Morgan Wheatly

Donley County Commissioners met in regular session Monday, February 13, and faced an old subject on their agenda… the fate of the Cherry Drug Store sign in Hedley.

County Judge John Howard said Cherry family members are trying to obtain the sign for sentimental reasons, but the old building is now owned by all of the county taxing entities due to back taxes.

Cherry family members have previously approached local entities about obtaining the sign from the store, but Howard says the county feels like the sign might have some value and now belongs to the taxpayers.

Commissioners have previously recommended the Cherry family pay the back taxes on the property to get the sign.

Howard said an attorney for the family put forth an offer to demolish the old building in exchange for the sign. No action was taken during Monday’s meeting, and the demolition offer was withdrawn Tuesday.

The Donley Appraisal District says the minimum bid required on the old drug store is $1,003.

In other county business, commissioners approved a bid on tax delinquent property in Howardwick as presented by the appraisal district and also approved a sealed bid on a county owned property in Howardwick for $1,800.

An audit report was heard from April Foard of Foster & Lambert, and commissioners approved the audit.

The court heard a request from Mike Arismendez of Mobilitie, who requested permission to place a cellular data tower in county right of way in Precinct 3. Commissioners urged to the company to look at an alternative location that might be better for reception and not impede the right of way, Howard said.

The commissioners approved a resolution in opposition to Senate Bill 2, which would limit counties’ ability raise revenue.

A request for $3,000 from Panhandle Community Services to help offer rent and utility assistance to local residents resulted in no action by the court. Howard said there is no money in the current budget for such an expenditure.

The court approved inspection reports for dam safety and for county bridges.

WASHINGTON – The “Red River Gradient Boundary Survey Act,” H.R. 428, introduced by U.S. Congressman Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon), passed the House of Representatives Tuesday by a vote of 250-171. The bill establishes a fair and balanced process to conduct an accurate survey of contested land along the Red River to find the proper boundary between public and private ownership.

“This bill essentially requires the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to do what they should have done all along. Its passage in the House is an important step toward providing these landowners with the legal certainty they deserve. I hope we can use this momentum to get the bill passed in the Senate and then signed into law by the President,” Thornberry said. “I will continue working with the landowners, local and state officials, and Senator Cornyn (R-TX) until this issue is resolved once and for all.”

For nearly a century, the BLM has failed to survey a small strip of federal land along the entire 116-mile stretch of the Red River between Oklahoma and Texas. The BLM has never actively managed the small strip of federal land, and its own estimates of how much they own have varied widely over the years.

As a result, private landowners along the River are now unsure whether the land that they have held titles to and have paid taxes on, in some cases for generations, will remain in their families or be confiscated by the federal government. Since concern first arose in December 2013, Thornberry’s office has held multiple meetings, phone calls, and other correspondence with landowners, as well as local and state officials, to coordinate action.

The legislation will provide legal certainty to property owners along the Red River by:

• Commissioning a survey of the entire 116-mile stretch of contested area along the Red River using the gradient boundary survey method developed and backed by the Supreme Court to find the proper ownership boundary between public and private land.
• Ordering that the survey be conducted by licensed and qualified surveyors chosen by Texas and Oklahoma.
• Providing states the authority to oversee the surveyors and approve the final survey to ensure the Supreme Court instructions are properly followed.
• Requiring that a notice of survey approval, a copy of the survey, and any related field notes be provided to each individual land owner after the survey is completed.
• Ensuring that nothing in the bill alters the Red River Boundary Compact, modifies the interests of the states, or harms the rights of the impacted federally recognized Indian Tribes.

The Clarendon High School academic teams competed in their last invitational meet before district competition in March.

They participated in the Canadian Invitational meet against eleven other schools of all classifications, including Dumas, Pampa, Borger, Perryton, Fritch, Canadian, West Texas High, and Gruver.

Kira Weatherton placed 2nd in Spelling and Vocabulary and was only one point out of 1st place. Hannah Howard led the Science team to the championship by winning overall Science, Chemistry, and Physics.

Grayson Burch placed 5th overall and Marquis McGuire 9th overall to round out the team.

Placing in other events for the Broncos were Chance Lockhart, who was 5th in Calculator Applications and 6th in Number Sense; Cire Jauregui, who was 5th in Mathematics; Hannah Howard, who was 6th in Ready Writing; and Alex Bilbrey, who placed 5th in Current Issues.

Students and sponsors now prepare for district competition March 23 at Clarendon College with a chance to move on to the regional round in April.

Clarendon College set a new record for spring enrollment following the 12th class day last Wednesday with final headcounts coming in at 1,393.

That total reflects a 13.34 percent growth compared to the spring 2016 enrollment of 1,229. The new record is the highest spring enrollment in the school’s 118-year history and marks CC’s fourth consecutive semester of double-digit growth.

“Our success is due to hard work and a lot of effort on the parts of a lot of people,” CC President Robert Riza said. “Our faculty and staff are committed to student success and work very hard to achieve these goals.”

Dr. Riza pointed to growth in CC’s correctional education program and increasing dual credit among area high schools as reasons for the higher enrollment numbers.

“We also had two vocational nursing cohorts start in January when we realigned the program to better align with our bridge program,” the president said.

The number of students taking classes in correctional facilities was 82 higher than this time last year, and the number of high school students taking college classes grew by 85 with the largest growth coming from students in Pampa, Groom, and Amarillo.

Head counts on campuses in Clarendon, Childress, and Amarillo were down, but enrollment at the Pampa campus was up by 4.2 percent.

CC also saw more students taking classes online with growth in that segment of enrollment up 73.6 percent.

Contact hours, which is part of what the state uses to determine CC’s funding, was also up 10.7 percent.

Riza also says his administration has plans to build on this spring’s enrollment growth with proposals that will be put before the CC Board of Regents next week.