Archives for August 2003

Applications for emergency farm loans for losses caused by drought that occurred January 1, 2002, and continuing are being accepted at the Farm Service Agency (FSA) office located at 321 Sully Street in Clarendon, 114 Oklahoma in Wheeler, or 2501 East Fredric in Pampa.

The Secretary of Agriculture recently named Donley, Wheeler, and Gray Counties eligible for loans to cover losses resulting from the drought.

FSA Farm Loan Manager Larry Goetze said farmers may be eligible for loans of up to 80 percent of their actual losses or the loan needed to continue in business, whichever is less. 

For farmers unable to obtain credit from private commercial lenders, the interest is 3.75 percent.

“As a general rule, a farmer must have suffered at least a 30 percent loss to be eligible for an FSA emergency loan,” Larry Goetze said.  “Insurance proceeds will have to be included in the figures in determining their loss.”

“Applications for loans under this emergency designation will be accepted until February 27, 2004, but farmers should apply as soon as possible.  Delays in applying could create backlogs in processing and possibly cover into the new farming season,” Goetze said.

FSA is authorized to provide disaster emergency loans to recognized farmers who work at and rely on farming for a substantial part of their living. 

The FSA offices in Clarendon, Wheeler, and Pampa are open from 8  a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Donley County Commissioners’ Court enacted a countywide burn ban when they met in regular session Monday.

Local firefighters have been busy with grassfires, and Clarendon Fire Chief Delbert Robertson told the Enterprise last week that while many parts of the county have received some rain, we still need a good general rain to eliminate the danger caused by dry conditions.

The ban will be placed until further notice, and the only exception will be for barbecue grills. All violators will be prosecuted.

In other county business, commissioners were addressed by Barbara Seal and Sandra Layton from the Texas Department of Transportation. They told the court that October 28 at 11 a.m. has been designated as the time to officially open the new Texas Safety Rest Area near Giles.

The court was scheduled to open bids for work on the approaches to the bridges on Mulberry and Troublesome creeks, but no bids were received. This followed a bid opening last month in which the bids were too high. Engineer Che Shadle will look into what the county’s next steps should be.

The commissioners approved County Clerk Fay Vargas’ attendance at a workshop in Austin next month and approved the re-appointment of Judge Willis Smith to the Texas Panhandle Mental Health Mental Retardation Board.

The court also approved a resolution creating a transportation board for Panhandle Community Services. County Judge Jack Hall is to serve on that board.

The county approved a $200 payment for local matching funds for the Panhandle Water Planning Group.

A bid was accepted to cover taxes on a lot located in the City of Howardwick.

Johnny Jaramillo was hired to do part time maintenance work for the county.

The court approved a proposal to put the Sheriff’s Department’s computers on the wireless Internet service now being used in the Courthouse.

The court accepted a grant to replace case management software in the offices of the county clerk and the justices of the peace in the sum of $4,000 each.

Budget worksheets were on Monday’s agenda, but commissioners took no action. They will begin the budget process next week.

In Letters to the Court, commissioners received a court opinion regarding the technology funds of the justices of the peace. The opinion says the county can use those funds for supplies, computers, software and other expenses for those offices.

The Clarendon Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) Board agreed to commit $20,000 per year to the city’s Master Paving Plan during a called meeting Tuesday.

The figure represents approximately ten percent of the cost of the bond payments the city would face if local voters approve the $2.5 million in Certificates of Obligation necessary to implement the plan when they go to the polls September 13.

“We’ve all heard the complaints about the streets,” said CEDC Vice President Will Thompson. “We’ve heard it from locals, and we’ve heard it from visitors who say, ‘You have a nice town, but…’”

Thompson said that the CEDC vote doesn’t take any money away from the city budget and that the money, which is funded by the CEDC’s half-cent sales tax, will only add to the city’s ability to fund the project.

“Regardless of how the city vote turns out, we think it [the street paving] is important,” he said. “It will make the city look more attractive and will encourage visitors to see more of our city and its historic homes. Anything we can do to pull more people off the highway is positive.”

