This Week

The Hedley City Council answered criticism about the sale of a 56-year-old city maintainer during their regular meeting last Thursday, August 13.

“There are a lot of rumors going around, and we want to put those to rest,” Mayor Carrie Butler said.

The council voted in June to sell the maintainer for $3,000 to Tule Creek Ranch, the mayor said, and “there has been an uproar about it.”

Some residents have criticized the city for not taking bids or proposals for the maintainer and for selling it to a relative of a city employee. Butler, however, had opinions from four different attorneys – three from Texas Municipal League in addition to the city’s own attorney, James Shelton – stating that the sale was proper and legal.

“The maintainer was sold legally, and there are no if’s and’s or but’s about it,” Butler said.

The mayor said Hedley is a Type A municipality and does not have to take bids to sell surplus or non-functional property.

She also said the sale did not constitute nepotism because the council solely made the decision to sell the maintainer and the employee had no say in the deal and did not profit from it.

Butler told the Enterprise that the maintainer was a 1964 model that had all the windows broken out and had other mechanical issues.

During public comments, Mike Glover criticized the city council and said there had been an offer of $5,000 for the maintainer.

Butler said there was no such offer. She said the city researched the value of the model of maintainer, which was between $1,500 and $7,000 depending on the condition. The city thought the offer of $3,000 was a good deal.

“We got a fair price, and we took it,” she said.

Glover asked Butler what the city will do about the roads since it sold the maintainer. Butler responded that the city is working on a loan through the USDA to get a new maintainer and possibly get a new trash truck as well.

Butler also addressed complaints about city employees during last week’s meeting.

“A lot of people think if there is no vehicle [at City Hall], then people aren’t working,” Butler said.

City employees’ duties include taking care of the sewer plant, picking up trash, maintaining the city lift station, reading meters, and other duties, the mayor said.

“This council is not stupid as to what goes on with our employees,” she said.

Butler said City Secretary Kim Davis is allowed by the council to vary her time at the office as long as she gets her time in.

“Her work gets done, and the bills get paid,” Butler said.

One resident inquired why the city’s trailer was seen at a house in Clarendon. Davis responded that she had rented the trailer, with the council’s approval. Butler said the city commonly rents out the trailer as well as other city equipment.

Thursday’s public comments portion of the meeting included several criticisms and accusations from four residents, but city aldermen pushed back against the comments, citing the limitations of the city budget and noting that residents rarely come to the city meetings.

“Instead of running our mouths, how about we come together?” Alderman Alicia Hanes asked.

Butler also called for more people to volunteer time to help the city.

“In order for this community to thrive, it’s going to take everyone volunteering to get it done” she said.

In other city business last week, Hedley aldermen discussed code enforcement with Municipal Judge Pat White and agreed that residents needing to clean up their properties would get one warning and then face a $200 fine.

The council discussed a leash law for the city but took no action. City officials did state, however, that citizens have the right to shoot dogs or other animals on their property if their lives or belongings are in danger.

The council approved an increase to the city utility bill from $61.95 to $70 to cover an increase in the cost of water.
Aldermen also approved changing the hours of City Hall to 8:30 to 4:00 Monday through Thursday and 8:30 to noon on Friday.

Mayor Butler announced that Donley County Judge John Howard had said the city was approved for $16,000 in CARES relief fund for COVID-19 related expenses. Davis said the city could only justify $3,000 for COVID, and the council approved allowing the public school to utilize the remaining funds.

The number of total confirmed COVID-19 held steady this week at 52 as the number of active cases under the care of the local clinic fell to two as of Tuesday afternoon. The Clarendon Family Medical Center said it has five tests pending and said that the total number of tests it had conducted is now 194.

A write-in candidate was certified for the Donley County Tax Assessor / Collector’s position Tuesday as local political parties considered their options for the job.

Deedra Keen submitted 100 signatures on a petition to file as a write-in candidate, and Donley County Judge John Howard certified her application Tuesday morning. Keen only needed 50 verified signatures of county voters, the judge said.

