News

With the new aquatic center set to open and the USDA-funded water system improvements largely completed, the Clarendon City Council turned its attention to street improvements during its regular meeting last Thursday, May 13.

City engineer Che Shadle with OJD Engineering met with the board and discussed long-term plans as well as immediate priorities for the city’s thoroughfares.

City Administrator David Dockery said Shadle had evaluated the streets and presented the council with a map showing the types of surfaces and condition of each street. Dockery said resurfacing all of the streets would cost an estimated $13-15 million, and discussions about financing and phasing were held.

“Che recommended we act immediately to preserve our current paved streets,” Dockery said. “The proposal is to spend $300,000 to $325,000 to immediately resurface the paved streets we have.”

Shadle told the Enterprise that the streets that were paved in 2004 are in still in great shape, thanks in part to maintenance the city did to protect them several years ago. However, he said the city needs to act soon to continue to preserve those streets.

“They are starting to get cracks in them, and that will start water getting in them,” Shadle said. “They need to be chip sealed this summer. We’re going to bid that work soon along with some other jobs we have to hopefully get a good price.”

Shadle said streets of this type typically need to be sealed every three to four years to protect them. This work would cover about 90,000 square yards of surface.

As that work gets underway, OJD will be working on a more extensive plan to bring before city council that will address streets in a comprehensive way, focusing first on critical drainage issues.

In other city business last week, issued two proclamations – one recognizing May 9-15 as National Peace Officers Week and another recognizing May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day.

Votes from the May 1 election were canvassed, confirming the re-election of Mayor Sandy Skelton and Aldermen Jacob Fangman and Terri Floyd. Donley County Judge John Howard administered the oath of office to Skelton and Municipal Judge Tommy Waldrop, and Skelton then administered the oath to Fangman and Floyd. The council later appointed Fangman to continue to serve as mayor pro-tem.

Aldermen voted in favor of setting Tuesdays from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. as senior swim time at the aquatic center.
The city’s contract to sell groundwater to Greenbelt Municipal & Industrial Water Authority was discussed and renewed with an increase of five cents per 1,000 gallons.

In his administrator’s report, Dockery said USDA has approved using the surplus of about $250,000 left over in the water system infrastructure project to replace water lines under Gorst Street from First to Fourth Streets. New employees for the city were reported to the council, including Jason Bingham and Jacob Hunsaker in the water department and Miranda Zanardi as a part-time utility clerk.

The grand opening of the Clarendon Aquatic Center is just over two weeks away, and City Hall says annual passes will go on sale to the public next week.

Annual passes will allow frequent users of the facility to save money over the course of the summer. Day passes will cost $5 for everyone over the age of 17, $4 for ages 4-17, and free for ages three and under. Annual passes are $100 per individual and $250 for a family of up to four members and $50 for each additional household family member.

City Administrator David Dockery also encourages anyone wishing to plan a birthday party or other event after regular hours to please call City Hall right away at 806-874-3438 to get on the calendar so that lifeguards can be scheduled appropriately. Parties can be scheduled at the aquatic center after hours at a rate of $125 per hour.

The center will be open regularly from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and will be closed on Mondays. Private parties can be planned after hours, and the city is working with the Donley County Senior Citizens on the potential for senior events during the morning hours, and other morning-only activities are being discussed as well.

A public grand opening is being planned for Friday, May 28, and regular hours will begin Saturday, May 29, in time for the Memorial Day weekend. (Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the grand opening would be an invitation-only event.)

Dockery said Trinity Cavanaugh will serve the manager for the aquatic center and 12 people have now successfully completed training to serve as lifeguards at the facility.

This week, work is underway to curb and pave the center’s parking lot, and the city is also planning to resurface the paving on Kearney Street along the aquatic center from Fourth Street to Sixth Street.

Donley County Commissioners this week made a final determination on a repeated request by the District Nine Volunteer Fire Department to be recognized and dispatched for fires in the northwestern part of the county.

County Judge John Howard said District Nine volunteers first approached commissioners in August of 2019 about having a designated service area and to be dispatched by 911 to respond to incidents in that area. County officials, however, had questions about the department’s equipment and their ability to respond.

Howard said the county did eventually designate a service area for District Nine, north of Howardwick, so that the department could apply for a grant, which he says they did not get.

“That area is already covered by the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department as well as by mutual aid agreements with Groom and McLean,” Howard said. “The City of Howardwick Volunteer Fire Department covers that municipal area and a little bit outside of it as well, and Clarendon is dispatched to assist them.”

District Nine again approached the county last month requesting to be dispatched to its service area, but the commissioners’ court tabled the issue.

This week, Howard said District Nine’s representative did not satisfactorily answer questions about the department in terms of water supply, power, funding, and insurance. That led commissioners to unanimously vote not to dispatch fire calls to the District Nine department and to not reconsider the request, the judge said.

“We are very appreciative of volunteer firefighters, people who stand in the breech to protect the lives and property of others,” Howard told the Enterprise. “But we also have to think of the county’s potential liability in this case.”

