Morgan Wheatly

A proposed water recreation facility for Clarendon will be the subject of a town hall meeting scheduled for Monday, October 5, at 6 p.m. at the Bairfield Activity Center.

Public feedback will be sought on the project, and officials will provide information on the opportunity now before the community. An anonymous donor contacted the city in July with the offer of a $500,000 challenge grant for the project.

The steering committee tasked with guiding fundraising and making recommendations for the project to city council met last Wednesday, September 16, at Clarendon College.

City Alderman Sandy Skelton was elected to chair the group of 13 men and women. Donley County Judge John Howard was named the vice chairman, and Clarendon EDC Secretary Roger Estlack was named secretary/treasurer.

Skelton and City Administrator David Dockery discussed the background of the project to this point and the extensive research that has been done of other communities with pools or water parks.

Dockery said the project really needs a total of $1.5 million to get started. That’s about what the City of Albany spent on a water recreation project two years ago. Wellington’s new water park that opened this June cost $3.2 million and was largely paid for by one benefactor.

Dockery and CEDC Director Jack King are both ex-officio members of the steering committee.

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a possible source for grant funding for the project, with the City of Wheeler recently getting $400,000 for a pool project in that city. City Hall is already working with the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission to take the needed steps to apply for a TPWD grant.

In addition to fundraising questions, the committee is charged with suggesting a site for the project. One possible location is at Fourth and Kearney east of the Post Office. The area has the benefit of already being city owned and being connected to the city’s park by a lighted walking path. This site has not be finalized, but a connection to the park is critical for a successful TPWD grant.

The committee must also consider the size and scope of the project – whether it is a nice pool with slides or a larger water park with many features – as well as considering the sustainability of the project and how it can pay for its own operating expenses moving forward.

Committed members discussed last week the possibility of the project being more of a year-round facility that can be used by all ages. This would add to the cost of the project but could make Clarendon’s facility unique from those of other communities.

The committee will solicit feedback and ideas from the community at next month’s town hall. Upcoming decisions will be the selection of a fundraising chair and a possible fundraising subcommittee for the project.

For more information about the project, contact David Dockery at City Hall at 806-874-3438.

 

Clarendon College is proud to announce its recipients of the annual NISOD Excellence Awards, Dr. Jeremy Sain and Linda Rowland.

NISOD’s Excellence Awards recognize men and women each year who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment and contribution to their students and colleagues. In 1989, in connection with a University of Texas at Austin national study of teaching excellence, NISOD hosted its first ceremony honoring NISOD Excellence Award recipients. The response to that ceremony was so positive that NISOD began what has become the largest and most inspiring gathering that recognizes the contributions and achievements of community and technical college faculty, administrators, and staff.

Last fall, Sain and Rowland developed a new math pilot program where students needing developmental education were enrolled directly into college level courses paired with a supplemental lab. This shortened path has proven to increase the percentage of entering developmental students that successfully complete a college-level course and has cut the time to complete that college-level course by up to three semesters. Additionally, this has resulted in significant tuition saving to students and a great overall chance of graduating college.

“Mrs. Rowland and Dr. Sain are most deserving of this award,” CC President Dr. Robert Riza said. “This recognizes their hard work and dedication to their students in the math program, allowing students to gain college level credit and bypass the developmental process, saving the students both time and money. They earned this award by recognizing a barrier to student success and they found a way to get around it. Instead of doing the same old thing, they achieved greatness. I am very proud of them and it is an honor to work with them.”

“Clarendon College is, indeed, proud of what Mrs. Rowland and Dr. Sain have initiated,” CC Interim Vice President of Instruction Dr. Roger Schustereit said. “They really care about helping students. I believe all our teachers share this desire to make our students successful.”

Excellence Award recipients will be celebrated during NISOD’s annual International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence, May 28-31, in Austin, Texas.

“Recognizing those individuals who have contributed to student success and their colleges’ mission is something we look forward to doing each year,” said Dr. Edward J. Leach, NISOD’s Executive Director. “The extraordinary work of these men and women includes not only what they do for their students and colleagues, but what they do for the communities in which they live and work. We’re honored to be able to play a part in celebrating their achievements.”

 

Clarendon College Regents tabled approval of a bid on tax delinquent property during their regular meeting last week.

The board approved three other tax delinquent property bids as presented by the Donley Appraisal District, but some regents had questions about a bid for a 1999 Oakwood mobile home located on the north side of Clarendon.

Some board members noted that no minimum bid had been listed on their paperwork, and Regent Darlene Spier said she had called the appraisal district office to find out more about this property.

“Back taxes have not been paid for a long time,” Spier said. “The taxes owed are between $20,000 and $25,000 on the trailer.”

The bid on the trailer house is for $100.

Last month, the Clarendon City Council approved the bid in a split vote, 2-1, with two aldermen absent from that meeting.

Chief Appraiser Paula Lowrie has told the Enterprise that the appraisal district has been trying to address the back taxes on the mobile home for a long time. The appraisal district’s attorneys made several attempts over the years to collect taxes dating back to 2003 from owner Nancy Shapiro, but they were unsuccessful in serving her.

The home sits on land owned by Bryan Leeper, and Lowrie said it was only recently that his name was added to the mobile home.

Lowrie said the mobile home was put up in a sheriff’s sale last December but received no bids, making it the property of the local taxing entities. She said Bryan Leeper now wants it off his land said the district has advertised unsuccessfully trying to sell the home. The $100 bid for the home was from Leeper’s son, Tim Leeper.

Board chairman Jerry Woodard said he thought the appraisal district could have used other means to go after the taxes. Regents prepared a list of questions for the appraisal district and tabled action on the bid.

