Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 2, 2017 Page: 1 of 10
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VOLUME 91 • NO. 9
March 2,2017 - Mathis, Texas 78368
10 Pages
Commissioners postpone Exxon decision
Judge Terrry Simpson needed to have a full court
It’s still were absent from com- there
plant.
Staff Report
SINTON
unclear whether Exxon- missioners court
Commissioner
“We had people on both
sides, both pro and con,”
Moreno continued. “We
had some people from
this end of the county,
people from the Portland
area and actually a lady
from Portland that spoke
in favor of it as well.
and Moreno explained. “The
Alma judge was out unexpect-
Mobil will get a tax break Commissioner
incentive from the coun- Moreno announced the edly, and Commissioner
ty after decision on the Exxon-related
matter was postponed would be tabled for a later needed a full court to
vote on that and a couple
of other items that we
items Nardini was out, and we
Monday.
meeting.
1WM1
f,
We had it on the agen-
County da for Monday, but we
Commissioner Fred
Nardini and
tabled as well.
“They should be here
Monday, and we should
be able to take a vote on
it then.”
Many activists and
area residents turned out
to voice their concerns or
oppose construction of the
“We hope to get it all
finished up on Monday.”
The item will be back
on the agenda for the
court’s March 6 meeting.
Staff writers Paul Gonzales
and Jason Clay Jansky con-
tributed to this report.
Ill
Vehicles pack parking areas near the county courthouse
Monday as residents filled the commissioners courtroom to
capacity. County leaders were set to decide on a tax abate-
ment for the proposed Exxon-Mobil industrial facility, but
the matter was tabled after County Judge Terry Simpson and
Commissioner Fred Nardini could not attend the meeting.
Jason Clay Jansky photo
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Paul Gonzales photo
The city urges residents to take pride in their community during
their first citywide cleanup in nearly 10 years taking place on
Saturday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.
35
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City wide cleanup
set for Saturday
Vfl
-
4 p.m. and is open to resi-
dents located in the city
limits. A current water
bill with address match-
ing a driver’s license or
ID must be shown at the
site, as well. Businesses
will not be allowed to
bring items.
Brush and tires must
be taken to the 100 block
of North Tenth Street
(City Transfer Station)
and bulky items must be
taken to the corner lot on
East Rockport and North
Bee Street (location of old
Whitman Building).
Items being accepted
'•
By Paul Gonzales
Mathis News editor
:
1
MATHIS - It’s been
nearly 10 years since
the city of Mathis has
held a citywide cleanup.
And ever since the city
stopped holding them
twice a year, residents
have been asking when
the city would start them
up again.
The
Saturday.
“It was a big thing
every year,” Public Works
Director Joe Sandoval
said. “We used to have
it twice a year and we’d
have all kinds of trash.”
The city-wide cleanup
will take place Saturday,
March 4, from 8a.m. until
IS
'
_:_
_
_
Paul Gonzales photo
Along with new police cruisers and officers, the Mathis Police Department is making random patrols to curb the city's
burglary problem. Even though the burglary rate is down from previous years, the public's outcry isn't falling on deaf ears
as Police Chief Pete Saenz continues to find innovative ways to battle crime.
Mathis Police Department amps
up patrols to halt thefts
answer
is:
rounding up the ment used to have to try and disrupt
entire police force directive patrols some of the activ-
and hitting the nearly once a ity that’s going on
streets, focusing month. When the here,
on specific areas of force fell in num-
enforcement such bers, though, it
as traffic patrols. just wasn’t possi-
possibly selling
them to Mathis’
department.
Saenz will also
be setting up a
monthly meeting
with City Manager
Mike Barrera to
discuss concerns
brought to him
by the public and
figure out the best
possible way to
deal with them.
“We’re looking
at lot of different
angles so that way
we can actually
change the way we
do business here
in the city.”
And then, of
course, there’s the
issue of actually
hiring more police
personnel, which
Barrera brought
up in Monday’s
city council meet-
ing. As the city
considers budget
cuts throughout
city departments,
Mathis PD is look-
ing to hire two new
officers for patrols.
“The investiga-
tor we just hired
was an applicant
By Paul Gonzales
Mathis News editor
MATHIS
When Mathis resi-
dents began to see
what they felt was
a rise in burglar-
ies and thefts late
last year, all eyes
quickly turned to
the city and police
department to do
something about
are:
“We are here,
and we will catch
you sooner or
From approxi- to do until they later.”
had more officers
• Furniture: sofas,
chairs, beds, mattresses
(See City, 10)
mately 6 to 10 p.m.
we ended up with,
Another thing
the department is
MATHIS MURAL
available.
‘We are here, and
we will catch you
sooner or later.'
it.
Needless to say,
the Mathis PD
was already begin-
ning to work out a
solution with the
city manager and
outside sources to
not only curb bur-
glaries but bulk up
the police depart-
ment with more
officers and better
vehicles.
“Once I took over
and we started to
identify problems,
I said we’re going
to go back to the
directive patrols,
and we’re going to
go out, and we’re
going to do what
we’re going to do,”
Police Chief Saenz
said.
Saenz described
directive patrols as
^ a
-
-Police Chief Pete Saenz
based on the dis-
patch log from that
night, 28 traffic
stops, which isn’t
extremely high,”
Saenz continued.
“We can do a lot
more than that.
“And out of the
28 stops, 18 cita-
tions were writ-
ten, six vehicles
were towed, and
four arrests were
made.”
Saenz explained
that the depart-
“All in all, it
was a really good
night,” Saenz said.
“Hopefully it woke
the city up again.
“We’re going to
put all the units
on the street for
several hours on
random days. It’ll
be different times,
and it won’t be
something that
you will just auto-
matically identify
as special patrol
night. We’re going
doing is looking
into applying for
grants to get new
equipment, espe-
cially new police
cruisers.
The department
is weighing numer-
ous options such as
leasing police vehi-
cles instead of just
buying them up
front and talking
other area police
departments that
regularly trade in
older models into
Paul Gonzales photo
Local artist Duane Webb began work on the mural in
downtown Mathis Tuesday afternoon. The project will
cover a few of the empty business fronts owned by the
Mathis EDC until they become occupied and repaired. The
artwork will take a few weeks to complete.
(See Police, 10)
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Gonzales, Paul. Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 2, 2017, newspaper, March 2, 2017; Mathis, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1171175/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Mathis Public Library.