Levelland and Hockley County News-Press (Levelland, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 71, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 3, 2000 Page: 1 of 30
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News-Press sw
Levelland And
Hockley County
\OI I Ml 22 M Mill It ~l I SI'S | 777 SSO Drawn 1<»2M Levelland, Iixjs 79336-1628 Phone (806) 894 3121 Sunday, December 3, 2000 20 I'agvs in 2 Sections and Supplement
City airs awning permit
process; hears complaints
HOOKED - Eugenia Ann Anngton of Maple was not hurt after she hooked her truck on this utility pole guy wire
Thursda\ at Sherman Avenue and Texas 114. She was headed west on Texas 114 when she veered to the right to
avoid striking a vehicle that was in front of her. The mishap caused traffic to back up at the intersection (Stall
Photo)
New parks superintendent
optimistic about the future
... j __it____:___- d___
City business owners got a
thorough overview this week of a
permitting process that would allow
many of them to keep awnings in
front of their stores
In September, the Texas
Department of Transportation sent
about 50 letters to business owners
requesting that they remove awnings
or other parts of buildings that
encroach on the state's right of way
Store owners were asked to
remove the awnings no later than
April 15 The requests were made
because the state will undertake a
seal coating project next summer
Affected are businesses on parts
of Houston Street. West Avenue and
Avenue H
A few eyebrows were raised
over the issue Tuesday during an
informational meeting at City Hall
Entrepreneur Joe Dee Brooks
asked what was the state's authority
in making the requests
'What is it? What authority are
thev acting on?” Brooks said 'is it
a law. is it a guideline'' Is it a
policy '' We need to know the rules "
the businessman said the state
was being unreasonable in its
requests
just don't think it's fair to a
lot of these people and a lot of
business owners.” he s. id
"It's hard to go down and
around that square and get people
pumped up. Brooks said "And then
vou get a letter in the mail like this
It's a killer
request stemmed from law that was
enacted by the state Legislature in
1999 and amended this year,
possibly by staffers with the
TxDOT
Ingham said the city was
making progress on the issue in its
contacts with state officials
“We’re making some
headway ,” he told 20 people at the
meeting. “Those guys are working
with us We re seeing changes in
their position.”
The biggest change. Ingham
said, is that the state has modified its
position to allow awnings that
extend into the right of w ay as long
as they do not interfere with
maintenance or construction on the
road TxDOT also appears to be
open to requests that would allow
awnings which extend from
buildings to the ground or sidewalk
But there are no guarantees that
the permits will be granted, he
added
"What we're being told is there
is a very high probability that any of
these permit applications that are
submitted will be approved out of
Austin.” Ingham said " They can't
guarantee us that
The permit applications are free
and there is no charge for filing
them
"Nobody in here has to applv
for that permit if you don't want to.
he said "All I'm doing is telling you
the option is available
According to the state's
City Manager Greg Ingham said guidelines, a request may be granted
was his understanding that the if it is determined that
A sign does not constitute a
safety hazard
* Signs will not interfere with
the construction, reconstruction,
operation or maintenance of a
highway
•Approval of the Federal
Highway Administration is
obtained, if approval is required
A request may be denied if a
sign
* Is attached in any manner to a
structure on the right of way
* Encroaches into the clear zone
as defined by the Texas Manual on
Uniform Traffic Control Devices
* Encroaches on right of way
that is scheduled for future
construction or rehabilitation in
TxDOT s United Transportation
Program
* Has utilities located above or
below a proposed sign
•Will distract drivers from
direction or other official signs
•Will unduly distract the
traveling public
Ingham said the state would
apparently have the right to order
awnings removed if they w ere going
to widen a roadvv ay
He said the right of way around
the downtown square when it was
first platted was 100 feet
The right of way usually
extends past the street and into the
sidewalk In some cases, it may
extend to a building itself, he said
Bill Thomman. owner of
Grant's Framing on Houston Street,
said awnings are a necessitv tor
See AWNINGS Page 2
feels, positive
l bf pe city’s
Brent Bamn 6*4* iwuiive brotner s tarm while attending
about the cdhdition
parks system
Baccus. who was tapped as the
new superintendent of the Parks and
Cemeterv departments last month.
