Morgan Wheatly

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen put the brakes on an extensive water system improvement plan last Tuesday, March 17, in order to give new City Administrator David Dockery time to review the project.

City officials had been working for several on an improvement plan worth up to $3.9 million with an eye toward applying for funding through the US Department of Agriculture. The plan included replacing the standpipe water storage on the east side of town, improving waterlines throughout the city, and installing water meters that can be read electronically, reducing errors and lost work time.

City engineer Clayton Scales went over the plans during last week’s city meeting and detailed the funding opportunities through USDA, which could provide a portion of funding as a grant and finance the balance with a low interest loan. The USDA might also require the city to tap a portion of its reserves for the project.

Dockery commended the board for the work the city has done to identify issues of concern that need addressing and finding a way to pay for those improvements, but he asked the aldermen to give him one month to review the project before proceeding.

Dockery suggested the city might want to pursue the electronic water meters as a way to enhance accuracy and recoup the man hours lost to reading meters (as much as one week a month for some employees) and then tackle the remainder of the project in smaller increments.

“My main concern is depleting the city’s reserves and the indebtedness we would incur,” Dockery said. “We need a capital improvement plan and then do things more incrementally.”

The board agreed with the administrator and took no action on moving the project forward to allow him a month to make a recommendation.

In other business, the city’s longstanding Tuesday meetings became a thing of the past when the aldermen approved Ordinance 441. Regular city meetings will now be held on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

City officials also discussed the idea of implementing a citywide clean-up once or twice a year. More information will be presented at a future meeting regarding the expenses and logistics of such an idea.

 

Clarendon will be bustling with people this weekend when the annual Clarendon College Invitational Judging Contest is held Saturday.

The contest doubles the town’s population and regularly attracts around 2,000 high school FFA students and 4-H students from around Texas and nearby states and as of Tuesday afternoon more than 1,900 students had pre-registered, which is higher than last year at this point. This number doesn’t include the hundreds of parents and coaches who accompany the students to the contest.

According to the 2010 US Census, Clarendon has a population of 2,026.

“We are very happy to host these young men and women,” Clarendon Chamber of Commerce President Roger Estlack said. “The annual judging contest is a boost to our local restaurants and other businesses, and it gives many students who otherwise may not ever consider coming to Clarendon Clarendon an opportunity to see what we have here.

“We certainly appreciate all the schools and kids for coming to Clarendon, and we applaud the hard work that the staff of CC puts into making this event happen.”

Past contests have had huge impacts on the local economy. Restaurants are typically packed for the event, and this year will hopefully be equally successful.

In fact, the annual judging contest is the single biggest event to attract visitors from out of county for one day. By comparison, the July 4th Saints’ Roost Celebration barbecue annually attracts about 1,000 people and the Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff records between 1,000 and 1,500 visitors each September. Each of those events, however, has hundreds of local residents in attendance. The greatest number of people at the judging contest will come from outside of Donley County.

In addition to helping local merchants, the event also presents a great opportunity for CC to showcase its campus, faculty, and programs for prospective students. Johnny Treichel, Clarendon College livestock and meats judging coach, said the event is a big recruiting tool for the college.

“This is the only time each year the college has this many potential students on campus,” he said. “And we are pleased to have such positive support from the community year after year.”

 

The third annual Chance Mark Jones Roar ‘N Run 5K is two weeks away, but there is still time for runners and sponsors to sign up for the event.

The Clarendon Lions Club is hosting the event on Saturday, April 11, to coincide with Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Those interested in running or walking the 5K (about 3.1 miles) are encouraged to sign up before April 1 to take advantage of the early bird discount. Registration costs $25, but those who sign up early save $5. Signing up by April 1 also guarantees participants the official 5K t-shirt.

The year’s race will start and end on the Clarendon College campus and will run through the city, around Prospect Park, and past several historic structures, including the Donley County Courthouse, the First United Methodist Church, and the S.W. Lowe House.

The race will begin at 9 a.m. Race registrations are available at the Clarendon Visitor Center at the Mulkey Theatre, at the Enterprise, or online at http://bit.ly/1C4J1m2.

Sponsorships are also available, and potential sponsors are asked to sign up by April 1 to ensure their names are on this year’s T-shirt.

Proceeds will go towards the many charitable activities of the Clarendon Lions Club, which includes eyeglasses for local school kids, Christmas baskets for local families, hosting the local office of The Bridge – Children’s Advocacy Center, and continued park improvements.

For more information, contact Lion Ashlee Estlack at ashlee.estlack@clarendoncollege.edu or 806-874-4808 or 806-662-4687 or Lion Roger Estlack at tourism@cityofclarendontx.com or 806-874-2259.

The Donley County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a car theft that occurred Monday morning, March 23, in the 700 block of Gorst Street.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said a college student living in that area had started her car about 8:40 that morning before leaving for classes. She returned into her home and came back out within just a few minutes and her 2014 blue Nissan sedan was gone.

About a block and half away on Carhart Street, earlier that same morning, the sheriff’s office recovered a stolen Chevy pickup out of Lubbock County.

The blue Nissan was recovered late Tuesday in Claude, and Blackburn’s office is interested in any information that might help close the case.

 

Three members of a Pampa family were transported to an Amarillo hospital with non-serious injuries following a one-vehicle accident east of Clarendon Sunday afternoon.

Department of Public Safety Trooper Chad Simpson said 26-year-old Rainey Anderson was northwest bound on US 287 in a white Chevy Tahoe when she noticed a large piece of debris laying in the outside lane. She overcorrected to the left to avoid the debris and then overcorrected to the right, sliding sideways into the north ditch.

Anderson’s vehicle rolled one time and came to rest on its wheels. Anderson and her two children, ages 4 and 7, were not seriously injured but were transported to Northwest Texas Hospital for treatment by the Associated Ambulance Authority.

Also responding were the Donley County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Transportation, and Clarendon Fire Department.