Bastrop County is a fast-growing neighborhood in Travis County বাড়ি home to Austin, University of Texas, State Capital, Austin FC, Austin City Limits, Oracle, Tesla, etc. Bastrop Tesler’s new world headquarters and direct downriver from the car factory.
When Elon Musk moved from California to Texas, his boring company quickly set up shop in rural Bastrop County and currently has a permit to drill 500 feet below State Highway 1209. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. Discussions are underway on how the company will build a Tesla manufacturing plant, an airport and a tunnel in central Austin. Like most of Mask’s projects, the approach is great. And like most of his projects, his teams are moving fast and breaking things – in this case, the law (see video for details).
In response, “Keep Bastrop Boring” is a new community campaign by Chap Ambrose, a full-stack, user-centric developer and local landowner since 2013. As a neighbor of the boring company’s new test center, he has been directly influenced by the company’s decision, legitimate and otherwise.
Ambrose is raising his own money to publicly embarrass Elon Musk and the company for failing to be a good neighbor. The delivery mechanism is a billboard where employees of the boring company turn left on Highway 71 to reach their new facility. Placement ensures that the message meets its intended audience, as well as conveys the word to local residents like me.
Ambrose’s immediate concern is with groundwater. On the campaign website, he writes, “Their plan shows tunneling 1,500 feet above the Lower Colorado River, where we have a very shallow water table and virtually all sand and gravel. Every family in the area has a home in the well water, all the neighbors drink this water and many depend on it as part of their small business. “
“If Elon is going to prototype the world’s fastest tunneling operation around me, I hope the most innovative and transparent security system will be by his side,” he added. “I want sensors around each tunnel that release public data on water quality and any potential retention. I want a red team onsite with the transparency tunneling crew. “
I spoke to Ambrose on the phone today. She said she was “thinking generationally” and that her inspiration was to protect family land and territory for her children. In a separate but related move, Ambrose has set up a new 501 (c) (3) nonprofit to help raise funds for local county parks.
Ambrose said there are currently 25 housing developments in the books in Bastrop County and he is working to preserve some open and wild areas before being snatched by developers. Bastrop County has no budget for county parks.
I asked Ambrose if his message had reached Mask and his men. “I know they talked to the sheriff about what I was doing,” he said. This. They also read my posts on Reddit. “If Ambrose got a chance to speak directly to Mask, he said he would ask him to apply higher standards.
“I support positive development,” he stressed. “Some of my neighbors think the ‘Keep Bastrop Boring’ message is very positive and they don’t want stickers,” he said.
The billboard will go down tomorrow, April 14th. Ambrose said he would continue to come up with new ways to inform the public and he welcomed the help of other concerned citizens.