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City budget up for vote next week
The Clarendon City Council will vote on what will likely be the biggest budget in the city’s history next Thursday, September 13.
Construction of a $1.9 million water recreation project along with $3.9 million in USDA-funded infrastructure improvements have pushed the city’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2019 to $8.1 million.
The budget for the city’s usual expenses next year is $2.3 million, which is up about $200,000 from the current budget.
Funds for the water recreation project are coming from donations and grants, and the USDA project is funded with a $1.3 million federal grant with the city financing the balance of that project over 40 years with a $10 per month fee on water accounts that has already been in place for over a year.
City Administrator David Dockery said the proposed budget includes the final payments on tax notes and general obligation bonds that were approved in 2012 for street, water, sewer, and drainage improvements. The city does not have any street improvement plans in the upcoming budget, preferring to wait until the USDA project completes installing about five miles of water lines before embarking on new street work.
The budget is built on a slight tax increase with an ad valorem rate of $0.75865 per $100 valuation, up from the current rate of $0.733821. City leaders expect to see the property tax rate go down for fiscal year 2020 as the city retires some of its debt.
The new budget includes a five percent across the board raise for city employees, a three percent raise for the administrator, and an eight percent raise for the city secretary.
The budget also includes $25,000 for the second phase of a three-year plan to bring the 1918 City Hall into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Money also remains in the budget to continue the city’s efforts to clean up properties with dilapidated structures.
No fee increases are included in the proposed budget, although Dockery says the city may consider a sewer fee increase at some point in the next year.
Trade commission reverses newsprint tariffs
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) unanimously reversed tariffs placed on newsprint from Canada last week, ruling that US industry is not being harmed by the imports.
The August 29 ruling was seen as a victory for newspapers and other printers that use uncoated groundwood paper.
“We are immensely gratified today by the International Trade Commission’s vote not to impose permanent tariffs upon the North American newsprint supply,” said National Newspaper Association President Susan Rowell, publisher of the Lancaster (SC) News. “The paper markets serving community newspapers can soon begin to move back to market pricing without the heavy hand of government imposing taxes upon the primary suppliers of newsprint.”
In response to the tariffs, US Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) was one of 38 members of Congress to co-sponsor the Protecting Rational Incentives in Newsprint Trade Act of 2018 also known as the PRINT Act, which would have suspended the duties pending a study of the effects on the printing industry. Thirty-three members of the US Senate co-sponsored a companion bill in that house.
“The USITC’s action last week was a great relief, and community newspapers across America are very grateful to Congressman Thornberry and his colleagues for their efforts to protect these jobs,” Clarendon Enterprise publisher Roger Estlack. “Mac’s efforts combined with a major push back from across the country helped stop what was becoming an enormous burden and threat to the local newspapers.”
Newsprint users experienced price increases and a disruption in supply after duties were assessed earlier this year following a complaint by one paper mill, North Pacific Paper Company. The import tariffs – as high as 32 percent – jeopardized the viability of the industry and threatened more than 600,000 US workers in publishing, printing and related industries.
The Texas Press Association had been lobbying against the tariff for almost a year. The association joined a coalition led by News Media Alliance and National Newspaper Association.
“We are delighted at the outcome,” said TPA Executive Director Mike Hodges. “The International Trade Commission clearly saw what our industry has been saying all along – that the case for a tariff was groundless and that American newspapers would be in grave danger if a tariff were made permanent. Our members’ involvement with the Texas Congressional delegation was crucial in our efforts to defeat the tariff and we deeply appreciate their hard work.”
All five USITC commissioners voted against the tariffs and officially determined that US industry is not materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of imports of uncoated groundwood paper from Canada.
“We will not know until mid-September the commission’s rationale for its vote of 5-0 against continuing newsprint tariffs,” Rowell said.
“We understand it will take a couple of months for the preliminary tariffs to be unwound and credits to be issued back to those companies who had paid duties at the border since last January. But it is an enormous relief to know that the ITC does not find a basis for continuing sanctions.”
Editorial: H’wick needs to try honeymooning again
The Howardwick honeymoon didn’t last long, but it’s time for both sides to try again to work together.
A petition calling for the removal of Howardwick Mayor Greta Byars was presented at the close of the City Council meeting on August 14, but it was somewhat anti-climactic since the meeting had been largely productive and low-key, a change from the raucousness of recent meetings.
Resident Steve Phelps presented the petition but made an impassioned plea for folks to work together, to be more “Christ like,” and to become friends again. Phelps specifically complimented the mayor for her handling of that meeting.
But later that night, the wheels came off the Howardwick wagon again when a former city employee got arrested for disorderly conduct for basically causing a disturbance in the vicinity of the mayor. The mayor and others felt so threatened that they obtained criminal trespass warnings against the former employee, and there was even an attempt to hold an “emergency meeting” of the city council following the incident.
Since then, the Enterprise has learned of another flare-up between the administration and the volunteer fire department at Howardwick, which seem to stem from an ongoing conflict between City Hall and the leadership of the department. Or perhaps there just needs to be better communication between the parties involved. That could go a long way to diffusing volatile situations before they even arise.
For the good of the residents, the city and its fire department need to find a way to peacefully coexist. Safety, as Mayor Byars said at the last meeting, should be a top priority. A conflict with the fire department – or even miscommunication with the department –improves the safety of no one. Whether you like those individuals personally or not, they are volunteers trying to serve their community as best they can.
As the paper goes to press, the city council was preparing to meet over the budget and taxes Tuesday night. Hopefully that meeting went well.
