’s a business guy and has some great vision for that community. They are building 7,500 homes in Bertram. It’s really going to be a huge growth area.”
Bertram’s current population is believed to be about 2,254, up more than 900 residents from the 1,353 reported during the 2010 census. Adding 7,500 homes to the area could cause the population to reach more than 22,000.
Already, Burnet CISD is preparing for growth in the area by expanding Bertram Elementary School to handle the population boom administration officials believe is coming. The new facilities are being paid for through a $52.5 million bond package approved by voters earlier this year. Williams said he offered
Williams said he offered his support to Dickinson to “let him know if we can help him with anything.”
“The biggest thing we can do from a federal government standpoint in helping all towns like that is cut taxes and let people make more money and be able to build houses, buy cars and build buildings, etc.,” Williams said. “I gave him that message and he’s a business guy. He gets it.”
Williams said he also toured the new jail facility in Lampasas County and visited with local law enforcement there.
“It’s state of the art,” he said. “It’s impressive from a philosophical standpoint that it really reminds you how people can make a bad decision and mess their lives up.”
Williams said he also spoke about the potential increase in detainers by Customs and Border Enforcement (CBE).
“We have some issues within our district with our jail facilities being totally overcrowded with illegals and I wanted to see if it was affecting them,” the congressman said. “It hasn’t yet like it has some of the other counties in our district.”
