The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 21, 2010 Page: 5 of 32
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THE CANADIAN RECORD
NEWS PAGE
THURSDAY 21 JANUARY ZD! □
C LSD trustees consider feasability studies for
capital projects, 'Crown' Middle School auditorium
Reacting to a deeision by County Com-
missioners not to approve use of EBC funds
for arena and golf course feasibility studies,
CISD board members eneouraged Commu-
nity Development Director Tamera Julian to
bring her request to them for action during
their January 29 meeting. Julian took the
request to Commissioners last week, but a
motion by Ed Culver to approve funding for
the golf course study died for lack of a second,
after which both Commissioners Joe Sehaef
and Lynard Schafer nixed the arena study
as well, with County Judge Steve Vandiver
punctuated the discussion with a curt "That's
where we're at. We're not interested."
Julian is the head of a committee that
was delegated during a joint meeting of city,
county and hospital, economic development
and school officials to gather information
about feasability studies for a golf course, an
indoor arena and a water park. The commit-
tee consisted of Julian, County Commission-
ers Ed Culver and Mark Meek, City Council
members Cassi Rash and Milton Cooke,
school board members Mitch Ashley and Ken
King, EDC board member Darrel Stephens
and Barry Sims.
"They elected not to participate," Julian
said of the County Commissioners during last
Thursday's school board meeting. "They do
not want to fund [the feasability study] out of
EDC funds. Lynard Schafer, Joe Sehaef and
Judge [Steve] Vandiver all said that they had
absolutely no interest in learning anymore
information and would not be participating in
these facilities, and therefore did not want to
pay for feasability studies for them"
Julian also said the Commissioners had no
interest in a study regarding an indoor arena
either.
"When I asked if I should move forward
with the feasability study x-egarding the in-
door arena," Juliansaid, "they said absolutely
no. They would not be interested in looking at
that study either. So, I have stopped working
on that."
Julian—who spent three months looking
into the study for the golf course—requested
more guidance from the other groups that
were involved in the joint meeting before
moving forward.
"Unfortunately, without the Commission-
ers I can't spend my County money," Julian
said.
Abraham thanked Julian and the com-
mittee for their efforts and hard work and
expressed his displeasure with the Commis-
sioners' decision.
"At the joint meeting we had, I think there
was a spirit of cooperation in looking at ideas
toward the future," Abraham continued.
''There was no definitive consensus that we
should absolutely do any of these ideas. We
are certainly big on looking at ideas and ex-
ploring ideas.
"It's difficult to understand why Joe and
Lynard have been very against looking at
ideas like this. I have offered to buy them
lunch and fly them up to see a golf course in
Nebraska and they have both flatly refused
to even consider it, look at facts or explore
ideas. I believe as a community we. should be
open to exploring ideas;"
Abraham said that he does appreciate the
County Commissioners' willingness to keep
money local by partnering with the school
district on the WCTIJ renovation.
"Lynard and Joe are good friends and
have done a lot of good things," Abraham
said. "But on this they have been very nar-
row minded and very shortsighted. The fact
is sometime between now and a hundred
years from now, the oil and gas tax base will
be gone.
"As country boys, you would think Joe
Sehaef and Lynard Schaefer would know that
you make hay while the sun is shining," Abra-
ham added. "We have a nice tax base now and
we should be planting seeds for our great-
grandkids. It is very disappointing they don't
see that. They have no plan and no plan is a
bad plan. If they don't want to do a golf course
or indoor arena, that's great. But they need to
have some plan,"
Abraham also addressed the Commis-
sioners' willingness to consider a jail facility
but not anything that would benefit the com-
munity.
"To spend so much effort on a prison is
puzzling to me," he said. "I don't understand
the effort on the prison and not on things that
make this community a great place to live and
a great place to visit. They have yet to have:
one idea to help with that."
Julian told the trustees that she would
continue to work on the feasability projects,
but decided to stop until she knew they could
be funded without the county.
"I haven't given up on projects or support-
ing this community," King said. "I have no dog
in the fight. I don't care if it's a golf course,
water park or indoor arena or anything else.
I think for the rest of the committee and the
rest of the community to let two guys who are
controlling our tax dollars dietate what the
community wants would leave us as the ones
being shortsighted."
Milton Cooke addressed the board re-
garding the possibility of the school choosing
to do one of the projects without the county.
"You don't have to have the county,"' Cooke
said. "We could go with a private individual
or another public entity."
Abraham added that a partnership be-
tween a private company could still help the
local taxpayers and the school district. Part-
nering with an individual in a 50-50 venture
would save the school from sending 60-per-
cent of every dollar to Austin for Robin Hood
recapture payments.
"A50-percentcostshare is a money maker
for us," Abraham said, "We could go to a pri-
vate company that would like to build a golf
course in Canadian. If they knew we could do
it for half price, they might be interested."
Abraham added that there would need to
be benefits for the students and school tax-
payers at whatever facility is built. "Is it the
best idea? No," Abraham said. "I think the
best would be for the county to partner. But
it's not like we couldn't still accomplish our
goal of helping the school and the taxpayers,
and the county could go and build jails and do
what they want to do."
Pending requested information about
which funds could be used to pay for the stud-
ies, the board asked that the issue be placed
on the January 29 meeting's agenda as an ac-
tion item.
In other action, trustees agreed on a name
for the newly-renovated Middle School Audi-
torium, choosing "Texas Crown Performance
Hall" in a 4-to-3 vote that took two months
to finally call. After whittling the list of sug-
gested names down to two finalists., and ta-
bling a decision at the end of the year to allow
more time for the publie to voice its opinion,
trustees opted for "Texas Crown" over "Blue
Mesa Performance Hall."
Vice-President Salem Abraham's motion
to vote on the two names was seconded by
Randy Walser. Abraham, President Mitch
Ashley and John C. Isaacs' votes for "Blue
Mesa" were outweighed by Walser, Larry
Gatlin, Ken King and Allen Hadaway, who
opted for "Texas Crown Performance Hall.''
That deeision cleared the way for design
of a new website which will provide perfor-
mance schedules and allow for online ticket
purchases..
In other related discussion, CMS Prin-
cipal Sam Hancock addressed the board's
concerns regarding using the auditorium as a
study hall during certain days. The board ex-
plained its concerns regarding the potential
for damage, but recommended that Hancock
work out the issue with future Supex-inten-
dent Kyle Lynch.
The board also spoke with (MSI) Main-
tenance Head Matt Dillon regarding where
to put a bathroom and shower requested by
Functional Living instructor Eva Hammer
for her classroom. Dillon said Hammer asked
that the addition be located in a room cur-
rently used as an office by Fine Arts teacher
June Weinmeister. Dillon said that location
is far from ideal considering the size of the
room and the plumbing issues that would be
created.
The board said it would continue to work
toward a solution too that and other space
issues, discussing the possibility of expand-
ing the school toward the north or south or of
enclosing the high school's middle courtyard
or the courtyard adjacent to the southeast
parking lot.
Present at the January 14 meeting were:
CISD President Mitch Ashley, Vice-Presi-
dent Salem Abraham, board members Lar-
ry Gatlin, Randy Walser, Ken King, Allen
Hadaway and John C. Isaacs, CISD Super-
intendent Frank Belcher, Business Manger
Cindy Moore, Athletic Director Kyle Lynch,
CMS Principal SamHancock, BES Principal
Corey Weiss, Matt Dillon, Tamera Julian,
John McGarr, Laure Ezzell Brown, Milton
and Julie Cooke and Record reporter Jason
Turner.
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 21, 2010, newspaper, January 21, 2010; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220823/m1/5/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hemphill County Library.