Archives for January 2002

Carrie Helms, Clarendon Enterprise

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen voted last week to accept a $46,060 planning grant that would allow the city to map streets, sewers, drainage, water, economic development, zoning, and more to make future plans.

Grant manager Kay Howard of Lubbock-based HOWCO presented the plan at the regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen January 22.  The city applied for the grant two years ago, was approved last year, and received funding this year from the state Office of Rural Community Affairs.

 “The maps would be like a blueprint,” Mayor Tex Selvidge said, “that would help us find what we need to do, a time frame for projects, and cost estimates.”

The current maps have not been updated in more than 15 years.

“The flood zone maps were updated in 1986, and the zoning maps are dated 1965,” secretary Linda Smith said. “The new maps will be more detailed, and it will help us to know exactly where everything is in Clarendon.”

Plans call for the new maps to be stored on digital media for easy access and reproduction. Detailed housing maps will show the exact position and condition of dwellings around the city.

The city is expected to pay $6,060 of the total cost of the four to six-month long project. 

 “When it is completed, we will have an overall plan of where we are now,” Selvidge said, “and where we would like to be in five to ten years.”

Among the items on the city’s drawing board is a proposed paving project that would cover 60 blocks of the city’s most traveled streets, Selvidge said. Those same streets also carry a lot of water during rainstorms.

While it is still in the planning stages, the mayor said the city intends to contract with a professional paving company to do the street project. Aldermen are looking at a variety of ways to fund the paving, including asking the city voters to approve bonds.

“I think we could probably make the payments with what we already budget each year,” the mayor said.

The planning grant should help fill in the details and cost projections of the street plan and may boost the city’s chances of receiving a grant to replace a large section of 1920s-era sewer line, which is in danger of collapsing.

In other city business last week, Gordon Maddox presented the audits for the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation and the city. Both audits were approved.

Building permits were discussed. The board voted to waive the permit fee for the Donley County Courthouse restoration project and to refund the fee paid by Community Fellowship Church. A permit was still required for both projects, however.

The city fire marshal position was discussed, but no action was taken. And the board discussed revising the city’s Personnel and Procedures Manual.

“United We Stand” was the theme for the fourth annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., birthday celebration held January 22 at Clarendon College.

Approximately 45 people assembled in the Bairfield Activity Center last Tuesday night for the celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Special guest, Bill Houston, opened the program with a beautiful rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.” Students of Clarendon College took an active part in the program. Chungu Nkhazi of Central Africa gave the welcome, and Ravon Justice of Atlanta, Texas, was the mistress of ceremonies.

Other students who participated on the program were Justin Steward of Texico, New Mexico; Zendra Burns of Quanah; Josh Marks of Seymour, Texas; and Lee Robinson of Fort Worth.

The guest speaker for the evening was Minister W.L. Scott of Abundant Life Fellowship Church in Borger. Mr. Scott spoke of the need to love and the importance of unity, family, and moral living.

Others on hand who delivered words of enlightenment were Clarendon College president Dr. Myles Shelton, Rev. James Ivey Edwards of the First United Methodist Church, Ann Alexander, and Don Stone.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Drum Major Awards were presented to Mr. and Mrs. Don Stone for their untiring work and leadership in the community, to Ann Alexander for her service to the community and for accomplishing her dream of going to college and opening a successful restaurant, and to Ms. Vickie Liles, English instructor at the college, for her dedication and enthusiasm toward learning and for being instrumental in making the dreams of many students come true in the classroom.

The Panhandle Livestock Association will hold its 87th annual convention this Saturday, February 2, 2002, at the Ambassador Hotel in Amarillo.

 A marketing panel will be held featuring Jim Reimann, president of Certified Angus Beef; Nick Hammett, a geneticist for Future Beef Operations; and J. D. Sartewell, owner of Port City Stockyards in Sealy. The panel discussion will begin at 9:30 a.m.

A luncheon and general meeting will be held at noon.

Guest speaker will be Paul Terrill of Hazen & Terrill Attorneys of Austin. He will address the “Current Status of Water Rights in Texas Courts.”

A prime rib dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. with Robert Howden appearing as the featured speaker in place of Texas Governor Rick Perry. The cost of the dinner is $25 per person. Attendees will also enjoy musical entertainment provided by the String Technicians.

The Panhandle Livestock Association was started in 1917 by Col. Charles Goodnight, among several other prominent Panhandle cattlemen.

The association is a regional organization which attempts to identify and address problems concerning the local cattle industry. PLA has endowed scholarships at West Texas A&M University and Clarendon College and is currently working on two more scholarships for each of these schools.

For more information about the Panhandle Livestock Association or the annual conference, contact Jack Craft at 806/874-3747 (or email to OCRC@arn.net) or Swasey Brainard 806/669-6124

Five CHS students placed in UIL academic contests held recently at West Texas High.

Micah Sparks and Cameron Word placed 3rd and 6th in Computer Applications; Eric Pitts placed 5th in Ready Writing; Lacey Anderberg and Eric Pitts placed 1st and 5th in Editorials; Valerie Taylor placed 1st in Literary Criticism and 3rd in Headlines.

The students are busy practicing for their next practice meet on February 9 at Canadian High School.

https://www.clarendonlive.com/2002/01/3015/

Donley County won a summary judgment ruling last week in the lawsuit brought against it by former constable Jimmy Swinney.

District Judge David McCoy ruled on January 14 that the Donley County Commissioners’ Court did not abuse its discretion when it set Swinney’s annual salary at $3,170 in December 2000.

“We won every issue,” said County Attorney Pro Tem Kaye Messer. “The judge found that the county followed the law. I think the commissioners did their job and did it right”

Noting that the commissioners’ court is the sole body that can determine what is a “reasonable” salary, McCoy stated that the local commissioners received input from both the sheriff’s department and the relevant justice of the peace along with using several other criteria to determine the expected workload for Swinney’s position and then set a salary accordingly.

McCoy noted the county had contacted the Attorney General’s office to make sure they had followed the law in setting the constable’s salary and had, “at least tacitly,” received approval for the steps the commissioners used.

McCoy also denied Swinney’s attempt to have the county pay his attorney’s fees and stated that Swinney should have first approached the county attorney pro tem before hiring his own counsel.

“[Swinney’s] actions are likened to the person who is in a health care program but who does not use the program but goes outside the program without approval to seek services from a doctor not approved and then insists that the insurance company pay his doctor,” McCoy wrote.

Swinney has 30 days to file an appeal. As of press time, no appeal had been filed in the clerk’s office.

County Judge Jack Hall said he was pleased with the ruling and with Messer.

“I am very proud of the commendable job that Kaye did representing the county,” he said.

Swinney won a write-in campaign in November 2000 to fill the position of constable in Donley County’s Precincts 1&2, which had been vacant for more than three decades. He took office in January 2000 and sued six months later alleging, among other things, that his $3,170 annual salary was unreasonable. He petitioned the district court to command the county set and pay a reasonable salary for his term. The petition also sought back pay with pre-judgment interest, attorney fees, and punitive damages.

In September, Swinney resigned his office after he failed to become a certified Texas peace officer.