In other college business, Regents approved refinancing bonds with a balance of $1.3 million to take advantage of a drop in interest rate from 4.7 percent down to 2.42 percent. The refinance will short the payout of the bonds from seven years to six years and save the college about $300,000.

Woodard called the refinance “a no-brainer” and said paying that debt off sooner would free the college up to do other things on campus.

The college’s record setting fall enrollment was the subject of discussion in the President’s Report, and Dr. Robert Riza gave credit to his cabinet for their hard work, including Aaron Lopez, David Hall, Brandie Havens, Johnny Triechel, Will Thompson, Susan Russell, Becky Green, Robert Taylor, Brad Vanden Boogaard, Lana Ritchie, Tex Buckhaults, Roger Schustereit, and Ashlee Estlack.

The board approved a new contract with Great Western Dining to operate the college cafeteria and ratified the employment of James Ira Colley as the new custodian at the Pampa Center.

Regents were given copies of CC’s tax abatement criteria for review in anticipation of Cielo Wind Energy seeking an abatement for Phase 2 of a wind farm in the northwest part of the county. Construction on Phase 1 is expected to begin in 2016.

 

Clarendon College is reporting the third largest enrollment in its history this week, following the 12th class day of the fall 2015 semester.

CC President Robert Riza said total enrollment is currently at 1,350, which is an increase of about 12.6 percent over last fall’s number.

“This the result of the hard work of a lot of people,” Dr. Riza said. “With this increase, what I’m looking for is two years from now to see what our graduation rates and student success numbers look like.”

The biggest increase for CC came in a nearly 54 percent increase in dual credit enrollment in area high schools from 352 students to 541.

Those dual credit figures include 97 students from Carson County, 53 of which are in Panhandle High School, who are all being covered by scholarship. The college many years ago inherited a farm in that county from the McConnell Estate, and this year the Riza administration moved to use the lease payments from that property to cover all Carson County high school students’ dual credit expenses.

Dual credit numbers are also way up in Gray County, where the Pampa Foundation chose to use a large donation to pay for college classes for high school students on the free and reduced lunch program.

Miami High School also has 52 dual credit students taking classes from CC, more than twice the number of last year. Riza said that school has launched a four-year plan to graduate as many students as possible from Clarendon College three weeks before they graduate from high school.

Miami is one area school pushing students to start dual credit classes as freshmen. Riza said taking dual credit classes in high school leads directly to success in college for many students.

“Our figures show that 37 percent of dual credit students will earn a four-year degree within four years or less of graduating high school,” the president said.

Enrollment numbers were down slightly on the home campus in Clarendon at 328 compared to 352 last year. Riza said that reflects less than full occupancy in the dormitories due to some turn overs among coaches. He expects CC to be back at full occupancy next fall and possibly see increases in the spring semester.

Pampa enrollment fell by ten from 276 to 266 with the college feeling the impact of economic woes in Gray County where more than 300 jobs have been lost in the last month and a half, Riza said.

The CC center in Childress saw its numbers grow from 54 last year to 73 this year. The Amarillo cosmetology center was down from 65 last fall to 43 this fall, but 19 Amarillo ISD students are now taking cosmetology by dual credit.

Riza also said Clarendon College is working to offer more courses through an Adult Education Literacy grant aimed at getting people ESL training, GED credentials, and some workforce training. Those classes are first being offered in Pampa for welding, certified nurse’s aide, and phlebotomy.

“This serves a segment of our population that we have to help become productive,” Riza said.

 

The District Court gave a Donley County woman a 20-year sentence this week after she led law enforcement on a high-speed chase through three counties August 31.

Sonye Shields appeared before Judge Stuart Messer Tuesday morning, September 15, in a contested adjudication hearing with District Attorney Luke Inman representing the state. Six witnesses testified for the state, and two witnesses testified for the defendant.

Shields was sentenced to 20 years in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for violating the probation she started June 1 for a second degree charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance.

That offense was committed on February 20, 2015. Shields was 53 at the time of her arrest.

Shields has since been in trouble with the law and had two outstanding warrants on August 31 when Donley County Deputy Vincent Morasco saw her at Allsup’s convenience store in Clarendon with her husband and a U-Haul pickup hooked to a utility trailer loaded with furniture, according to Sheriff Butch Blackburn.

Morasco identified himself and informed Shields that he needed to confirm the warrant for her. She then got into the passenger side of the pick-up and locked the door. The deputy confronted her and tried to get her to exit the vehicle, but Shields slid over to the driver’s side and sped off. As she took off, the deputy shot the right front tire of the vehicle, the sheriff said.

Shields drove through some side streets before getting onto US 287 and then going north on State Hwy. 70 at speeds in excess of 100 mph. The sheriff said her speed and erratic driving was causing the trailer’s load to be lost as she drove.

With the deputy still in pursuit, she headed west on Interstate 40 where she lost a desk off the trailer, causing the deputy to have to stop for safety reasons. As the deputy cleared the roadway, Sheriff Blackburn picked up the chase and caught up with Shields at mile marker 114 at the edge of Groom.

Shields pulled over and was arrested on charges of Evading and booked into the Carson County Jail. She was transferred to the Donley County Jail the next day and arraigned by Justice of the Peace Denise Bertrand.

Blackburn said Shields was wanted on a warrant for burglary out of Amarillo and on a local warrant for theft. She was also already out on bond on a motion to adjudicate her probation, the sheriff said.

The district attorney’s office said Tuesday afternoon that this week’s sentencing only related to Shields’ violation of probation and that other charges are still pending against her.