Ben Estlack

That Senior Thang will return on Saturday, August 19, for the third annual fundraiser for the Donley County Senior Citizens Center at Gorst and Fourth streets from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.

The event provides old-fashioned family fun for people of all ages. There will be a full concession with everything from BBQ sandwiches, hot dogs and Pulled pork sandwiches to homemade ice cream and watermelon and a County Store full of home baked goodies.

Free street games will include hoops, prize ducks, toy car races, corn hole, ladderball, marbles, and face painting.

Come try your luck at Chicken Drop Bingo, the Silent Auction or the 50/50 Raffle.

For the more adventurous player, there will be Straw Tower Building, Two-on-Two Basketball, Jalapeno Eating, Watermelon Seed Spitting, and Wheelchair Races. Put your team of four together and compete at Water Balloon Volleyball, Texas Skis, or the Balloon Blast. Winners take half of the entry fees.

The Donley County Senior Citizens invites everyone to come join the fun. Remember to BYOC (Bring Your Own Chair).

The Bronco Booster Club Classic will be held this Friday, August 4, at the Clarendon Country Club.

A $5 chipping contest will be held at 11 a.m. followed by a $5 putting contest at 11:30. Registration for the scramble begins at noon with a tee time of 1:00 p.m.

The cost is $220 per team and includes two mulligans and a dinner. Prizes will be awarded for the top two teams with a maximum of 36 teams allowed.

Additional prizes will be awarded for the Closest to the Pin, Longest Putt, and a Hold in One along with door prize drawings, and raffle prizes.

Proceeds from the Bronco Booster Club Classic will benefit the athletic teams of Clarendon High School. To register, contact Sarah Hatley at 806-670-7643.

Texas A&M Forest Service is now accepting grant applications for the State Fire Assistance for Mitigation – Plains Prescribed Fire Grant through August 15, 2023.
The grant will provide nearly $92,000 in funding for prescribed burns.

Prescribed fire is the planned application of a low-intensity fire to the landscape by fire and fuel specialists. The practice is a strategic, planned land management tool that uses fire to achieve set goals that are in accordance with applicable laws, policies and regulations.

“Prescribed burning is one of the most commonly used tools for managing hazardous fuel buildups because of its relatively low cost per acre,” said Jake Gosschalk, Texas A&M Forest Service Fuels Program Specialist IV. “Reintroducing fire to the landscape also improves wildlife habitats and rangeland conditions for grazing.”

Properties near communities in the panhandle, northwest, west and south Texas at a risk for loss during a wind-driven wildfire are eligible. The application process is entirely online which allows landowners to work directly with the certified prescribed burn manager of their choice to complete the application, burn plan and map requirements.

“This year, we have adjusted the program to allow recipients a full 12 months to complete the burn, running September 15, 2023, through September 15, 2024”, said Gosschalk. “By extending the burn window for landowners, they’ll have the opportunity to conduct both cool-season and warm-season summer burns.”

Grant recipients will be reimbursed actual per acre costs associated with conducting the prescribed burn up to $30 per acre with a limit of 800 acres per recipient. The burn must be conducted by either a private or commercial Certified and Insured Prescribed Burn Manager, which landowners must identify on the grant application.

Priority will be given to treatment sites that provide protection to the highest-risk communities based on the Texas Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal, are located near homes and contain ecosystems that will benefit from prescribed fire.

Find more information here: https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/PrescribedFireGrantsApplication/.

The Clarendon City Council authorized a supplemental contract with Greenbelt Municipal & Industrial Water Authority during a called meeting July 3 that will allow the water authority to proceed with an $18 million project to develop groundwater resources for its members cities.

Clarendon’s approval came after Greenbelt agreed to amendments to the contract, City Administrator David Dockery said. The most notable concession was that Clarendon will have the right to withdraw from the Greenbelt system after the current 1975 series bonds are paid off in 2027.

“Clarendon will can pull out of Greenbelt with one year’s notice at that time,” Dockery said. “It gives Clarendon a much stronger position in the future.”

Dockery said the city and the water authority are also working on possible changes to the contract under which Clarendon sells city groundwater to Greenbelt.

The Texas Water Development Board in April approved more than $18 million for a new water supply project for the Greenbelt Municipal and Industrial Water Authority. The project would develop 2,800 acres of groundwater rights the water authority acquired in northern Donley County in 2017. Greenbelt would construct three water wells, well field piping, electrical distribution equipment, and a 12-mile transmission line to transport water to its existing water treatment plant. Ten million dollars of the project is fully funded by the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, and $8.11 million would be financed with Clarendon paying about six percent of that cost.

As the Texas population continues to boom, TxDOT is drafting a record-breaking 10-year transportation plan and now the public is invited to weigh in on the projects proposed in their communities.

To help guide transportation projects over the next decade, TxDOT is seeking public input on the draft 2024 Unified Transportation Program (UTP), the state’s 10-year transportation plan. The draft 2024 UTP totals $100 billion, which is $15 billion more than the 2023 plan. The increase primarily comes from growth in revenues from Proposition 1 (passed in the 2015 legislative session) generated by oil and gas severance fees dedicated to highway improvements.

“The UTP is TxDOT’s road map to developing projects across the state,” said TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams. “It’s important to work with our transportation partners and hear from the public to guide transportation improvements that address congestion and enhance safety.”

Projects included in the UTP will improve safety, address congestion and connectivity, and preserve roadways for Texas drivers. The UTP also addresses public transportation, maritime, aviation, rail, freight and international trade, and bicycle and pedestrian connectivity.

The public is invited to learn about the UTP and participate in a virtual public meeting on July 6 at 2 p.m. (CST) and a virtual public hearing on July 25 at 2 p.m. The public may join the meeting and hearing by phone or online via TxDOT Public Involvement.

The draft 2024 UTP public comment period begins Friday, July 7, 2023, and ends Monday, Aug. 7, 2023, at 4 p.m. (CDT). There are multiple ways to comment throughout the process, and they can all be found on the Public Involvement section of TxDOT.gov, along with recordings and presentations from each meeting and hearing. Comment forms are also available in English, Arabic, Cantonese, Hindi, Mandarin, Spanish and Vietnamese.

The UTP is updated annually.

Public comments and feedback are a very important part of developing the plan. The UTP is approve in August and published on TxDOT.gov.