Roger Estlack

The Hedley City Council met in regular session February 8 as officials continued steps to move the city’s fiscal year in line most other local governments.

Hedley has historically run a budget year from July through June, but the city recently moved to the more common October 1 through September 30 calendar. As part of that, the council gave consideration last week to a new budget to cover fiscal year 2024.

Karen Watt spoke in open forum about concerns she had with the proposed budget and said there was not enough information to support the budget.

The council later unanimously approved the proposed budget.

Ordinance 160 was also discussed and approved. The new measure allows the city to remove a water meter after the account is 60 days past due.

The council also voted to attempt to renegotiate existing loans the city has.

Aldermen considered adopting a policy of no longer taking cash in the office. A motion to approve the “no cash” policy failed to get a second, but at a called meeting on Monday, the council did approve the policy.

Payments at Hedley City Hall can now be only made by draft, money order, or check. City officials will be looking into taking debit and credit cards.

Also at Monday’s called meeting, the council approved calling an election this May for the mayor and two aldermen’s positions.

Donley County and the City of Clarendon this past week continued their back-and-forth on a contract with the sheriff’s department for law enforcement services in the city.

The city council met in regular session Thursday, February 8, with Mayor Jacob Fangman and the aldermen saying they want to support the sheriff’s office but they have to provide other services to the citizens as well. Mayor Pro-Tem Larry Jeffers also wanted to make clear the city’s support for law enforcement.

“I think some misstatements have been going around that we’re defunding the police and I’d like to see that put to rest,” Jeffers said. “We’re doing the best we can with the money we have.”

As the discussion continued, County Judge John Howard again raised the actual cost of employing and equipping two deputies at more than $220,000 per year and the county’s desire for a $180,000 contract with the city. Alderman Eulaine McIntosh pushed back on that discussion.

“You can keep saying what you’re saying, and we’ll keep saying what we’re saying,” McIntosh said. “We’re wasting time.”

City officials asked for a commitment from the county about their annual contribution to the Burton Memorial Library. The city holds that the library used to be funded 50-50 by the city and county, but that practice ended several years ago with city funding growing past what the county contributed.

The city gave the county two proposals. A five-year agreement starting at $155,000 in the next fiscal year and going up 1.5 percent each year with no additional contribution by the county to the library. Or a five-year agreement starting at $165,000 and increasing 2.0 percent per year but with the county increasing its library contribution from the current $35,000 to $47,000 in the next budget.

On Monday, the Donley County Commissioners’ Court took up the city’s proposal and pushed back on “conflating” the library funding with the sheriff’s office funding. Sheriff Butch Blackburn asked that the library not be part of the discussion about his contract with the city.

During the county meeting, Mayor Fangman and City Administrator Brian Barboza brought up city budget issues with the mayor saying he felt like the city could get to where the county wanted them to be but that it would take time to figure out what other services the city might not be able to offer its citizens.

County officials vote to leave in place the current contract at $140,000 for the remainder of the current fiscal year and approved a proposal of $170,000 starting in October and continuing for five years with a 2.0 percent increase each year. The proposal must be accepted by the city in 60 days and is non-negotiable.

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is warning citizens that criminals are sending emails impersonating the agency’s Open Records Division, claiming citizens have committed a code violation. Do not click any links in these communications.

To cause you to react and click on the link, these fraudulent emails use the subject line: Code Violation Notice ref::#3364541.PDF. If you click the link, destructive malware is installed onto your computer or electronic device. The malware then steals your sensitive data.

If you or anyone you know receives an email or any other communication like this, again, do not click on any link. Instead, report it to the Comptroller’s office.

The City of Howardwick accepted a bid for road construction during a called meeting January 23 to improve a stretch of Rick Husband Boulevard.

The $219,499.50 bid of G&G Operators of Dalhart was accepted as the lowest bid. The highest bid was $428,980 from West Texas Utility Contractors.

City Secretary Sandy Childress said the scope of the work covers drainage improvements from the draw between Dawn Drive and Porter Drive and extending about 800 linear feet northwest on Rick Husband, tearing up that section of road and replacing it with hot mix asphalt.

Childress the original plan for the grant project when it was first conceived in 2020 was to improve Rick Husband much further, going all the way past City Hall to Swanson Street. Increasing costs over time whittled the project down, she said.

The city is, however, negotiating with the contractor and the agencies providing the Community Development Block Grant funding the project in hopes of issuing a change order on the contract that would allow more paving to be done.

Childress said doing a two-course chip seal instead of hot mix would lengthen the amount of new paving that could be done on this project.

Childress said the city has some COVID-relief funds still on hand that might be used to purchase some equipment that would allow the city to do some of the work to rip up the existing road itself, which also allow more of the CDBG grant money to go further with paving.

“The contractor has no problem with it, but we have to get everyone else to agree,” she said.

Childress is also encouraged that the city will have a good chance at winning a second grant once this one is completed. The next grant could provide as much as $500,000 for future paving.

“They tell me once you get the first grant, it’s easier to get a second one,” she said.

The city expects the paving project as it currently is planned to begin in March and be completed within 60 days. If the city is allowed to make its desired change order, that timeline may change, Childress said.

The Donley County Republican Club will host a Candidate Forum Tuesday, February 13 at the Bairfield Activity Center at 7:00 p.m.

Local candidates for this spring’s primary elections will present their platforms. The forum will be open to the public regardless of party affiliation, and refreshments will be served.

Donations are being accepted by the Donley County Republican Club for the purpose of providing these annual forums and for purchasing food for both Republican and Democratic election workers during the primaries.

Those wishing to make a donation for that purpose can do so by mailing a check to PO Box 789, Clarendon, TX 79226 or by taking a donation to the Donley County Republican Club directly to the Donley County State Bank.

The candidate count is now up to 14, but several positions are still unfilled on local boards as the deadline to sign up approaches next week.

Three boards have enough candidates for all open positions while four other boards are still waiting for people to file for office as of Tuesday.

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 21 positions available this year.

The City of Howardwick has three people running for three positions available on the city council. Aldermen Mary Grady and Terry Barnes are seeking re-election, and Johnny Hubbard is also running.

All of the Donley County Hospital District Board’s expiring members have filed for re-election. Those are Mark C. White – Place 6, Jan Farris – Place 4, Nikki Adams – Place 5, and Lori Howard – Place 7.

Clarendon CISD has Taylor Shelton and Kenneth McIntosh running for the positions currently held by Wayne Hardin and Wes Hatley. The incumbents have not yet filed for re-election.
Carole Ward has filed for re-election to her seat on the Hedley CISD board, but Dana Bell’s seat has not been filed for.

In the City of Clarendon, Aldermen Tommy Hill and John Lockhart will be on the ballot for two of three positions on the city council up for election this year. Aldermen has not filed.

Mayor Trisha Chambless is seeking a full term in office in Hedley, and two other positions are available on the city council. Those seats are currently held by Aldermen Aaron Hanes and Clayton Beagle.

Janice Knorpp has filed for re-election to the Clarendon College Board of Regents. Three other seats have not been filed for and are currently held by Tommy Waldrop, Lon Adams, and Brittney Word.

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 continues through Friday, February 16. Elections are scheduled to be held May 4, 2024.