The CEDC decision represented the first step in what board members see as a move away from helping individual businesses to doing more community development projects to benefit everyone.

“We felt like it would make more sense if we could benefit all rather than a few,” Thompson said. “We think that’s the best way to spend the taxpayer’s money.”

Officials at City Hall reacted positively to Tuesday’s decision, saying the CEDC’s use of sales tax revenue to support the project would ease the burden on local taxpayers.

“It will represent a savings to the citizens of Clarendon,” said City Administrator Sean Pate. “If we didn’t have this help, then taxes and sewer and water rates would have to go up more.”

Pate said without the CEDC funding, ad valorem rates, for example, would have to go up 18 cents per $100 valuation instead of the proposed 15 cents. He also said the use of sales tax helps spread the load for funding the paving project.

“Everybody is going to help pay for this – property owners, renters, and even people from out of town who shop our stores,” he said.

Pate said even though some areas of the city would not be paved under the program, future growth and economic development of the city as a whole depends on the success of the paving program and on community support.

“The big picture is the streets are a building block for the future success of this municipality,” he said. “The streets now are a detriment to our community.”

“Everything to come is based on the foundation which is the street program,” Pate said. “It goes to the attractiveness and the overall appeal of our town. It takes every part and everybody working together.”

A Donley County Jury sentenced a Memphis man to 20 years in prison last week for escaping while under arrest for a Hall County driving while intoxicated charge.

Joe Perez Martinez, Jr., appeared in Judge David McCoy’s District Court on July 30, and the jury returned its guilty verdict after just 15 minutes of deliberation.

The jury reconvened on July 31 and heard evidence of two prior felony convictions out of Hall County and four prior misdemeanor convictions. The jury levied the maximum sentence which included assessing a fine of $10,000 against the defendant.

“This was an example of an individual who had been to prison, had two prior felonies, several misdemeanors, and was only 28 years old,” said District Attorney Stuart Messer.

“The jury sent a very clear message that there comes a time when there are no more breaks to be had. The jurors in this case returned a just verdict that was designed to protect the community from someone who had shown he was going to drink and drive no matter what.”

Volunteers in the second annual Relay for Life last week raised more than $17,276 to fight cancer.

Twelve teams participated in the event, which was held August 1-2 at the Clarendon College track.

Grumpy’s Gang from the Donley County Hospital District was the most successful team, raising $3,122.44 during the event.

Second place went to the team from Clarendon College, which raised $1,402.32; and in third place was the Patriot Dawgs from Herring National Bank with $1,331.02.

Other teams included the Senior Crusaders from the Donley County Senior Citizens Center, workers from the local USDA offices, the Lone Star Steppers, the Clarendon Family Medical Center, Howard’s Hoehands, the BBQ Babes, the Bunco Angels, and the Church of Christ teams One and Two.

The Clarendon Family Medical Center won first place for the Most Creative Campsite, and Howard’s Hoehands were second. 

The title of Most Patriotic Campsite went to the local USDA offices, and second place went to the HNB Patriot Dawgs.

Local cancer survivors had the honor of taking the first lap around the track, and teams then kept at least one member on the track from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

This year’s total was about $2,000 below last year’s, but it was still a very impressive amount.

Funds raised from this event will support the American Cancer Society’s programs to provide services to Donley county cancer patients, to continue education and risk reduction programs in schools and businesses, and to fund valuable cancer research.

Emergency medical personnel in Donley County were kept on their toes this past weekend as a steady stream of life-threatening calls came in.

Associated Ambulance Authority Director Anita Aaron said the first call came in shortly after 8 a.m. on Saturday, and she didn’t get home until 2 a.m. the next day.

“It was the busiest weekend this year,” Aaron said. “There was no time to eat or rest and no time to even fuel up the ambulances in two cases.”

During the two-day period, the ambulance service responded to 13 calls and transported 12 patients to facilities in Amarillo.

Three times the service ran out of ambulances, and first responder personnel went out on calls in personal vehicles to treat patients until one of the three ambulances could become available.

“I’m so proud of all our people,” Aaron said. “Our emergency personnel are first rate, and they really stepped up to the plate.”

