The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 131, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 21, 2006 Page: 1 of 32
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tn the Christmas spirit
•X-C k r 5
Christmas baskets with food
and gifts were delivered
by volunteers to 94 county
families last weekend.
See story, pg. 6A
3^ "T1 ?7fE _ y
SlThe A.LBANY JN EWS
BMk "Oldest Journalistic Venture West of the Brazos"
artin*
TheAHS Lions and Lady Lions
will compete in a Jayton varsity
basketball tournament during
the week after Christmas.
See story, pg. 9A
Thursday, December 21, 2006, Albany, Texas 76430
32 Pages in 4 Sections
Volume Number 131 Number 30 Price 75d
AISD signs agreement with wind farm
Revenue to funnel
through foundation
By Melinda L. Lucas
An agreement outlining an
"appraised value limitation on
qualified property" between
the Albany ISD and Hack-
berry Wind was approved on
a unanimous vote of the AISD
board of trustees at their reg-
ular meeting on Monday, De-
cember 18.
The application has been in
the works for several months,
and will affect the construc-
tion of the next phase of the
Lone Star Wind Farm, expect-
ed to get underway in 2007
and hopefully be completed by
the end of that year.
By accepting the agree-
ment, the board members
okayed what amounts to tax
abatements for the wind farm
owner over a 10-year period,
following guidelines under
Chapter 313 of the Tax Code.
The district is basically
"held harmless" in the agree-
ment, meaning that Hack-
berry Wind will make up the
difference should there be a
financial loss to the district
during the 10-year period.
Calculations showing tax
revenue to the district with
and without the agreement
were provided by Moak, Casey
& Associates of Austin, and
were substantiated by Dr.
Doug Carr of Arrow Educa-
tional Services, the company
hired by the district as a third
party consultant.
"This agreement protects
the district in every way we
can think of," related Dan
Casey of the Austin firm.
As late as last week, Supt.
Shane Fields hadn't expect-
ed to sign a final agreement
at the December 18 regular
meeting, but recommended
the action Monday night, thus
avoiding any special sessions
during the holiday break.
"I'm excited about some of
the opportunities this agree-
ment will provide to the dis-
trict," commented Fields. "I
was skeptical going in that
this was the direction we
needed to go, but after study-
ing the figures, I feel we're
getting the most for our kids
by taking this action."
A private foundation will be
established for the wind farm
revenues so that proceeds from
the agreement can be kept
separate from the district's
general funds. Contributions
to the district and other gifts
can also be placed in the foun-
dation account, which will be
overseen by a separate board.
Student Drug Testing
Albany ISD's new student
drug testing policy was ap-
proved by the board, with
plans to administer an initial
"baseline" testing of all stu-
dents when the spring semes-
ter begins.
Random testing of 20 per-
cent of the students will be
conducted monthly after that.
"I've had a lot of positive
feedback about this program
and most people feel that the
district is taking a proactive
stand on the issue of student
drug use," said Fields.
"As with all policies, this is
a living document, and situ-
ations may come up that re-
quire adjustments, but I be-
lieve we have a good, sound
policy to start with."
Board members also vot-
ed to contract with Forward
Edge to conduct the testing,
at a cost of $14.28 for each 10-
panel screen.
Other Business
• The AEIS hearing date to
review the state's "school re-
port card" for the public was
set for January 15 at 7:00 p.m.
• One of three school calen-
dars proposed by the district
improvement committee and
voted on by the entire staff
was approved by the board.
The starting date of August
27 is mandated by the state,
with the final day of the school
year on May 29. By omitting
several other holidays, the
committee was able to keep
a two-week Christmas break.
Spring break was incorporat-
ed with the Easter weekend.
Chest exceeds
$18,000 goal
The 2006 Albany Chest fundraising
campaign ends this week with collec-
tions of at least $18,655, with one ma-
jor donor still expected to contribute.
A little less than $900 has come
in during the past week, with almost
three-quarters of the total goal con-
tributed since the first of December.
