Archives for May 2021

With the new aquatic center set to open and the USDA-funded water system improvements largely completed, the Clarendon City Council turned its attention to street improvements during its regular meeting last Thursday, May 13.

City engineer Che Shadle with OJD Engineering met with the board and discussed long-term plans as well as immediate priorities for the city’s thoroughfares.

City Administrator David Dockery said Shadle had evaluated the streets and presented the council with a map showing the types of surfaces and condition of each street. Dockery said resurfacing all of the streets would cost an estimated $13-15 million, and discussions about financing and phasing were held.

“Che recommended we act immediately to preserve our current paved streets,” Dockery said. “The proposal is to spend $300,000 to $325,000 to immediately resurface the paved streets we have.”

Shadle told the Enterprise that the streets that were paved in 2004 are in still in great shape, thanks in part to maintenance the city did to protect them several years ago. However, he said the city needs to act soon to continue to preserve those streets.

“They are starting to get cracks in them, and that will start water getting in them,” Shadle said. “They need to be chip sealed this summer. We’re going to bid that work soon along with some other jobs we have to hopefully get a good price.”

Shadle said streets of this type typically need to be sealed every three to four years to protect them. This work would cover about 90,000 square yards of surface.

As that work gets underway, OJD will be working on a more extensive plan to bring before city council that will address streets in a comprehensive way, focusing first on critical drainage issues.

In other city business last week, issued two proclamations – one recognizing May 9-15 as National Peace Officers Week and another recognizing May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day.

Votes from the May 1 election were canvassed, confirming the re-election of Mayor Sandy Skelton and Aldermen Jacob Fangman and Terri Floyd. Donley County Judge John Howard administered the oath of office to Skelton and Municipal Judge Tommy Waldrop, and Skelton then administered the oath to Fangman and Floyd. The council later appointed Fangman to continue to serve as mayor pro-tem.

Aldermen voted in favor of setting Tuesdays from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. as senior swim time at the aquatic center.
The city’s contract to sell groundwater to Greenbelt Municipal & Industrial Water Authority was discussed and renewed with an increase of five cents per 1,000 gallons.

In his administrator’s report, Dockery said USDA has approved using the surplus of about $250,000 left over in the water system infrastructure project to replace water lines under Gorst Street from First to Fourth Streets. New employees for the city were reported to the council, including Jason Bingham and Jacob Hunsaker in the water department and Miranda Zanardi as a part-time utility clerk.

The grand opening of the Clarendon Aquatic Center is just over two weeks away, and City Hall says annual passes will go on sale to the public next week.

Annual passes will allow frequent users of the facility to save money over the course of the summer. Day passes will cost $5 for everyone over the age of 17, $4 for ages 4-17, and free for ages three and under. Annual passes are $100 per individual and $250 for a family of up to four members and $50 for each additional household family member.

City Administrator David Dockery also encourages anyone wishing to plan a birthday party or other event after regular hours to please call City Hall right away at 806-874-3438 to get on the calendar so that lifeguards can be scheduled appropriately. Parties can be scheduled at the aquatic center after hours at a rate of $125 per hour.

The center will be open regularly from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and will be closed on Mondays. Private parties can be planned after hours, and the city is working with the Donley County Senior Citizens on the potential for senior events during the morning hours, and other morning-only activities are being discussed as well.

A public grand opening is being planned for Friday, May 28, and regular hours will begin Saturday, May 29, in time for the Memorial Day weekend. (Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the grand opening would be an invitation-only event.)

Dockery said Trinity Cavanaugh will serve the manager for the aquatic center and 12 people have now successfully completed training to serve as lifeguards at the facility.

This week, work is underway to curb and pave the center’s parking lot, and the city is also planning to resurface the paving on Kearney Street along the aquatic center from Fourth Street to Sixth Street.

Donley County Commissioners this week made a final determination on a repeated request by the District Nine Volunteer Fire Department to be recognized and dispatched for fires in the northwestern part of the county.

County Judge John Howard said District Nine volunteers first approached commissioners in August of 2019 about having a designated service area and to be dispatched by 911 to respond to incidents in that area. County officials, however, had questions about the department’s equipment and their ability to respond.

Howard said the county did eventually designate a service area for District Nine, north of Howardwick, so that the department could apply for a grant, which he says they did not get.

“That area is already covered by the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department as well as by mutual aid agreements with Groom and McLean,” Howard said. “The City of Howardwick Volunteer Fire Department covers that municipal area and a little bit outside of it as well, and Clarendon is dispatched to assist them.”

District Nine again approached the county last month requesting to be dispatched to its service area, but the commissioners’ court tabled the issue.

This week, Howard said District Nine’s representative did not satisfactorily answer questions about the department in terms of water supply, power, funding, and insurance. That led commissioners to unanimously vote not to dispatch fire calls to the District Nine department and to not reconsider the request, the judge said.

“We are very appreciative of volunteer firefighters, people who stand in the breech to protect the lives and property of others,” Howard told the Enterprise. “But we also have to think of the county’s potential liability in this case.”

In other county business, commissioners tabled a request from the Smiley Johnson Municipal Airport Board for financial support, approved travel for training requests from the County Attorney and Precinct 3&4 Justice of the Peace, and approved tax deeds for the City of Howardwick.

Commissioners discussed a proposal to replace aging hot water heaters in the Courthouse but took no action pending further proposals.

The court also discussed soliciting bids to repair paint, plaster, and woodwork damaged by a water leak earlier this year.
Judge Howard said a dehumidifier has been reinstalled in the vault of his office and has pulled out about 70 gallons of water in the last week. Restoration will likely not proceed until more moisture is pulled from the 1890 building. The county will then seek a general contractor to oversee repairs to the building.

Representatives of the NRCS addressed the commisioners’ court Monday regarding Lakeview Site 1 – Sandy Camp and a conservation dam built in 1974 that is leaking and is under the care of the county. Howard said the federal government will be undertaking repairs on that dam that will cost an estimated $1 million.