believes additional underground mg?.."TX ~ Baceus sard -Now that we've
irrigation is probably the greatest garnered a tew kudos along the way , we're trvmii
need for the system at this time In 1999, he was recognized for mcerday s,we re by mg
being the first grower in the county fAKiva *
brother's
college
He went into farming on his
own ut 1992. eventually working as
much as 1.600 acres of land west of
Levelland
Baccus enjoyed farming and
pads and small awnings.-A
v oMcy ball court will also be bi
the site
The open weather of the past
two weeks has made the work go
faster, he said.
"It’s been kind of slow.'
The former producer
something about irrigation
Baccus spent a good part of his
life on farms before going to work in
municipal government
He labored on his father's farm
northwest of Levelland before
opting to attend South Plains
College after high school
Baccus also worked on his
Brent Baccus several other tables with concrete * Citizens Co-op Gin - 7.6()V '
Area residents enjoy “Country Christmas** on square
_____________ - -
to harvest a load of milo
But heavy rains and hail that
vear - coming on the heels of the
199 K drought and heat wave -
proved a heavy burden to bear
"Most people got hailed out in
‘99." he said, adding that he left
agriculture because of "no money
Baccus took a job with a
sprinkler company near Dallas
before he and his famijy returned to
the South Plains this fall
"1 didn't like the big town." he
said
Baccus said the biggest project
for the Parks Department now is
completing the work at George C
Price Park
City workers this week were
assembling a covered pavilion at the
easts ide park
Workers must also install picnic
tables at the pavilion, as well as
several other tables with concrete
See PARKS Page 2
Bale count
tops 100,000
Another week of dry. sunny
weather enabled local cotton ginners
to top the 100.900-bale mark for the
first lime this season
As of Friday, cotton gins in
Hockley County had processed a
total of 105.918 bales of cotton
The bale count for the gins was
* Buster's - 17.350
* Center Point Gin - 3,800
* Long "S” Gin- 14.697
* Locketv ille Gin - 1.822
•Opdykc Farmers Co-op -
3.900
* Pettit Co-op Gin - 9.617
•Ropes Farmers Co-op -
20.450
•United Cotton Growers -
26.673
Citizens Co-op Gin - 7.609
SANTA'S HELPER - Brian Gerstenberger was one of the v olunteers who turned out Thursday tor Operation
Santa Stocking at the comer of Houston Street and College Avenue He and Eddie Duncan. Raymond Ferguson and
Vaughan were soliciting donations from motorists The money will be used to meet the needs of county y oungsters
who are in foster care Volunteers, including local peace officers, will be seeking additional donations at the
intersection in the next three weeks (Staff Photo)
#
h . ..
?' ■-> ipM
#!!•*
V'
________
WAITING FOR SANTA t- Nine-month-old Alexis Sunshine Chavama
enjoyed the comfort of the I #p of her grandmother. Rosa Chavama. while
waiting to see Santa Claus Thursday night on the courthouse square
Hundreds of local residents turned out to enjoy the sights and sounds during
the first "Country Christmas (Staff Photo)
A CHRISTMAS WISH - Bethany Chavama. 8. said hello to Santa Claus
and made her Christmas wishes known Thursday night at the courthouse
gazebo Sl^ and scores of youngsters lined up to see Santa Afterwards, they
received goodie bags from the Mangolds Santa arrived on the scene shortly
before sunset on a Levelland fire thick (Staff Photo)
SHOPPING DECISION - Stephanie Todd. 9. of Levelland got some help
Thursdav night from “Elf‘ Chelsea Keck at the Secret Santa Store on
Avenue G At least 50 youngsters bought reasonably pneed presents for
their parents at the store, which is a protect of the Lev elland Youth Chamber
of Commerce It will be offered again next Thursday (Staff Photo)
t
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Rigg, John. Levelland and Hockley County News-Press (Levelland, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 71, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 3, 2000, newspaper, December 3, 2000; Levelland, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1168917/m1/1/: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting South Plains College.