Archives for February 2007

Clarendon ISD and the Donley County Appraisal District were successful in having local property values assigned by the Texas Comptroller’s office, according to a report presented during the CISD Trustees meeting February 12.

“This is good news because it means we don’t have to appeal for local values,” Superintendent Monty Hysinger said this week.

The comptroller’s office reviews local appraised values and determines if the local appraisal district is accurately assigning values and uses that information to determine the level of state funding the school receives.

“If they say you’re not raising enough (because appraisals are too low), they can reduce state funds,” Hysinger said.

This is the second year in a row that CISD and the appraisal district have not had to appeal the comptroller’s assignment. The five years prior to that appeals did have to be filed because the state said the local appraisal district’s figures were too low.

“The comptroller is saying we’re doing a good job on our appraisals,” Hysinger said.

Property in the Clarendon school district is valued at more than $113.5 million. That figure does not include the value of personal property, which affects the school’s Tier II funding.

In other school business last week, trustees approved a motion to hold a school board election May 12, 2007, for the purpose of electing three board members. The terms of Jim Shelton, Reneé Betts, and Marvin Thompson are expiring. Hazel Guy will serve as election judge, and Fay Vargas and Carla Davidson will serve as absentee and deputy clerks.

Board president Wayne Hardin gave the continuing education report showing continuing education hours earned by each trustee as of February 5 as follows: Reneé Betts, six hours; Wayne Hardin, 16.75 hours; Joe Lemley, 11.5 hours; Weldon Sears, six hours; Jim Shelton, 12.75 hours; Marvin Thompson, 13 hours; and Lance Thornberry, 8.25 hours.

Board members are required to receive eight hours during non-legislative years and 10 hours during legislative years. They have until May to get all of their hours.

The State of Texas Conforming Textbook Adoption List was approved.

Following a closed session, the board unanimously approved extending by one year the contracts of CHS Principal Larry Jeffers, CJH Principal Marvin Elam, Elementary Principal Mike Word, and Athletic Director Gary Jack.

Clarendon officials discussed building a new City Hall on Kearney Street during their regular meeting last Tuesday.

The new building would provide for expanded office space, additional storage, a larger chamber for board meetings, better handicap accessibility, a community storm shelter, and an emergency command center with radio equipment and a backup generator that would double as an office for the City Superintendent.

“I think it would be great,” said Mayor Mark White. “It would tie in downtown, and it would be more accessible for everyone.”

White said the city is looking at funding the project through a US Department of Agriculture program that lends cities money at low interest for up to 40 years. USDA representative Clyde Jenkins told the Board of Aldermen that the agency’s current interest rate is just over four percent.

City Secretary Linda Smith likes the idea of a new municipal building but said the project is just in its earliest stages.

“I don’t know if it will happen or not,” Smith said. “It’s a good idea, but it may not happen in my lifetime.”

The new City Hall would be located on the southeast corner of  Fourth and Kearney across the street east of the Post Office. The city purchased the undeveloped property in May 1995, and it has mostly been used for parking and occasional festivals.

White said the property, which is next to the city’s main storm canal, would be built up one foot to guard against flooding.

Dimensions for the new building have not been set, but Smith said, “It would be pretty big.”

The current City Hall was built in 1918 and is in need of several repairs, which has led city officials to conclude that it would probably be cheaper to build a new facility.

“It needs updating, and it would be cost prohibitive to remodel,” White said.

Smith said the board had not yet discussed what to do with the 1918 building, which also houses the fire department, if the city offices were moved out. She said it would likely be turned over to the fire department but would still be owned and insured by the city.

The board also discussed revitalizing downtown during last week’s meeting. Jenkins told the board that the state department of agriculture has a downtown revitalization grant that could provide between $50,000 and $150,000 in matching funds.

Assistant City Clerk Jeannie Molder is working with Jenkins to pursue funds for both projects.

In other city business, aldermen heard from Connie McKinney regarding the condition of the 200 block of Sims Street. The thoroughfare carries a lot of water off US 287 and is in persistently bad condition. The city agreed to look into what could be done to improve the street.

The board approved a request from Johnny Treichel to sponsor the Clarendon College Invitational Judging Contest this spring in the amount of $3,500. The event is expected to bring in as many as 2,300 people to the city March 31.

