News

Citizens wishing to serve their community can now sign up for positions at seven local governments that are scheduled to hold elections this spring.

The cities of Clarendon, Hedley, and Howardwick; the Clarendon and Hedley school districts; the Clarendon College District; and the Donley County Hospital District all have a total of 24 positions available this year.

In Clarendon, the two-year terms of Aldermen John Lockhart, Larry Jeffers, and Eulaine McIntosh are up this year.

Hedley has two aldermen’s seats and the mayor’s position up this year. Those are two-year terms and are currently held by Mayor Carrie Butler and Aldermen Tom Carson, and Danny Russell.

In Howardwick the terms of Aldermen Mary Grady, Terry Barnes, and Del Essary are expiring. Those are all two-year terms.

Clarendon ISD Trustees serve three years, and the terms of Robin Ellis, Chuck Robertson, and Zack Robinson are expiring this year.

Hedley ISD has two full three-year terms up this year. Those seats are held by Bruce Howard and Michael Metcalf.

Six positions are up this year on the nine member Clarendon College Board of Regents. College board member terms are six years, and three full terms are up this year as well as three partial terms. The full terms expiring this year are currently held by Susie Shields and James Shelton and one vacant seat formerly held by Ruth Robinson. Two partial terms are up on the college board that expire in 2024. Those are the terms of Lon Adams, who was appointed to the seat formerly held by Jerry Woodard, and a vacant seat formerly held by Edwin Campbell. A third partial term on the college board expires in 2026 and is currently held by Chriss Matthews, who was appointed after the resignation of Darlene Spier.

The Donley County Hospital District Board of Directors has four two-year terms up this year. Those are currently held by Jan Farris – Place 4, Nikki Adams – Place 5, Mark C. White – Place 6, and Lori Howard – Place 7.

All local boards are elected at-large, but hospital board candidates must file for a specific place on the board. Candidate applications are available from the administrative offices of each entity.

Filing began January 19 and continues through Friday, February 18. Elections are scheduled to be held Saturday, May 7, 2022.

The City of Howardwick is working to establish its own law enforcement office following last week’s city council meeting, January 11.

City Secretary Sandy Childress said the council voted to amend the city’s budget to set aside $8,000 to create the department of the city marshal, which in addition to providing the community with a certified peace officer will also give the city a way to serve municipal court papers to those with code violations.

“With the crime and thefts we’re seeing in our community, we think we can help our sheriff’s office in squashing crime,” Childress told the Enterprise.

Childress said some residents with prior law enforcement experience have stepped forward to volunteer, and she said the funds budgeted would pay for their state certifications and the expenses of the office.
The money for the department comes from a surplus in sales of properties in the city, Childress said.

“We can get bigger and better here, but it has to be clean and safe,” she said.

Howardwick hopes to have its city marshal office up and running within 90 days.

Active COVID-19 cases have tripled in one week according to local officials.

Donley County Judge John Howard, MD, said Tuesday afternoon that there are now 63 active cases under the care of the Clarendon Family Medical Center, up from 21 one week ago.

Due to the high case load, a complete COVID report was not available from the clinic before press time, but Howard did say that ten of ten tests conducted Monday were positive. By Tuesday afternoon, there were 29 new positives.

Clarendon School Nurse Debbie Thompson said Tuesday morning that she had eight positive tests so far this week. It was not known how many if any of those cases went to clinic after testing positive at school.

Meanwhile, more than 30 people received either a first, second, or booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine during a clinic last Friday in Howardwick, and a second clinic is planned there on March 11.

Repairing last winters damage to the Donley County Courthouse could begin as soon as January 24, according to County Judge John Howard.

County commissioners on Monday, January 10, approved a contract with Premier Commercial Group to repair the extensive damage the building suffered last February during a winter storm.

The commissioners’ court accepted Premier’s bid on December 28 as the lowest of three bidders. The total cost of the contract is $448,500, but Donley County is only responsible for paying a $1,000 deductible with insurance covering the rest.

The work is expected to be finished in 70 days.

The Clarendon Chamber of Commerce is delaying its annual community awards banquet and has extended its deadline for awards nominations.

The banquet was scheduled for February 10 but has been delayed after conferring with local health officials regarding rising cases of COVID-19. A new date will be announced soon.

With the banquet date pushed back, the Chamber is also extending its awards nominations deadline to February 4 at 5 p.m.

Nominations are being sought for Man of the Year and Woman of the Year, and the lifetime service Saints’ Roost Award .

Nominations can be mailed to the Chamber at PO Box 986, Clarendon, TX 79226, or delivered to the Visitor Center inside the Mulkey Theatre. Emailed nominations can be sent to Chamber@ClarendonTX.com.

Repairing the 1890 Donley County Courthouse took another step forward December 28 when the commissioners’ court accepted a $448,500 bid from Premier Commercial Group, LLC.

The Panhandle’s oldest functioning courthouse received extensive damage almost a year ago when an arctic storm froze water lines in the building’s heating and cooling system in the attic, destroying the county attorney’s office and flooding other areas.

After months of work to extract water from the building, assess the damage, and develop a plan to restore the building, County Judge John Howard said commissioners met in a called session on Friday, December 17, to open bids on repairs.

Premier’s bid of $448,500 was the lowest of the three and the company’s estimated time for repairs – 70 days – was about half that of the other two bidders. Howard said architect Chris Hutson recommended Premier after reviewing the bids. Premier has worked on five historic courthouses in Texas, and its owner has worked on about 17 historic courthouses in total and was a partner in Phoenix I, when that company oversaw the 2003 restoration of the Donley County Courthouse.

Phoenix I also bid on the repair work but had the high bid at $498,300 and estimated taking 135 days to complete the work. Plains Builders also submitted a bid of $460,000 and expected to take 153 days for the work, but Plains did not have the historic restoration experience of the other two bidders.

The county will now proceed to develop a contract with Premier so that a start date can be set for the repairs.

In other county business on December 17, commissioners revised their earlier action on voting precincts to reinstate a voting location for Precinct 3 voters in Hedley.

The county also adopted a new order on its current burn ban, clearly stating that that violating the burn ban is a misdemeanor crime with a maximum fine of $500.

During the called meeting on December 28, the county also held a public hearing on a proposed Community Resiliency Program grant application attended by representatives of the Donley County Hospital District and the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission. The grant, if approved, would provide 100 percent funds for a new ambulance for the hospital district, Judge Howard said.