Archives for February 2022

The City of Clarendon has been approved for a Downtown Revitalization grant to improve sidewalks, ramping, and lighting on Kearney Street.

City Administrator David Dockery said the fully executed agreement with the Texas Department of Agriculture was received Monday, with TDA providing $350,000 for the project and the city supplying matching funds of $63,100 for a total project of $413,100.

Dockery said he has been in contact with the grant administrator at the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission and the project engineer, Che Shadle of OJD Engineering, to determine the next steps in the project.

City officials will hold a meeting with affected property owners sometime after February 10 to discuss the process and plans for the project. Dockery said the city will visit with property owners about the project’s required compliance with the American’s with Disabilities Act, safety concerns, and expected disruptions to parking and building access during the project.

City officials have also been notified of final approval for a Community Development Block Grant that will provide $350,000 for a new wastewater lift station in northeast Clarendon. That project, under the direction of Brandt Engineering, requires a $35,600 match from the city.

Dockery said city officials are also taking proposals for street improvements on Seventh Street east of Koogle Street. That area has been plagued by drainage issues for years, and the city intends to put concrete paving there similar to what was installed along the ballparks on Sixth Street.

City officials are also still considering how best to use $480,000 in CARES act (COVID relief) funds. No official determination has been made, but Dockery said the city council is leaning towards putting those funds in to street repairs.

A candidate for Donley County Justice of the Peace was arrested Tuesday morning following an alleged assault over the weekend.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said Ashley Savage of Clarendon, age 37, was arrested and charged with Assault with Bodily Injury, which is a Class A Misdemeanor.

Blackburn said his office received a complaint Saturday about an incident that reportedly occurred earlier that morning after midnight. The assault reportedly took place in the 100 block of E. Sixth Street during a gathering of friends, the sheriff said.

The sheriff said his office talked to witnesses and is not investigating the matter further.
Savage turned herself in to the sheriff’s office Tuesday morning after a warrant was issued for her arrest on Monday. She was arraigned by Precinct 3&4 Justice of the Peace Pat White and later released on a bond of $2,000.

Savage announced her candidacy for the office of Justice of the Peace for Precincts 1&2 in November and will appear on the Republican Primary ballot on March 1.

Savage told the Enterprise Tuesday afternoon that she has not been convicted of anything and said that she had withdrawn from the JP race but “not in time.”

Donley County Republican Party Chair Bill Word said the deadline for withdrawing as a candidate was December 14, 2021.

If convicted, Savage could face a maximum $4,000 fine and up to one year in county jail, the sheriff’s office said.

The month of January saw 199 cases of COVID-19 confirmed at the Clarendon Family Medical Center.

That’s almost 27 percent more than all of November and December combined. The clinic confirmed 72 positives in December and 85 cases in November.

The number of active cases on Monday was 38, according to clinic spokesperson Marsha Bruce. Two weeks ago the clinic was treating 101 active cases.

The actual numbers of Donley County residents with COVID-19 are believed to be much higher than the official report. Numbers reported by the clinic do not include residents who test positive outside of Donley County or who test positive at home.

During campaign season, the landscape blooms with a special kind of flower – the political sign. Unlike wildflowers that are welcome anywhere, putting campaign signs on public lands is illegal, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

It is illegal to place any signs on or within the right of way. This includes posting signs on trees, telephone poles, traffic signs and other objects on the right of way.

Campaign signs along Texas roads can be placed on private property with the owner’s permission. Keep in mind that if the owner’s property is adjacent to a state-maintained roadway, it is their responsibility to know where the right of way begins and ends.

Unsure? Contact your local TxDOT office.

Campaign signs may be posted as early as 90 days before an election (no earlier) and must be removed within 10 days after the election.

Before placing a sign inside of incorporated city limits, check with the city for applicable ordinances.
TxDOT says if a sign is placed in the right of way or if it is posing a traffic hazard, the department will remove it without prior notice. All costs associated with sign removal will be paid by the sign owner.
TxDOT only controls the placement of signs in relation to the highway.

For other questions concerning campaign signs or political advertising, you may visit the Texas Ethics Commission.