El Campo Leader-News (El Campo, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 40, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 11, 1982 Page: 1 of 33
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Leader-News
SVOBODA 1885
CITIZEN 1900
VOLUME 98 NUMBER 40
77437
El Campo, Texas, Wednesday, August 11, 1982
25 CENTS
7 SECTIONS 60 PAGES
Community Center
Alternatives Probed
Rainy Days And Mondays . . .
L-N Photo by Orird Pym
El Campo received a light taste of the rainy season Monday. The city
hasn’t received a good downpour since May 13 when it received four in-
ches. Pictured is a youngster escaping the drizzle with an oversized um-
brella.
By FRED BARBEE
El Campo City Council passed
an ordinance restricting the
opening of massage businesses,
approved a gate rate increase on
natural gas and finally took some
positive action on a proposed new
community center in a work
session after their regular
meeting Monday evening.
In a short work session after the
regular meeting Council
discussed a proposed new com-
munity center and the money that
has been committed to it by the El
Campo Rotary Club and other
local organizations.
Council authorized City
Manager Robert Lundy to get a
professional opinion on the
structural soundness of the
existing Community Center
building on Hillje Street and
report back within the next few
days.
Mayor A.G. “Red” Miller said
that he will then contact the
Rotary Club and set up a joint
session with them and Council to
discuss some definite proposals
that Council feels would be
practical at the present time.
This would include the
possibility of renovating and
perhaps enlarging the present
facility and increasing paved
parking in the immediate area
If the structural inspection is
unsatisfactory other options will
be discussed with Rotarians, the
mayor said.
The ordinance regulating so-
called “massage parlors” within
the city limits was approved after
a review by City Attorney
Richard Collins.
Among other provisions
opening of such as establishment
would require a $150 fee per year;
it must be no closer than 600 feet
of any school or place of worship
or within 300 feet of any
residential neighborhood or
public or private business where
alcoholic beverages are con-
sumed.
Other provisions include no
alcoholic beverages on the
premises and hours of operation
prohibited from 10 p.m. until 8
am.
Council delayed a requested
rate increase from Entex, Inc. for
one month, approving it effective
Sept. 1.
Don Coffman, local Entex
manager, advised Council that
their suppliers of natural gas
increased their prices on Aug. 1,
and asked the pass-through rate
be made retroactive to Aug 1, for
El Campo gas customers
On a comparison of bills under
the present rate and the new one,
an average bill in an average
month will increase 70 cents,
Coffman said. Other comparisons
show that an 11(H) square foot
home with a $49 91 bill last
January would pay $51.09 under
the new rate.
A 1500 square foot home with a
$60 bill would pay $62.01 and a 2500
square foot home with a $110.02
bill would pay $112.78 under the
new rates.
Council approved the increase,
but moved it up to Sept. 1.
In other business Council ap-
proved an ordinance changing the
number of days customers have to
pay water bills from 10 to 15
before having a penalty assessed.
“This will allow those property
owners who may get bills in each
of our three billing cycles to pay
all of them at one time without
penalty," the city manager ex-
plained.
Council also authorized the city
attorney to prepare an ordinance
to eliminate parking on the south
side of the 300 block of Church
Street Monday through Friday
from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. to alleviate
traffic congestion during school
hours.
Parking in front of St. Philip’s
Church and School will still be
allowed on the north side of the
(SeeCITY, Page2)
CAD Begins Studying Possible Changes In Appraisals
By CYNTHIA L. MILLER
Protests from Wharton County
taxpayers before the Central Ap-
praisal District (CAD) Board of
Review ended last week. The
board and chief appraiser began
deliberating on possible changes
in appraisals Monday.
H.D. Madsen of Danevang,
chairman of the three-member
review board, could not say how
long the changes will take. Since
the preparation of a new tax roll
cannot be completed until the
board finishes its work, no date
for the release of the tax roll has
been set.
Many of the taxing entities in
the county have told the CAD that
they are waiting for the tax roll to
prepare their budgets.
Only about 40 to 50 percent of
the 357 taxpayers who signed up to
appear before the board actually
showed up, according to
estimates by Madsen and Chief
Appraiser Vernon Warren.