Next week’s regular meeting will be the next test. Civility needs to be the order of the day. Citizens should, like last month, be respectful and the let the council do its job. City leaders need to work together, and all concerned need to, as Mr. Phelps said, try to be friends again.
There are a lot of good folks at Howardwick – on both sides of the issues. It’s okay to have healthy debate on matters facing the city, but everyone needs to ultimately pull together for the best interests of the city. Agree to disagree in some cases, but always try to work for the betterment of the community.
Meanwhile…
The newspaper industry breathed a collective sigh of relief last week when tariffs on Canadian newsprint were rolled back.
Earlier this year, the US Department of Commerce imposed a tariff on newsprint from Canada. This action came after one company claimed Canadian mills were dumping newsprint on the US market at low prices. In response, the Commerce Department gave preliminary approval to duties up to 32 percent, according to the News Media Alliance. Amid enormous push back from the industry and members of Congress, Commerce revised those duties downward on August 2, and then the US International Trade Commission reversed them entirely last week.
A bipartisan chorus of lawmakers joined media outlets and industry leaders across the country to combat the threat that the tariffs posed to the publishing industry in general and newspapers in particular.
Among those leaders who stepped up was Clarendon’s own Congressman Mac Thornberry, who signed on as a co-sponsor of a bill that would have suspended the tariffs until a study could be done of their impact.
The tariffs on newsprint were bad for American businesses and consumers, and it was right that it should have been rolled back. But it is just one of many tariffs that have sprung up in the wake of the president’s ongoing effort to “make America great again.” A pissing contest with our allies and trading partners doesn’t seem to be doing much to make America great, but it is making a great mess of things.
Shocked by a 32 percent increase in the price of newsprint, some publishers have already made long-lasting changes to their businesses that probably didn’t serve their customers or employees well.
Other tariffs are being felt in different ways, especially in the construction world. Close to home, city leaders have expressed concerns about the costs of materials for the proposed swimming pool and the water system improvement project. Texas agriculture leaders worry about the effects that the president’s trade war with china might have on cotton exports and other crops.
While there is always the desire by some to wall off America and just play in our own sandbox, the fact of the matter is that we live in a global economy in the 21st century. Going around kicking sand in the faces of our trading partners isn’t the best way to do business.
H’wick family loses home in fire
An account at the Donley County State Bank has been opened for a Howardwick family after they lost their home to a fire this week.
Chris and Shelina Wilkins lost most of their possessions due to fire, heat, and smoke damage, a family friend said, and the family was displaced from the home.
Clarendon Fire Chief Jeremy Powell said an electrical short in a window air-conditioning unit caused the fire Tuesday afternoon, August 28, and a passerby noticed the fire. A neighbor began fighting the fire with a hose, and volunteer firemen from Clarendon and Howardwick responded to the call.
Powell said fire damage was contained to the living area where the air-conditioner was located but the rest of the house sustained heavy smoke and heat damage.
Senior officers
Looking for the opening
Memphis man severely injured in accident
A Memphis man lost part of his right arm last Wednesday, August 22, after a truck collided with the tractor he was driving.
DPS Trooper Emily Ruhl said 58-year-old Jesus Garcia was driving a John Deere 4450 westbound on the shoulder of US 287 about six miles west of Clarendon and pulling a hay rake. About 4:40 p.m. an Isuzu box truck came up behind him on the shoulder and collided with the rake and tractor.
The impact caused the tractor to jackknife. Garcia was thrown from the tractor and lost his right hand and part of his arm in the accident.
A nurse passing by got to Garcia and rendered first aid, tying a tourniquet to stop his bleeding, Ruhl said.
Garcia was transported by Donley County EMS and then airlifted to Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo.
The driver of the truck, Tyler Brown of Bastrop, was not injured in the accident, which is still under investigation. No charges have been filed as of Tuesday afternoon, Ruhl said.
CISD moves ahead with security plan
Clarendon CISD trustees continued efforts to improve school security during their regular meeting August 13.
The board approved motions to contract with Hohe Design Group for architect services on the Security Improvement Projects and passed a resolution selecting Huseman Builders, Inc., to provide construction manager-agent services for those projects.
Superintendent Mike Norrell told the Enterprise that the primary focus of the projects is to build vestibules for the main entrances to all three school campuses – elementary, junior high, and high school.
“The goal is to make those entry areas even more secure,” Norrell said. “We already have buzzer systems on those entries.”
The elementary and junior high vestibules will be developed inside the existing structures. The high school vestibule construction will involve enclosing the existing breezeway connecting the high school and the junior high.
“It will be bricked to blend in with the existing architecture,” Norrell said.
The project architect is working on the design details and budget now, and the school plans to have the project completed before the Christmas break, Norrell said.
In other school business, trustees toured the district’s facilities to see the improvements made during the summer and discuss future improvements.
Employee salaries for 2018-2019 were approved as presented, and the board voted to set the proposed tax rate at $1.17 per $100 valuation, which is the current rate. A budget hearing and tax rate adoption meeting was set for August 27.
The board accepted proposals from Property Casualty Alliance of Texas (PCAT) for Auto, Liability, and Property Insurance Coverages for 2018-2019, from Ricoh for the district copier and printer contract, and from Gandy’s Dairies for the milk for the cafeteria.
The appraisal calendar and appraisers for the 2018-2019 school year and the Code of Conduct were approved, and Norrell presented a report to the board on the A-F Accountability rating.
Bids on tax delinquent properties were accepted as presented for lots in Clarendon and Howardwick.
Contracts of employment were approved for the following individuals: Carlos Camarena, Christopher Woodcook, Brian Fritz, and Dennis McMenamy.
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