Archives for March 2005

Clarendon’s newest hotel is under new ownership this week after being open less than one year.

Steve Hall and his family have purchased the Best Western American Inn from Jimmy Sindah and his partners, and Hall says he likes everything about his new property.

“I looked at it for 20 minutes before I decided to buy it,” Hall said. “I had been looking at Clarendon as a potential site to build a hotel for some time, and now I’ve got a new one without the hassle of building it.”

Hall, his father Gerald, and his brother Mike have a combined 50 years of experience after opening and running the Best Western Country Inn in Vega since 1963.

Hall closed the deal with Sindah last Thursday and said he’s looking forward to moving to Clarendon.

“I really want to work with the community,” Hall said. “We want to provide the kind of hospitality that will make Clarendon proud.”

Hall says rates at the 50-room hotel will remain about the same, but he does intend to expand the continental breakfast and eventually change the name of the hotel to something more reflective of the local area.

“American Inn is a pretty common name,” he said.

Sindah, meanwhile, has also sold the local Western Skies Motel and is reported to be pursuing a new venture in the Waco area, building a new hotel in Hewitt.

The Western Skies’ new owner, G. Patel, says he took over on February 15 and doesn’t plan on making any major changes to the establishment.

“Jimmy made lots of improvements, so we’re going to keep it just the way it is,” Patel said.

The Donley County Hospital District Board last week voted to begin searching for an interim administrator and made plans to fill the job permanently with someone who is already a top official at the Medical Center Nursing Home.

The district administrator’s job became vacant February 22 when Alan Graham resigned following a February 21 called meeting in which the board asked him to step down or face termination.

Meeting again in called session Saturday, the board approved a motion to accept applications for the position of interim administrator until March 9, 2005, and also agreed to pay the tuition for MCNH Director of Nurses Vicky Robertson to get her nursing home administrator’s license.

“Vicky is very interested in getting licensed,” board member Onita Thomas said. “She only needs five courses and a 1,000-hour internship under a licensed administrator.”

Robertson, who had previously resigned as director of nurses to pursue another job, said she would rescind her resignation and stay in her current position. She said her classes would start in May and would take a maximum of one and one-half years to complete.

She also said the hospital district’s paying for someone to get licensed in this manner was not unprecedented.

“This has been done before when Peggy Cockerham was an LVN, and they sent her to school to become an RN so she could become Director of Nurses,” Robertson said.

Board members and Robertson both agreed to have something put in writing that would commit her to working for the hospital district or giving the district first right of refusal after she graduates.

The City of Clarendon will issue $800,000 in tax notes to help finance a $1.1 million paving project following last Wednesday’s meeting of the Board of Aldermen.

Vince Vialle of First Southwest Company presented a debt service schedule to the board and said all three local banks had agreed to each take a third of the notes at interest rate of 4.15 percent for seven years – slightly higher than the 3.75 percent the city had hoped to get.

“The overall difference will be about $13,000 over the life of the notes,” he said.

Vialle discussed options for bidding out the debt service, which would take at least two weeks and could generate a lower – or possibly higher – interest rate. But the board remained focused on getting financed for a project that could be completed this year.

“I don’t think we have the time,” Mayor Tex Selvidge said. “I think we need to bite the bullet and do it.”

Alderman Michael Tibbets said he thought the city should go with the local banks, and Alderman Tommy Hill made the motion to accept the 2005 bond series and authorize the mayor to sign the placement agreement with First Southwest. The motion carried unanimously.

Vialle said the city could have the money in hand by the end of March if all goes smoothly. The first annual payment would be due next February.

City engineer Che Shadle said his firm expected to finish shooting elevations last week and would immediately get to work on plans for the estimated 50-block project. Those plans should be finished by the first of April, and the city would put the project out for bids at that time.

In other city business, Alderman Janice Knorpp gave the final report on the renovations at the Smiley Johnson Municipal Airport. The project was finished under budget, and the city will receive a refund in the amount of $11,626.71. Knorpp recommended that money be put in a certificate of deposit marked Airport Maintenance Account and used strictly for future maintenance on the airport. The board congratulated Knorpp on a job well done.

City Administrator Sean Pate discussed hiring contract labor to read water meters. The move would free up city workers to spend more time working on preparing streets and utilities for the upcoming paving project. The board asked him to present figures on the idea at the next meeting.

Mayor Selvidge asked the board to consider taking $250 from the Motel Bed Tax to help pay for sand and clay at the new softball field. The board approved his request.