Madsen said that many of the pro-
perty owners were on vacation,
but “we had to set a cut-off date ”
Farmers, businessmen and
representatives of the oil and
sulphur industries were among
those appearing before the board
“We got people of all walks of
life,” Madsen said.
“I think most of them (property
owners) were confused.” Madsen
said, adding that much of the con
fusion arose from misunderstan-
ding of the initial reappraisal
statements. “That was purely an
estimate,” he said, “But many
came thinking it was a final ap-
praisal.”
Madsen said that final reap-
praisal notices will be sent after
the board of review finishes
deliberating.
When asked if he anticipates a
change in the controversial ap-
praisals of agricultural land,
Madsen said. “Were studying
that problem now.” The board
was to meet Tuesday to review
requests from farmers
Many area farmers have voiced
extreme dissatisfaction with War-
ren’s original appraisals
Madsen added that each case
will be reviewed individually,
with each of the several
categories of land being discuss-
ed
“We’re going to try to be as fair
as possible,” Madsen said.
“We're making every effort to
enlighten the taxpayers. The
three of us (board members) have
a tremendous responsibility to
everyone."
The board’s other two members
are J.B. Gary Jr. of Boling and
Charles Boettcher of East Ber-
nard. The board of review’s
final report will be given to the
CAD Board of Directors, who will
then instruct Warren to prepare
the final tax roll
Warren said that the date of the
final tax roll will depend upon the
changes authorized by the board
of review He said that no ten-
tative date has been set.
Higher Salaries Approved
For County Law Officers
By CHRIS BARBEE
Commissioned officers of the
Wharton County Sheriff's
Department will be moved up one
step in the county pay scale in
1983 Commissioners Court ap^
proved the pay scale adjustment
at the request of Sheriff Rudy
Machala
Machala told the la-ader-News
last week that county officers are
paid less and receive fewer
benefits than other branches of
law enforcement in the county
with DPS officers being the best
paid, followed by El Campo and
Wharton city policemen,
respectively
If the increase in pay grade
were implemented this year, it
would amount to a $52 per month
raise before deductions When
applied to the 17 officers affected
by the increase the coat to the*
county would be $10 608 plus
additional Social Security and
retirement twnefit |*ayments met
a 12 month period based on the
present wage scale
County auditor Wilton Niemeier
said commissioners are
reviewing the present w age scale,
and that a proposal should be
submitted by the end of this
month Until a new wage scale is
adopted, which is expected to
range from 0-5 percent, county
officials will not know the exact
affect of the step increase given to
deput les
“I feel they <deputies' deserve
it and I also want to bring them
into line w ith other officers 1 in the
county)," the sheriff told com
missioners
Mac hala said his men all work
at least 6-7 hours per week
overtime time for which they are
not paid "A raise* in the* pay scale-
will help compensate for this
The- sheriff said some of the
enertime can he attributed to
transfers of prisoners to Wharton
fre»m lea at ions outside tbe- county
and from faking primmer* from
the county to the state peniten-
tiary or to the state hospital in San
Antonio “Transfers are usually
made on their own time because
we can't afford to pull them off
(their regular patrols'," the
sheriff added
One commissioner pointed out
that his fore-men w ho he values as
highly as the sheriff eloe-s his men.
make less than some patrol
rk-putie*s “Comparing officers to
foremen is unfair I fe-el you have
to compare a police officer to a
police officer and a foreman to a
foreman the-sheriff said
Precinct I commissioner A \
i/ooper asked the- Court to eon
side-r pay grade increase-- for top
pe-rsonnel in the- precincts I
personally feel our foremen are- a
vital to us as an 18 or 19 'pay
grade i might la- to anoihe-r
department he-said
lioeiper recommended a two
si#-p me re-a-><‘ fe»r foremen and
dragline oj* rators and one step
S*-e 4 III M\ Page 2
Sli/ipery When Wet
I N $< (retard m
II ( ampo paired man Man Gulierre/ prepares In investigate this mliiot
Iwo e ar se c idenl at the slippery iniersee (ion of Sorlh Met hanie amt llillje
streets Monday Ne» injur lev were repented in (he no ident
I
4
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Barbee, Chris. El Campo Leader-News (El Campo, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 40, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 11, 1982, newspaper, August 11, 1982; El Campo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1006846/m1/1/?rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Wharton County Library.