The board voted to order an election to be held May 12 for the purpose of electing the mayor and two aldermen. The terms of Mayor Mark White and Aldermen Bobbie Kidd and Michael Tibbets are expiring.

The board considered and modified the employee policy manual with regards to sick leave and vacation leave.

Edna Earle Lewis, 82, died Friday, February 16, 2007, in Amarillo.

Services were held at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, February 19, 2007, in the Robertson Funeral Directors Chapel of Memories with Rev. Bryan Knowles, retired Baptist Minister, officiating. Interment was held at Citizens Cemetery. Services were under the direction of Robertson Funeral Directors, Inc., of Clarendon.

Mrs. Lewis was born August 5, 1924, in Clarendon to Earl and Elizabeth Wisdom Lafon. She married Earnest Leland Lewis on January 14, 1940, in Hollis, Oklahoma. She was a homemaker, bus driver, and was a registered nurse for the Sweetwater Hospital, Groom Memorial Hospital, and Northwest Texas Hospital. She belonged to the Church of Christ.

Mrs. Lewis was preceded in death by her parents; her husband on October 30, 1986; two sons, Billy and Larry Lewis; and by all her brothers and sisters.

Survivors include three sons, Earnest C. Lewis and wife Chris of Amarillo, Millard Howell Lewis and wife Charlene of Groom; Robert Leland “Bob” Lewis and wife Janet of Lubbock; 12 grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren.

The family requests that memorials be sent to the Amarillo S.P.C.A. or to the Amarillo Humane Society.

The sign-up period is underway for potential candidates seeking positions on any of six local boards for this spring’s elections.

The City of Clarendon will hold an election to choose the mayor and two aldermen for two-year terms. Those positions are currently held by Mayor Mark White and Aldermen Michael Tibbets and Bobbie Kidd.

The City of Howardwick will elect the mayor and two aldermen. The terms of Mayor Marvin Elam and Aldermen Pat Butler (serving for Bill Barton) and Bobby Murdock are up for election this year. These officers each serve two-year terms.

Hedley’s election will select three members of the board of aldermen for two-year terms. Those seats are now held by Aldermen Bruce Howard, Tangela Copelin, and Jim Lollar (serving for Pam Casteel).

Three positions on the Clarendon ISD Board of Trustees are up this year. Those seats are currently held by Marvin Thompson, Reneé Betts, and James Shelton and are three-year terms.

Three full terms and one unexpired term are up for election this year on the Hedley ISD Board of Trustees. The three-year positions of Jason Sargent, Marlee Sharp, and Abby O’Neal are expiring; and two years remain on the term of Troy Monroe for which Rex Morris was appointed.

The Donley County Hospital District will select three two-year positions on its board, now held by Don Thornberry (Place 1), Alan Fletcher (Place 2), and Melinda McAnear (Place 3).

All local offices are elected at-large, but hospital board candidates must sign up for a specific place.

Sign up continues through March 12, 2007; and the elections will be held Saturday, May 12.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Clarendon will hold an open house and celebration of renewal this Sunday, February 18, to mark the restoration of its historic altar and other accomplishments.

Mass will begin at 10:30 a.m. followed by lunch at noon, and then tours of this historic sanctuary will be held until 3:00 p.m.

A centerpiece of St. Mary’s, the 1892 altar was layered with generations of paint that were painstakingly removed by Chriss Clifford and Theresa Shelton of Sorella’s Studio, a division of A Fine Feathered Nest, Inc. At least four coats of paint were removed from the altar, and the communion rail in front of the altar with its hand-turned spindles was covered in eight or nine layers of paint.

The altar features several delicate hand-carved elements, some of which had to be reattached. Clifford and Shelton also repainted gold accenting on the altar that they say was originally covered with gold leaf.

Work on the altar is just part of ongoing efforts at the Texas Panhandle’s oldest Catholic Church to preserve its heritage. During the last year, the building has been re-roofed by Milton David roofers; and drywall was replaced and painting was done inside and out under the direction of Childress Construction Co. and Billy Ceniceros with his Eagle Scout project.

St. Mary’s in New Clarendon and St. Barnabas at Old Tascosa were the first two Catholic churches founded in the Texas Panhandle. While St. Barnabas faded away with Tascosa, St. Mary’s has survived throughout the years.