Calls ranged from a car wreck to a skiing accident to an accidental shooting to respiratory problems. Most of the calls were very critical patients, and Aaron was happy to report that there were no fatalities this weekend.

The Associated Ambulance Authority, which operates under the Donley County Hospital District, has four full time medical personnel, two part time paramedics, and 25 volunteers from the community. The levels of participation and qualifications are much higher than other towns of similar size.

“I want the community to know just what a jewel we have in our paid and volunteer service,” Aaron said. “This is a good, good service, and every one worked really well together with the guys from the [Donley County] Sheriff’s Office, the [Greenbelt] Lake Patrol, and [Clarendon Volunteer] Fire Department.”

Aaron also commended the Claude EMS, which assisted the local service this weekend.

“They’re having trouble staffing their service, but they put together a team to help us.”

On top of responding to the emergency calls this weekend, the Associated Ambulance Authority also gave a hand to Gray County’s service, which had been scheduled to teach a bandaging and splinting course to thirty-five 4-H members at the Bar H Dude Ranch on Saturday. Gray County had to cancel, and local personnel filled in.

“The very nature of our people is to do these things because they want to help people,” Aaron said. “Most of these people don’t get paid, but they love Clarendon and Donley County and want everyone to be safe and cared for.”

The weekend was also busy for Donley County fire fighters with the Hedley Volunteer Fire Department battling a blaze in the northeast part of the county and the Clarendon department fighting fires on the JA Ranch.

“They were all grass fires caused by lighting,” said Clarendon Fire Chief Delbert Robertson. “It was a very busy weekend.”

Approximately two dozen Clarendon firemen battled three fires on the JA and one near FM 1260 on Sunday. One of the JA fires re-ignited Monday,

Robertson said he estimated between one and one-half of a section was burned.

Hedley, Groom, and Memphis firefighters assisted Clarendon with the weekend blazes.

The Clarendon Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) Board agreed to commit $20,000 per year to the city’s Master Paving Plan during a called meeting Tuesday.

The figure represents approximately ten percent of the cost of the bond payments the city would face if local voters approve the $2.5 million in Certificates of Obligation necessary to implement the plan when they go to the polls September 13.

“We’ve all heard the complaints about the streets,” said CEDC Vice President Will Thompson. “We’ve heard it from locals, and we’ve heard it from visitors who say, ‘You have a nice town, but…’”

Thompson said that the CEDC vote doesn’t take any money away from the city budget and that the money, which is funded by the CEDC’s half-cent sales tax, will only add to the city’s ability to fund the project.

“Regardless of how the city vote turns out, we think it [the street paving] is important,” he said. “It will make the city look more attractive and will encourage visitors to see more of our city and its historic homes. Anything we can do to pull more people off the highway is positive.”

The CEDC decision represented the first step in what board members see as a move away from helping individual businesses to doing more community development projects to benefit everyone.

“We felt like it would make more sense if we could benefit all rather than a few,” Thompson said. “We think that’s the best way to spend the taxpayer’s money.”

Officials at City Hall reacted positively to Tuesday’s decision, saying the CEDC’s use of sales tax revenue to support the project would ease the burden on local taxpayers.

“It will represent a savings to the citizens of Clarendon,” said City Administrator Sean Pate. “If we didn’t have this help, then taxes and sewer and water rates would have to go up more.”

Pate said without the CEDC funding, ad valorem rates, for example, would have to go up 18 cents per $100 valuation instead of the proposed 15 cents. He also said the use of sales tax helps spread the load for funding the paving project.

“Everybody is going to help pay for this – property owners, renters, and even people from out of town who shop our stores,” he said.

Pate said even though some areas of the city would not be paved under the program, future growth and economic development of the city as a whole depends on the success of the paving program and on community support.

“The big picture is the streets are a building block for the future success of this municipality,” he said. “The streets now are a detriment to our community.”

“Everything to come is based on the foundation which is the street program,” Pate said. “It goes to the attractiveness and the overall appeal of our town. It takes every part and everybody working together.”