Ben Estlack

Work began last week to restore brick and stone elements on the 1890 Donley County Courthouse.

County and state officials have known about spalling sandstone and some facing brick that was pulling away from places on the building for more than 20 years, but funding was only recently made available to deal with the issues.

Judge John Howard said a master mason with Premier Construction is working to anchor the facing brick to the structural brick. In fact, the mason is also anchoring some brick that is not moving to prevent the same damage from happening in the future.

Around the foundation of the building, spalling sandstone will be replaced or patched where possible, Howard said.

The project is costing less than originally anticipated, which will allow the county to do additional restoration work inside the building. The district court room will be acoustically analyzed and treated to made it easier to hear proceedings there, and the jury box will be enlarged. The county also plans to install a sprinkler system for fire prevention and finish out the third story office that was only roughed in back during the 2003 restoration.

Howard said the project is expected to be completed by the end of the summer.

In other county news, the commissioners’ court met Monday, April 13, to discuss several items and voted to improve the courthouse elevator. Howard said the county has been replacing a hydraulic hose about every five years, but commissioners have now agreed to spend a little more money now – about $20,000 – to save money for the long term by upgrading the elevator with a hydraulic pipe lift.

The Donley County Commissioners Court renewed a burn ban during their regular meeting Monday, April 13.

No significant rainfall has been received in sometime, and the threat of wildfires continues to be very real with local fire departments responding to one at least every week.

Under the commissioners’ order, no outdoor burning is allowed on a day of a forecasted Fire Weather Watch or a Red Flag Warning issued from the National Weather Service in Amarillo.

Anyone engaging in outdoor burning must contact the sheriff’s office prior to ignition and give the dispatcher a burn location, a contact phone number, and approximate burn time.

The persons engaging in outdoor burning needs to be present on the site of the burn until the burn is completed. Anyone engaging in any form of outdoor burning is asked to burn with extreme caution at all times.

The burn ban will stay in effect for the next 90 days.

A crowd of more than 30 people gathered in the board room of the Greenbelt Municipal and Industrial Water Authority last Tuesday, April 7, to learn more about the $18 million project that will bring new groundwater resources online.

The required purpose for last week’s public hearing was to discuss potential environmental impact of the project, but no one raised any questions about that. With the Greenbelt Reservoir hovering around seven to eight percent capacity, interest was high in finding out what the future holds for water in the authority’s member cities.

Several citizens asked questions during the course of about an hour and a half, which mostly centered on how long the project is taking. The answer: Regulations and red tape make things take longer.

Greenbelt General Manager Bobbie Kidd said the project has completed one well, four test holes, and roads in the well field. The one completed well had a 36-hour test run and produced 500 gallons per minute, and officials believe that well could produce as much as 3,000 gallons per minute.

Representatives with Freese & Nichols Engineering said once the Texas Water Development Board approves plans and authorizes the bidding process for the 16-inch pipeline from the well field to the filter plant, it will probably be March 2027 before a bid can be awarded followed by several months of construction. A date of November 2027 was mentioned as when the pipeline could be completed.

Kidd said groundwater from existing wells is providing about 50 percent of Greenbelt’s current supply. He also said the lake is at a similar level to this time last year and said that if it can catch some rain like it did in 2025, the water supply should be sufficient for another year.

Kidd said eight people at the water development board have to sign off on each step of the project, they all work from home, and all work on their own timeline.

Another factor that has delayed the project is the transition between the Biden and Trump administrations. President Trump changed some of the rules the Biden administration had in place; and Kidd said while the new rules were better, it meant that Texas had to change its rules.

“We lost six months because of that,” Kidd said, and the project also had to be re-bid.

Jennifer Foster with State Sen. Charles Perry’s office in Childress said the senator is staying on top of the situation and has been in constant contact with the water development board.

Some good news that was announced at the meeting was that the authority that day was approved to split off the electric transmission line work from other portions of the project. That will allow Greenbelt Electric to get to work soon and keep progress going on the project while other portions await approval.

Greenbelt Board Chairman Phillip Self told the crowd that the board understands everyone’s frustration with how long the project is taking.

“No one is happy,” Self said. “Freese & Nichols isn’t happy. We’re not happy. But we’re doing the best we can. When you’re spending someone else’s money, they get to make the rules.”