Donley County Democratic Chair Jean Taylor said this week that she has received interest from at least two potential candidates for the job.

Donley County Republican Party Chairman Bill Word could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon, but last week he set a deadline of August 9 for interested persons to contact him about the job. Sources have told the Enterprise there were several persons interested in being the Republican candidate.

The office of tax assessor / collector is currently held by Linda Crump, who plans to retire when her term expires at the end of this year. Tammy Morrow, running as a Republican, had been the only candidate for the upcoming November election but withdrew from race for medical and personal reasons last month.

The party chairs have until August 21 to name a candidate to appear on the November ballot.

The number of total confirmed COVID-19 cases has jumped from 45 to 52 this week, but the number of active cases under the care of the local clinic was four as of Tuesday morning.

Donley County Judge John Howard, MD, adjusted the number of confirmed cases tested outside of the Clarendon Family Medical Center last Friday after consulting with state officials and also after learning of two positive tests conducted on Donley County residents at the Childress hospital.

Howard also added the late Eunice Ward to the confirmed positive count. A resident of Hedley, Ward tested positive in Amarillo before her July 28 death, but those results have still never been officially reported to Donley County.

Howard also reported that the local clinic is considering the possibility of providing a new Point of Care testing service that can return a positive COVID-19 test result in as little as three minutes.

“It’s better to have more information sooner,” Howard said. “Think of the implications of school opening up and a student coming in with symptoms. Is it strep, is it flu, is it COVID? How we respond is very different. If it’s COVID, then we have to start quarantining.”

Meanwhile, the Clarendon Family Medical Center this week reported one new case of COVID-19 in Donley County with no tests pending as of Tuesday.

Four patients are still under the care of the clinic as active COVID cases.

Get ready rock fans! Metallica is coming to the big screen at Clarendon’s Sandell Drive-In on Saturday, August 29, for a unique concert experience.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public this Friday, August 14, at ticketmaster.com/encore-metallica for what will be Metallica’s first return to the stage since September 2019.

Also appearing on the concert will be special guest Three Days Grace.

The price of a ticket is $115 per car, which admits a carload of up to six people (about $19 per person in a six-seater car). Each ticket will also come with four free digital downloads of Metallica’s long-awaited S&M2 album, the long awaited album documenting the two historic concerts that reunited the band and San Francisco Symphony for the first time in 20 years.

Pre-sale tickets become available on August 12 exclusively to Metallica’s Fifth Member fan club.

Encore Drive-In Nights is promoting the show that will air at drive-in and outdoor theaters across the United States and Canada. These all-new performances will be filmed exclusively for each one-night-only event, and include cinematic interviews and storytelling. Earlier this summer, Encore produced Garth Brooks concert and a Blake Shelton Concert. Metallica will be the first rock band of the Drive-In Nights series.

The concert experience delivers a front-row look at the world’s most iconic recording artists to fans across North America.
Metallica released a video promotion saying they have been rehearsing at HQ to get ready for the upcoming concert recording.

“Needless to say, this is an exciting first for us, as we continue to explore new ways to connect with you and keep playing live,” the band said on their website. “This definitely qualifies as a unique and memorable experience for us. We hope you think so too!”

The Encore Drive-In Nights series is presented by leading event production company Encore Live. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, drive-in theaters have proven to be a safe, creative way to deliver fans world-class entertainment thanks to their ability to engage and delight large groups of people in open-air layouts.

Drive-in theaters hosting the Encore Drive-In Nights will adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended guidelines as well as all state and local health mandates. Staff will wear personal protective equipment and enforce at least six feet of space between cars. The series will also use contactless payment and ticketing systems and limit capacity in restrooms. Guidelines around concessions will be enforced to abide by individual state regulations. For a full list of procedures that the Encore Drive-In Nights is employing to keep fans and staff safe, visit encorenights.com.

With drive-in theaters all across North America lined up to air the Encore Drive-In Nights, fans everywhere will have access to a completely unique concert film experience. Additional Encore Drive-In performances will be announced in the coming weeks. Information can be found at https://www.ticketmaster.com/encoredriveinnights.

