Morgan Wheatly

Here, kitty, kitty… Bzzzzzzzzt

A fried cat is being blamed for a grass fire that threatened a residence in Howardwick’s 600 block of Borger Street last week.

Fire Chief Joe Hall said the blaze that was reported at 7:01 p.m. last Friday, January 17, was caused after a cat crawled on top of an electrical transformer and burned through all nine of its lives before hitting the ground as flaming ball of fur and igniting the dry grass.

A quick-thinking neighbor began smacking the fire with a snow shovel and

thereby averted any greater disaster.

Three units and six firemen responded from Howardwick assisted by one unit and two firemen from Clarendon. The fire was completely extinguished in about an hour.

An area more than 400 square feet was burned, but no damage was done to the residence or nearby outbuildings.

Donley County is currently under a burn ban during Red Flag Warning days, and local officials are warning residents to use extreme caution to avoid outdoor fires that could lead to wildfires. Keeping grass and brush cleared is one key to preventing disaster during these dry conditions.

“If you have grass more than three inches tall, get it down,” Hall said. “We are in prime condition for wildfires.”

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen began the process of finding common ground on regulation of alcohol sales during their regular meeting last Tuesday, January 14.

About a dozen citizens attended the meeting as Clarendon Economic Development & Tourism Director Chandra Eggemeyer addressed the board in public comments.

Eggemeyer said last summer’s influx of pipeline workers to Clarendon bolstered the local economy and buffered the negative effects of losing visitors to the dwindling Lake Greenbelt.

“The decrease in lake traffic has not hurt us yet,” Eggemeyer told the board. “Only the Lord can make it rain, but we do have some tools available to us to help our economy.”

Eggemeyer said the alcohol election on November 5 was already producing positive results with properties being cleaned up and put up for sale, businesses making investments, and a sense of optimism about the future. She then encouraged the board to act on the alcohol sales issue and said the sales and business activity would result in a bigger impact than the permit fees will.

“The sooner we can finalize the details, the sooner we can realize the activity,” she said.

Later in the meeting, the board took up discussion of the issue with Alderman Sandy Skelton asking for quick action.

“We have merchants waiting. Why hold them up? Why can’t we grandfather existing businesses?” Skelton asked.

City Secretary Machiel Covey said the city needed to have its ordinance in place before any permits were signed.

Mayor Larry Hicks brought up the City of Claude’s ordinance, which he said simply prohibits sales in residential zones, but Alderman Will Thompson preferred limiting sales to properties on US 287 and SH 70. Alderman Larry Jeffers also said he would not vote for any rules that would allow sales near a church.

Aldermen generally agreed that they would allow sales on US 287 and the Central Business District but within that area restrict sales within 300 feet of a church or school.

The board also agreed that they would measure distances from front door to front door rather than by property lines and that they would allow businesses to apply for variances.

City officials said the proposed rules would allow for sales at businesses that have already expressed interests in getting alcohol permits, specifically Allsup’s, CEFCO, Lowe’s Family Center, JD Steak Out, and Bar H BBQ & More; but it would give protection to churches downtown and on the highway.

Board members also generally agreed that they wanted to prohibit public consumption of alcohol at city owned parks and ballparks and on property owned by Clarendon ISD.

No action was taken last week, but city officials were planning to draft an ordinance based on these discussions and present it to the board at its next regular meeting on January 28.

Clarendon Aldermen debated curbing plans for streets slated to be paved this year during their regular meeting last Tuesday, January 14.

City voters in May of 2012 approved a bond election that authorized $700,000 for street improvements, but the project was delayed when the board of aldermen later authorized an additional $700,000 in tax revenue notes to replace water and sewer lines under the targeted streets.

At last week’s meeting, Mayor Larry Hicks and city engineer Clayton Scales of KSA Engineers presented aldermen with plans for curbing for the street project. As presented, the project would narrow the streets down to 32 feet wide and use mostly “rollover” curbs to define the streets.

Scales said about eight feet of existing street in some areas would be left between the rollover curb and existing curbs. Hicks said that pavement would be left as intact as possible to let people continue to park there and that the city would repave that area at a later time.

Alderman Sandy Skelton balked at the idea of narrowing streets and focused his attention on Third Street leading up to the First Baptist Church.

“I want to please the citizens,” Skelton said. “I think Third needs to be as wide as it is between Koogle and Allen streets. I want to keep that width with the curbs.”

Hicks said wider streets will increase the cost of the project but said the decision was up to the board.

Alderman Doug Kidd also said he did not like the idea of narrowing the streets, and Alderman Larry Jeffers, regarding the plan for “rollover” curb on most of Third Street, said he couldn’t imagine that those property owners would not want a full curb and gutter.

Asked if he knew of any other cities that had narrowed streets with rollover curbing and left old paving behind the curb, Scales said he had not seen this done before.

Skelton also raised concern that new paving on Sixth Street near the ballparks would not withstand flooding and said concrete paving should be considered there.

Scales said the city needs to finalize its plans soon in order to get the curbing in place in time for the paving season. The plan calls for city workers to do the excavating needed for the curbs and to do all the base work for paving of the streets. Hicks said the city will have to add more help to be able to stay ahead of the contractors.

The curbing plans presented last week includes Sixth Street from Koogle to Goodnight; Third Street from Allen to Bugbee; Allen Street, from Third to Fifth; Carhart Street, from Sixth to Fourth; and Wood Avenue from Jackson to Faker.

The project also includes seal coating Clarendon Avenue from Bugbee to its west dead end (along the south side of the Clarendon College campus) and Regent Avenue from US 287 to Clarendon Ave., up the middle of the CC campus.

Clarendon College has opened its Amarillo cosmetology center with its first group of students this month and will start a second group next month, according to information presented to the Board of Regents’ meeting last Thursday, January 16.

CC President Robert Riza said he appreciated Vice President Raymond Jaramillo’s work on the Amarillo center, and board member Jerry Woodard praised the efforts of college employees, specifically Gary Ferguson and John Havens, who worked hard to remodel the building for the Amarillo center.

Final fall enrollment numbers won’t be available until next week, but Jaramillo estimated 40 students would start the semester in Amarillo.

In other business, regents acknowledged the resignation of Dr. Pat Westergaard as Dean of Instruction and ratified the appointment of Brad Vanden Boogaard as athletic director. Vanden Boogaard has been serving in an interim capacity the past few months, and Riza praised him for the work he had done and recommended removing “interim” from that title.

Regents considered and approved a $4,657 proposal from 1-800-Plumber to increase the capacity of sewer and water lines in a handicapped bathroom located in the Harned Sisters Fine Arts Center.

In his president’s report, Riza said senior staff are working on a strategic plan that will take the college three years into the future and preparations are being made to get ready for CC’s upcoming accreditation visit. Employees are also being surveyed for college planning purposes.

The board also met in closed session for 17 minutes to discuss personnel, but no action was taken following the closed session.