In other county business, commissioners tabled a request from the Smiley Johnson Municipal Airport Board for financial support, approved travel for training requests from the County Attorney and Precinct 3&4 Justice of the Peace, and approved tax deeds for the City of Howardwick.

Commissioners discussed a proposal to replace aging hot water heaters in the Courthouse but took no action pending further proposals.

The court also discussed soliciting bids to repair paint, plaster, and woodwork damaged by a water leak earlier this year.
Judge Howard said a dehumidifier has been reinstalled in the vault of his office and has pulled out about 70 gallons of water in the last week. Restoration will likely not proceed until more moisture is pulled from the 1890 building. The county will then seek a general contractor to oversee repairs to the building.

Representatives of the NRCS addressed the commisioners’ court Monday regarding Lakeview Site 1 – Sandy Camp and a conservation dam built in 1974 that is leaking and is under the care of the county. Howard said the federal government will be undertaking repairs on that dam that will cost an estimated $1 million.

Mom deserves a break, and the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce is making it easy to give her a fun evening during its “Mother’s Day Movie Night” at the Mulkey Theatre this coming Sunday, May 9, at 6 p.m.

The entire family can take mom to see “Mother’s Day” on the big screen. The film stars Hollywood favorites Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts, and Jason Sudeikis.

Tickets for this event are $12.50 per person and include heavy hors d’oeuvres and mimosas. Regular movie concessions will also be available for purchase the night of the event.

Tickets are available online at www.mulkeytheatre.com or can be purchased in person at the Clarendon Visitor Center, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A Donley County man died on US 287 early Wednesday morning, May 5, near Lelia Lake.

The Texas Department of Public Safety reports that Clayton Shields, age 28, of Lelia Lake pronounced dead on the scene by Justice of the Peace Pat White.

According to DPS Sgt. Cindy Barkley, A 2020 Freightliner truck tractor towing two semi-trailers was southbound on US 287 northwest of the community of Lelia Lake. The vehicle moved from the outside lane to the inside lane due to an emergency vehicle on the outside shoulder. Shields was walking south in the inside lane. The driver of tractor-trailer did not see Shields in the roadway until after he changed lanes and was unable to avoid striking the man.

The accident was investigated by Texas Highway Patrol Troopers.

A majority of Clarendon voters chose to keep incumbent officials on the job in last week’s city election.

Aldermen Jacob Fangman and Terri Floyd were re-elected by wide margins with 115 and 117 votes respectively, and Mayor Sandy Skelton, running unopposed, received 146 out of the 186 votes cast.

Also on Saturday’s ballot, former alderman Tommy Hill received 89 votes and junior high principal Travis Victory received 17.

A total of 16.2 percent of registered city voters participated in this years election with 106 casting votes early and 80 showing up on election day.

A Clarendon man was sentenced to 55 years in prison when the 100th District Court met here Friday, April 23.

District Attorney Luke Inman, along with Assistant District Attorney Harley Caudle, prosecuted the case for the State of Texas, with the Honorable Judge Stuart Messer presiding.

Brenton Arthur Campbell, 37, of Clarendon, was sentenced to 55 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, enhanced. The offense took place on December 30, 2020, which involved a knife as a deadly weapon.

Following his arrest, Campbell was placed on probation for five years on March 4. On March 17, the State filed a motion to revoke his probation alleging Campbell violated four conditions of his terms of probation.

At the hearing on April 23, Campbell admitted to the Court that he had violated some of his probation terms, which included violating a protective order against the victim in the underlying case.

A contested hearing was conducted to prove the remaining allegations, where the State called two witnesses. Meaghan Gribble, deputy director with the 100th Judicial District Community Supervision Department, testified that Campbell was told multiple times to have no contact with the victim.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn also testified for the State regarding Campbell’s arrest for the violation of the protective order.

According to testimony, Blackburn received information that Campbell was back with the victim, and due to the severity of the original case, he put finding Campbell as a top priority so something else would not happen to the victim.

After all the State’s evidence was presented, Messer officially convicted Campbell of the felony offense and began the punishment hearing.

“Basically, deferred is a second chance for individuals that leads to two different paths,” said Inman. “Path one is the person who takes responsibility for their actions and makes all efforts to repay their debt back to society by abiding by the law and making positive changes in their own life and the lives of others.”

“These same individuals stay off mind altering substances or get the help from the probation department if they can’t do it on their own,” Inman said.

“Individuals also stay away from other criminals, and especially the victim of the underlying offense, in keeping with the contract they make with the court to be placed on felony probation in the first place. This defendant chose the second path, which is basically the opposite of the first path.”

During the punishment phase, Campbell pleaded to the court that he just wanted the court, namely Judge Messer, to marry him and the victim of the underlying charge.

However, Campbell also testified that the victim was the reason for his increased methamphetamine use. Additional evidence also came to light that Campbell was currently married to another woman in the area.

After hearing all of the punishment evidence, Campbell was sentenced to 55 years by Messser. Under current Texas law, Campbell will be required to serve at least 50 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole because his crime involved the use of a deadly weapon.