Clarendon and Hedley schools are moving forward with plans to welcome students back next Thursday, August 13, while working to keep kids safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

School officials say they are doing their best to follow state guidelines, which have been constantly changing, as well as staying in contact with Donley County Judge John Howard, MD, to make sure they are in compliance with what is expected.

“Judge Howard has been a tremendous resource,” Hedley Superintendent Garrett Bains said.

Clarendon CISD released a twelve-page Guide to Reopening Campuses on Tuesday, which can be accessed on at this link, and Hedley ISD last week published an eight-point document answering frequent questions about their reopening plans. That document is also available online here.

Both schools have moved to have registration online, although Clarendon students may still have some campus-specific packets that will go home with the kids the first day of school.

“Also if anyone has trouble with the online registration, they can set up a campus appointment to register face to face,” Clarendon Superintendent Jarod Bellar said.

For Hedley’s part, most of their registration was already online because so many kids live outside the district, Bains said.

“We’ve been doing this already,” Bains said, “but parents can also come in person from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to register. They have to wear a mask, and we can only have one parent per kid at a time.”

Masks will be a big deal as school gets underway with both Clarendon and Hedley saying they will follow the orders of Gov. Greg Abbott. Hedley will require masks of everyone ages ten and up, and Clarendon, noting that different ages exists within grades, will require masks in grades five through 12.

“Students in lower grades can wear masks if their parents want them to,” Bellar said.

Bellar also noted that Clarendon CISD doesn’t expect students to wear masks all day but will encourage them between classes especially.

Both schools also will be trying to practice social distancing as much as possible, which Bains says is easy for Hedley since most classes don’t have more than ten people in a room.

Clarendon and Hedley both will be following disinfection practices, and Hedley has even purchased new tables for its cafeteria to allow for better separation during lunch time.

Both schools will be participating in UIL extracurricular activities approved by the state, but Clarendon and Hedley both also have taken the position that students who do not enroll in on-campus instruction cannot participate in extracurricular activities.

“It just makes sense,” Bains said. “If you’re at risk or worried about being around people, why would you want to be in an activity with close contact?”

School officials realize that this is a challenging time. Bains says most of his parents have been very supportive of the school so far, understanding that some of the decisions are not his or the school’s but rather the state’s.

Schools are also looking forward to classes starting.

“My people are just ready to get back to work and see the kids,” Bains said.

“We’re just looking forward to having a great year,” Bellar said. “We’re all excited.”

 

 

Clarendon CISD officials Tuesday published new guidelines for the re-opening of school next Thursday, August 13.

The 12-page document covers several questions that parents may have about what protocols will be followed in the face of the COVID-19 document.  Read the entire document here.

An elderly local woman has died while battling the COVID-19 virus, and two new cases of the disease have been confirmed in Donley County this week.

A family member of Eunice Ward told the Enterprise they have not been given an official cause of the July 28 death of the 97-year-old Hedley resident but said she had been living at home with family and doing well for her age before she was hospitalized June 27 and tested positive for COVID-19.

“I think it’s safe to say that it put her on a downward spiral,” Ward’s daughter-in-law Carole Ward said.

Carole Ward said her mother-in-law spent a week in the hospital before being moved to a skilled nursing facility. She was later moved back to the hospital for a time before returning home under hospice care.

“She was still testing positive when she came home,” Carole Ward said.

An official cause of death is expected later this week.

County officials say they have known anecdotally about Ward’s COVID-19 status, but the Donley County Judge’s office has yet to be notified by the state that the woman tested positive for the disease even though more than a month has passed since she was first tested.

Since her official notice of her condition has not been received, Ward’s case of COVID-19 is still not included in the running tally published by the Enterprise.

Meanwhile, the Clarendon Family Medical Center on Tuesday reported two new cases of COVID-19 in Donley County.
That brings the official total number of confirmed cases locally to 45 with 42 of those listed as recovered and three cases still active.