Archives for May 2017

The Clarendon Chamber of Commerce named Bob Weiss as its new manager last Thursday, May 11.

Weiss has been serving as interim manager since February when Bonnie Campbell retired from the position.

The Chamber’s Board of Directors formally named Weiss to the position after accepting several applications for the job but being impressed by the work he had done in a short time.

“Bob is a natural for this position,” said Chamber President Roger Estlack. “He understands the purpose of the Chamber, he wants to serve the members and the community, and he brings with him a great background as a small business owner.”

Weiss is maintaining regular hours inside the Clarendon Visitor Center at the Mulkey Theatre from 10 to noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., but there are times he will be out calling on businesses during those hours.

“I’m interested in increasing activities of the Chamber and helping businesses in town,” Weiss said. “I want to work with businesses on ideas they think will help them.”

The new manager has been a member of the Chamber since 2009 when he and his family opened Jobobs Pizza, which they operated for about two years. He was a member of the Chamber board from 2013 through 2015 and then returned to the board last fall to fill an unexpired term.

Since February, Weiss has represented Clarendon and the Chamber at the Texas Travel Fair in Amarillo and at the Amarillo Business Connection. He has also met with representatives of the chambers of commerce in Quanah, Childress, Memphis, and Claude to discuss ways communities can work together to capitalize on traffic on US 287.

In addition to helping with the upcoming Mulkey Block Party, he says he’s also working to build participation in the the parade for the Saints’ Roost Celebration and hopes to have some band members marching in the parade.

Weiss is also working to bring more members into the Chamber and says anyone interested in joining is welcome to come see him.

For more information about the Chamber of Commerce, call 874-2421, go by the office at 110 S. Kearney.

The Clarendon City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday, May 30, at 7 p.m. regarding an alcohol variance request by Allsup’s Convenience Stores.

According to a letter presented to the city on April 25, Allsup’s real estate holding company, High Five Capital, LP, is under contract to purchase property on US 287 to build a new 4,800 square foot store with 20 auto fueling stations and a separate four lane truck fueling station. The $2.6 million investment will cover 2.67 acres on the site of the old Hardin home now owned by Odima Investments.

Allsup’s plans to sell beer and wine in the new location, but the property is bordered by Third Street on the south, which puts it directly across from Bronco Stadium. According to city ordinance, alcohol cannot be sold on a property within 300 feet of the school.

At their regular meeting last Thursday, May 11, Clarendon aldermen approved an ordinance to establish a formal variance request procedure and then set the May 30 public hearing date.

In open comments, resident Chris Moore spoke against the variance request, citing concerns about the precedence it would set, the “hypocrisy” of having anti-drug and anti-alcohol programs at the school with alcohol across the street, safety issues with traffic coming over the hill to the new business, and the likelihood of a truck stop attracting “vagrants, drugs, [and] prostitution.”

“The proposed site is going to open a Pandora’s box for alcohol possibly being sold right beside a house of worship, school, etc.,” Moore said in a written statement. “It will make an unintentionally dangerous traffic area.”

In his variance request letter, Mark Allsup outlined his company’s position.

“Allsup’s has a long history of strict compliance with alcoholic beverage laws and is diligent with those practices and is thorough on training of store personnel,” Allsup wrote. “There have been several cases in cities where Allsup’s has requested a variance for similar purposes and has been granted such.

“I would say that there has not been any case where this has not been considered a good decision for all involved,” Allsup wrote.

In other city business, aldermen approved a citywide clean up June 5-10; canvassed the May election; administered the oath of office to Mayor Sandy Skelton and Aldermen Jacob Fangman and Nathan Floyd; and held a reception in honor of Alderman Doug Kidd, who chose not to run for reelection.

Local sales tax revenues dropped this month when Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar distributed May allocations to the cities of Clarendon, Hedley, and Howardwick.

Clarendon’s allocation of $37,304.42 reflected an 11.49 percent drop from the same period in 2016. That brings the city’s calendar year-to-date figure to $156,329.33, which is 1.06 percent lower than this time last year.

Hedley saw its figure drop 15.56 percent to $891.76, bringing that city’s year-to-date figure down 11.95 percent at $3,128.69.  Howardwick’s allocation was also down, dropping 33.24 percent to $647.17 for the month and down 19.23 percent at $4,372.74 for the year.

These allocations are based on sales made in March by businesses that report tax monthly, and sales made in January, February and March by quarterly filers.

The weak sales figures also were also reflected in neighboring communities. Memphis was down 9.48 percent, Claude dropped 14.99 percent, Wellington was off 2.06 percent, Panhandle saw a 22.62 percent dive, Pampa slid 4.62 percent, and Silverton fell 19.43 percent.

The City of Childress was an exception to the area downturn, posting a 2.46 percent gain on sales taxes for May.

Statewide, Hegar distributed $787.8 million in local sales tax allocations for May, 2.6 percent more than in May 2016.

The Howardwick City Council voted to keep location of its limb pile where it currently is during its regular meeting last Tuesday, May 9.

The city was planning to move its limb pile from its historic location east of the former Hitchin’ Post liquor store to a new location in the Carroll Creek Acres section of the city.

However, that plan drew sharp response from residents because the Carroll Creek Acres property, which is privately owned, has become the subject of warnings issued by the city’s code enforcement officer for the presence of debris and demolition waste.

About 40 people attended Tuesday’s meeting, and former alderman Doc Holladay presented a petition to the council and urged the city to have the property cleaned up.

He also addressed the issue that much of the debris is apparently from demolitions the city had contracted.

City officials indicated that in the future demolition jobs would specify how debris from such work should be handled and disposed of.

The council took no action on the property, but Mayor Mike Rowland said the city is following the legal process to have that property cleaned up.