With its charming downtown and scenic setting, Boerne is known as an inviting place where streets are clean and open spaces are well maintained.
This is ultimately due to the pride Boerne residents have for their community, but the City’s ordinances are also in place to ensure that standard is kept. The job of monitoring these ordinances falls to the City of Boerne’s Code Compliance Department.
For Code Compliance Officer Betty Kwasneski, the job is about much more than writing citations for tall grass or noise complaints. It’s about striking a balance between enforcement and meeting people where they are.
She has spent years building relationships with residents, local businesses, and nonprofit organizations that she can rely on when a community member needs help.
That’s what happened this summer when Kwasneski coordinated two community projects that connected residents with resources to help make improvements at their properties.
The first project was at a home just west of downtown Boerne where multiple generations of one family have lived for years. Financial and medical challenges have made it difficult for the family to maintain parts of the property.
The home needed a new privacy fence, but the residents didn’t have the money for the project. Leaning on community partners, Kwasneski called Hill Country Family Services, which donated money for the materials.
“Hill Country Family Services does so many great things for our community,” Kwasneksi said. “Their partnership in this project made such a meaningful impact on the lives of the residents.”
She then called volunteers with UM Army, a youth service ministry through the United Methodist Church, which had reached out to the City several months earlier to see if there were any projects the group could work on. A team of students from several churches in Texas eagerly provided the labor for the project.
Kwasneski once again picked up the phone, this time calling Boerne Parks Operations Superintendent Rusty Fuller to see if he could provide a trailer to pick up the fencing materials.
Fuller did more than provide a trailer, he sent two trucks, two trailers, and a crew of three Parks and Recreation team members to pick up and unload the materials. Moises Sotello, Kelly Wanner, and Kekoa Ammerman made quick work of the delivery and then turned their attention to a large pile of bulk trash and limbs at the curb, loading the trailer with the material and hauling it off without even being asked.
“Everybody came together at the last minute, and it was so nice,” Kwasneski said. “I love Boerne. I love the fact that the Parks department didn’t have any hesitation to help out, and Hill Country Family Services didn’t hesitate, either.”
The second project was at a home near River Road, where a long-time Boerne resident needed help to clean up her property.
Once again, UM Army sent a team of young people to lend a hand. The group spent several hours sorting through items that could be donated and removing items that could not be salvaged.
Kwasneski has checked in with the resident every few weeks for several years, building a relationship over time that allowed her to present the cleanup project from a place of friendship rather than solely as a code compliance issue.
“I want her to know that I like helping her, and that I care about her and all my customers,” she said. “I love the work and I love doing projects like these to help people.”
The residents at both homes expressed gratitude for the volunteers who worked at their properties.
Projects like these are a reminder of what can be accomplished when service and collaboration come together for the good of everyone in Boerne.
