Archives for October 2017

Donley County Commissioners met in regular session last Tuesday, October 10, with trees on the Courthouse Square being one topic of discussion.

The Courthouse Lighting Committee, with assistance from the county, recently removed five diseased trees from the square, and other trees are in need of attention as well.

County Judge John Howard said some trees are needing to be treated for beetles that are infesting them and all the trees are in need of professional trimming. There is also the possibility of a separate non-profit organization being established to help with the maintenance of the trees.

For now, the commissioners are looking into replacing the trees that were removed.

“This will be an ongoing conversation,” Howard told the Enterprise. “These old trees are important to the courthouse and to the community. We want to take care of them and plan for future generations’ enjoyment as well.”

In other county business, commissioners approved the annual contract for tax assessment and collection services with the Donley Appraisal District and nominated Lon Adams and Jacob Fangman to serve on the appraisal district board.

The court approved increasing the amount of Judge Howard’s bond from $5,000 to $100,000. This was necessary to comply with Senate Bill 40, which was passed by the 85th Legislature and pertains to judges handling probate cases. Howard said it was example of an unfunded mandated from Austin.

Sharon Braddock was re-appointed to represent Donley County on the board of the Texas Panhandle Centers for Behavioral & Developmental Health.

Commissioners approved Judge Pam Mason and Judge Denise Bertrand to attend Justice Court trainings in Austin and Lubbock respectively but denied a request to have Mason’s assistant attend a software seminar in Kerrville.

Walt Knorpp addressed the court to express his firm’s interest in making an offer on the county’s property and liability insurance coverage when it comes up next summer.

The court also approved Treasurer Wanda Smith to conduct her annual audit of the county jail’s commissary account.

A flurry of bid notices authorized by the City Council during their regular meeting last Thursday are harbingers of just how busy things will soon be around Clarendon.

The first notice calls for bids for renovations to City Hall to bring the municipal offices into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as required under the terms of USDA financing for upcoming water system improvements.

City Administrator David Dockery told aldermen this bid will be for the first of three phases of renovations and will include relocation of the after-hours payment box, removal and replacement of the handrails, changes to the handicapped ramping, and a bigger landing in front of the door. It will also include installation of a button to open the door to City Hall.
The cost of the Phase One ADA renovations will be about $25,000, Dockery said.

The USDA water infrastructure project itself is about six months behind schedule due to issues with surveying rights of way. Dockery told the council last week that the city’s engineer now says an additional $15,000 will be necessary to complete the certification of rights of way, but that money is available in a contingency line item in the USDA grant.

Mayor Sandy Skelton said the added expense was “frustrating” but said it was worth it to get the project moving forward.

“Otherwise we have another delay, and people still have red water,” the mayor said.

The city is also seeking bids for construction of a monofill near the Smiley Johnson Municipal Airport. A 100-foot by 300-foot site south of the airport hangers has been permitted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for the purpose of disposing of condemned structures. Dockery said a 50-foot wide by 80-foot long will be dug 15 feet deep and the entire site will be fenced and gated.

The administrator said the site will only be used for disposing debris from demolished structures that are city-owned. In other words, a condemned property would have to be deeded over to the city before the structure could be disposed of at this site. Each disposed structure would be covered by one foot of dirt to prevent any debris from blowing away, and TCEQ will periodically monitor the site. The estimated cost for this is $10,000.

The monofill plan goes hand-in-hand with the city’s increased efforts on code compliance, and a third bid notice is another indication of City Hall’s work to clean up properties in Clarendon. Dockery said the city wants to receive bids for the contract demolition of condemned structures on a per square foot basis.

This plan would allow the city greater flexibility in demolishing structures after they have gone through the proper condemnation process. Dockery said the bid price would be good for one year and said the contractor and a city representative will measure structures and agree to a size before demolition.

In other city business, aldermen authorized purchase of a utility service truck for the public works department, and Dockery reported that a grant application to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department seeking $500,000 for the water recreation project has been submitted with a scoring response expected in March.

Dockery also reported on problems of pit bulls in the city. He said he had no problem with pit bulls in general, “but we have a lot of them and they are difficult to control.”

Les Beaux Arts Club has issued an invitation for local musician who are interested in performing during next weekend’s annual Clarendon Arts Festival Saturday, October 28.
Two musicians have already agreed to perform, Micah Talley and Joel Louis.

Talley is the 14-year-old daughter of Lotte Talley and the late Billy Talley of Happy and the granddaughter of the late Haskell Talley of Clarendon. She is a freshman at Canyon High School where she is involved in the choir.

Joel Louis of Clarendon is well known to many local residents and is an amazingly talented to piano and keyboard player. In addition to other past performances, Louis regularly plays during the Whistle-Stop Trade Days and most recently was the first musical performer to play on the new stage of the Mulkey Theatre during the Chamber of Commerce’s Business After Hours event last week.

Other interested musicians are asked to call Chirss Cummins-Clifford at 806-206-6767 for more information about performing at the arts festival.

Entries are also still being accepted for the festival’s Junior Art Exhibit. Junior art must be delivered to the Donley County Activity Center on the afternoons of Sunday, October 22, and Monday, October 23, between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

For exhibit guidelines, contact Clifford at the above number.

A Donley County tradition continues this weekend as Hedley hosts the 66th annual Cotton Festival on Friday and Saturday, October 13 and 14.

The Hedley Lioness Club will get things going Friday with a Chili & Stew Supper at 5 p.m. The club will also be selling chances on a quilt.

Hedley’s One Act Play will host Bingo on Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. in the Senior Citizens building. See their ad inside this week’s Enterprise for more information on the great prizes they have lined up, including three trips to Red River, a big screen TV, and more.

Also Friday night, a Hootenanny will be held at the Lions Den featuring Johnnie and C.W. Woodard.
Saturday’s events begin with the Hedley Fire Department’s Pancake Breakfast from 6 to 9 a.m. The Rowe Cemetery Association will hold a bake sale at Moffitt Hardware, and a car show will start on Main Street at 10 a.m.

At 11:30, the Lions Club will host a catered BBQ dinner, and the Senior Citizens will be serving hamburgers.
The Kiddie Parade will be held at 1:30 p.m., followed by the Community Parade at 2 o’clock. The Adamson-Lane Post of the American Legion will serve as the honor guard with Jim and Jean Taylor being the Parade Marshals.

Leading the parade entries will be Vietnam veteran Doug Smith of Panhandle with his handmade Texas Panhandle War Memorial Field of Honor. The mobile tribute features the a cross with the name, rank, branch of service, and home county of the 145 men from the Panhandle that were killed in Vietnam. Smith spent more than 60 hours to cut out the crosses as well as gathering and painting the information on them.
After the parade, the School Reunion is at the school at 3:00 p.m.

The festival will close out with entertainment and drawings at the Lions Den starting at 6 p.m., including a drawing for a bale of cotton donated by Donley County Gin and K. Huddleston Sales.