The church building was constructed in July 1892 at a total cost of $1,700 with its priest serving the territory from Henrietta to Santa Fe. This small structure gave hope and a sense of community to many.

The familiar ringing of the morning bells was extinguished when the bell was moved to St. Lucien’s in 1936, where it hung until 2005 when John Morrow of Morrow’s Drilling, and members of the church returned it to Clarendon.

The church was also responsible for opening St. Mary’s Academy, the first Catholic school in the territory, in 1899. In 1911 the school had an enrollment of 135 students when it was forced to close due to an outbreak of typhoid fever. The school was moved to Amarillo, while the building itself was torn down and sold for lumber. The academy property was neglected and allowed to become overgrown, but in 2002, the congregation had James Hall and Vernie Ford clear the property; and Jack Moreman donated and planted grass. Chris Knox and John Morrow donated the funds and equipment to drill a well.

In the early 1940s, the church was closed and overtaken with shrubbery while the members attended mass across the street in the home of Mrs. Caraway. High winds destroyed the roof and cupola in 1946. In 1949, Father Richard F. Vaughn was assigned to St. Mary’s and completed a restoration, which included returning the windows to their original gothic style, adding a new vestibule and front steps, and lengthening the sanctuary while adding two sacristies on the south end.

The church was rededicated September 24, 1951, as “Our Lady of the Panhandle”.

The 1970s and 1980s saw St. Mary’s struggling with only a few families in attendance and basic maintenance being done. Today the church has 34 families and over 100 members who are working to build and preserve their Catholic heritage.

St. Mary’s Parish extends an invitation the entire community this Sunday to help them celebrate their history.

Donley County Commissioners approved the creation of a reinvestment zone Monday that opens the door for abating taxes on a proposed wind farm.

The zone covers more than 4,659 acres on the Trew Ranch along the northern county line where the Maryland-based Competitive Power Ventures, Inc., (CPV) intends to erect 39 wind turbines capable of generating 1.5 megawatts each.

County Judge Jack Hall said the commissioners’ court was excited about the opportunity CPV was bringing to Donley County.

“We want something good for the company, the county, and all the citizens of Donley County,” he said.

The wind farm project will have a total of 57 turbines, some of which will be in Gray County, and the project will cost between $125 and $135 million with between $83 and $93 million of that being invested in Donley County.

CPV Corporate and Project Development Director Paul Wendelgass told commissioners that work is progressing on the proposed wind farm.

“We’ve just received a facility study from the Southwest Power Pool with an estimate of the cost to connect to the Kirby Substation in Gray County, and we will be meeting this week with Xcel Energy regarding the interconnect,” Wendelgass said.

CPV is still negotiating with buyers for their electricity. Construction is expected to start in October or November with turbines being delivered in May 2008 and the farm coming online next summer, Wendelgass said.

Approval of the reinvestment zone during Monday’s regular session of the commissioners’ court followed a public hearing attended by seven Donley County citizens, who asked questions about the abatement process and the purpose of the reinvestment zone.

Judge Hall explained that the creation of a reinvestment zone is just the first step in the abatement process, and he said that the Clarendon College District, Donley County Hospital District, and the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District could use the same zone to grant abatements if they choose. The Clarendon school district can also use the zone to consider a Chapter 313 property value limitation in lieu of a tax abatement.

Clarendon resident Darrell Leffew inquired about the details of CPV’s tax abatement, but Wendelgass and CPV attorney Dale Cummings said the abatement itself is still subject to negotiation and would have to come before the commissioners at a later meeting.

“I think it’s a wonderful project,” Leffew said. “We need everything we can get in Donley County for our tax base. I know you need some break. However, the county does need the tax revenue at the same time. I’m sure there is a comfortable area there.”

Another local citizen, Bill Helton, who owns land in the northern part of the county, said he and neighboring landowners were watching the court to see how they handled this reinvestment zone request because his and others’ properties are also potential candidates for wind farms.

“This is a precedent setting decision for the whole county,” Helton said prior to the zone’s approval. “We’d love you to proceed with the zone.”

The county has retained legal counsel from Sweetwater, Texas, to help with tax abatement negotiations, Hall said. Both the county and CPV said they hope to see the abatement on the commissioners’ agenda in either March or April.