Clarendon Aldermen plan city clean up

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen last Tuesday moved forward with a plan for a citywide clean up to be held in September.

Dates for the clean up were set for Friday, September 13, and Saturday, September 14, in order to have the town clean for homecoming and the Chuckwagon cookoff the following week.

The aldermen are planning to allow city residents to have free dumping privileges at the recycling center during the clean up. A water bill will have to be shown to get the privilege.

The board is also considering allowing city personnel to help pick up and haul loads of trash on September 13. No action was taken, however, and this issue will be taken up again at the next regular meeting.

In other city business, Donna Hicks gave the annual report for the Local Housing Authority and asked the city to do something about the trash and debris in the 200 block of N. Jefferson Street. Eyesores at that location and on N. Sully Street make it difficult to find renters for the apartments in those neighborhoods.

The board agreed to send a letter to those residents to be followed up by a letter from the city attorney if the property is not cleaned within 10 days.

Theresa Shelton addressed the board on behalf of the Bronco Boosters and asked for permission to paint horseshoes or hoof prints on Bugbee Avenue and asked for the city to declare Fridays as Bronco Days to help promote school spirit. The board agreed to both requests.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn spoke on the city’s contract with the county for police protection. Blackburn proposed increasing the contract from $100,000 to $120,000 with the same services or increasing to $140,000 with enforcement of city ordinances and all Class C or lesser misdemeanors being filed in municipal court.

Blackburn said he was trying to raise his deputies salaries and said his department has four officers with advanced certificates. He is the fourth lowest paid sheriff in the State of Texas.

The board took no action on the contract until the 2002-2003 budget could be prepared. Alderman Janice Knorpp expressed concern that the existing contract already calls for ordinance enforcement.

The board accepted a bid for a new trash truck from Amarillo Truck Center in the amount of $92,652 at 4.5 percent financing and also accepted a bid for a new backhoe from John Deere in the amount of $42,626.

Proposals for engineer services were considered for the 2003-2004 TCDP grant program, and the board voted to go with Brandt Engineering of Amarillo.

The drug and alcohol policy for city employees was discussed. Board consultant Colby Waters will check on the policies of other cities.

The 2002-2003 budget was discussed, but no action was taken. The tax rate for the coming fiscal year was also tabled.