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BASTROP — City Council addressed a wide range of agenda items March 11, including naming a new municipal judge, updating cemetery fees and creating a new parks policy.
New magistrate sworn in
Jay Caballero took his oath of office as Bastrop’s associate municipal judge.
He will fulfill an unexpired term ending June 19 and then begin a two-year term June 20.
Caballero was hired as an independent contractor at a rate of $150 per jail magistrate trip, $400 per half-day in court and $50 for each overnight warrant processed.
He will serve as backup to Presiding Municipal Judge Caroline McClimon, whose two-year term was also renewed.
McClimon receives $117,371 annually, paid monthly, according to city records. The city estimates her duties will take about 1,000 hours per year.
Cemetery fees rise
The council has agreed to increase prices at Fairview Cemetery for both residents and nonresidents.
A single plot now costs $2,500 for locals and $5,000 for those who do not live within the city, up from $1,500 and $3,500, respectively.
Officials also established a $1,820 fee for double-depth burials and set a columbarium niche fee—for placing cremated remains in a dedicated storage space—at $1,750 for residents and $2,000 for nonresidents.
Racial profiling report
Police Chief Vicky Steffanic presented Bastrop’s annual racial profiling data, noting there were no bodily harm incidents from physical force and no racial profiling complaints filed in relation to traffic stops in 2024.
The annual report is mandated by Senate Bill 1074, known as the Racial Profiling Law. Each year, the police chief is required to submit a statistical traffic stop report to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, as well as the council.
According to the chief, officers conducted 3,667 traffic stops which resulted in warnings, citations or arrests—with 51.29% involving white drivers, 34.19% involving Hispanic drivers and 11.86% involving Black drivers.
Searches were conducted in 133 stops, revealing contraband 114 times, she added.
Steffanic said officers knew the driver’s race beforehand in only 11 instances, and the majority of those stopped did not live within the Bastrop zip code.
Pay instead of play
The council approved a fee-in-lieu policy for developers who cannot meet the standard requirement of allocating 10% of a project’s land as civic space.
City staff noted that “civic space” had been defined too broadly, sometimes resulting in land set aside that did not align with Bastrop’s parks master plan.
Under the new policy, according to the council, developers lacking suitable on-site park space can opt to pay a designated fee instead. The fee is intended to offset the impact on park facilities incurred from the residents who will eventually occupy that development.
City leaders said that collected fees will help fund existing parks or future park projects, ensuring that new developments still contribute to Bastrop’s recreational spaces, whether or not that space is located within the development itself.
