City aldermen take action on nuisances

Clarendon city officials took further action to clean up property around town last week.

During a public hearing on December 12, city aldermen questioned Isaac Huvall about his property at 502 S. Bond Street, on which several complaints had been made.

Huvall told the board he didn’t really understand what the problem was. He said he keeps about ten percent of his property wild for quail and dove that live in the area. He also keeps aluminum cans for recycling and admitted that high winds sometimes blow the cans about the neighborhood.

“I’ve got them cleaned up now, and they [the cans] are up against the house,” Huvall said.

“People want the cans gone,” Alderman Janice Knorpp responded.

Huvall told the board that he takes the cans to be recycled “about once a year,” but city officials said that wasn’t enough. Alderman Mark White agreed and said the city has a duty to perform.

“We have the ordinances to keep the city in order, and they have to be enforced,” White said. “The cans need to be moved.”

Later in the board’s regular meeting, the aldermen found Huvall in violation of the Nuisance Ordinance and voted unanimously to order Huvall to clear his property of cans and inoperable machinery within 30 days.

Aldermen also discussed an abandoned house at 316 E. Sixth Street. City Secretary Linda Smith said the owners of the property had indicated they did not care what happened to the property. The board voted to begin the legal steps necessary to demolish the structure.

In other city business, Lynn Coats with GreenLight Gas presented information to the board concerning a proposed rate increase. The board will consider this matter further at a called meeting on December 30.

Loy Davis requested permission to place three doublewide homes on property he owns on Seventh Street between Leroy and Johns. The aldermen voted to allow two doublewides on the property and said the alley should be left open.

The board approved a proposal for a holiday greetings ad in The Clarendon Enterprise.

A budget resolution to amend the 2002-03 municipal budget by $12,000 was discussed and approved.

City Superintendent Jim Roberts reported that the new trash truck and new backhoe should be delivered in the next two months. He gave the board information on a Texas Department of Transportation grant which might pay to fence off the airport, and Roberts also reported that the Donley County Sheriff’s Office had requested stop signs be erected on Jefferson Street at the Third Street intersection. The board approved the request.

Smith reported that traffic fines levied by the sheriff’s office had dropped off from 23 in September to nine in October and five in November.

David Pitts reported that the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department has applied for grant in the amount of $54,000 from the Texas Forest Service. The money would be used to for a new brush truck, which would also serve as a new rescue vehicle.