Chest chairman Donna Schkade
stated Tuesday that she will contact
the rest of the board, and will hope-
fully distribute the funds by the end of
this week or the first week of 2007.
"We had two letters that came in af-
ter the application deadline, and since
we've gone over our goal, we'll consider
those and will most likely give to those
two organizations," said Schkade.
Traditionally, allocations were
made when the organizations were ap-
proved for funding in the fall, but over
the past few years, the Chest directors
have changed the practice, delaying
the division of the funding until the
end of the campaign.
"We set the goal generally based on
the total amount of the requests, with
a couple of adjustments," explained
board vice president Pat Kelly. "Most
were reasonable and specific, and we
feel that each organization deserves
(See Albany Chest, pg. 2A)
No newspaper
printed Dec. 28
Albany and Moran residents are re-
minded that there will be no newspa-
per published next week, with a short
work schedule the following week.
Donnie and Melinda Lucas, owners
of The Albany News for the past 30
years, have opted to forego the Decem-
ber 28 issue.
"In the past, some of the former own-
ers traditionally closed the office for the
last week of the year, but with a couple
of exceptions, we have always pub-
lished 52 issues a year," stated News
editor Melinda Lucas. "Postal regula-
tions allow us to miss up to two issues
per year, and this year, we decided to
take advantage of that option."
She explained that because of the
small staff, it is always difficult to put
together a paper during a holiday week.
The front office at the News will be
closed on Monday and Tuesday, Decem-
ber 25-26, but will be open Wednesday
through Friday for all other types
of business such as UPS shipments,
laundry pickup, office supply sales,
copies and printing.
The office will also be closed in ob-
servance of the New Year's holiday on
Monday, January 1.
The deadline for the January 4 is-
sue will be at 12:00 noon on Tuesday,
January 2 as usual.
Looks a lot like Christmas
Sheryl Spore
News
Hector Fino gets an early gift from Santa during the Community Resource Center's Christmas
party for the ASPIRE program on Tuesday. Around 75 children of all ages attended the event, each
receiving a specialized gift from St. Nick himself.
■ PROPERTY TAXES
15% of taxes
collected so far
Property tax payments being made
to the Shackelford County Appraisal
District are coming in at a slightly
higher rate than last year, with about
15 percent, or $819,965 of the total tax
collected as of December 15.
According to Chief Appraiser Te-
resa Peacock, the last few business
days of 2006 will, as always, be some
of the busiest of the year. More than
$600,000 is usually taken in during
the final few days of each year.
Although the actual payment dead-
line is January 31 for current taxes,
Peacock said that many people prefer
to pay taxes by the year end for income
tax reasons, with about 40 percent of
the taxes paid by the end of the normal
year.
The total 2006 levy is $5,338,361,
compared to $4,621,838 last year.
Of the six taxing entities, the City
of Moran had, as usual collected the
greatest percentage of its $13,581 levy,
according to Peacock's most recent fig-
ures dating from December 15, with
26 percent, or $3,507 having been ac-
counted for.
Next in line in percentages was the
Moran Independent School District,
with collections totaling $106,372,
which is 18 percent of the $603,295
levy.
Shackelford County and the Shack-
elford County Hospital District had
both brought in 16 percent.
The county has collected $223,469 out
of the total levy of $1,355,484, while the
hospital district had brought in $93,341
of the $566,321 that was levied.
The City of Albany had collected
$51,554, or 15 percent, of $346,429.
A couple of percentage points below
that was the Albany ISD, with collec-
tions of $341,722 out of $2,452,887, or
14 percent.
(See Property Taxes, pg. 2A)
Community invited to party
Participants at the Old Jail
Art Center's annual Community
Christmas Celebration this Thurs-
day afternoon will make paper
snowflakes and hang them on the
large tree on the wall of the Stas-
ney Center for Education, accord-
ing to Kathryn Mitchell, OJAC Di-
rector of Education.
The traditional party, which is
free and open to everyone, will also
feature an appearance by Santa
Claus.
The celebration will be held at
the local museum from 4:00 to 6:00
p.m. on December 21, with every-
one asked to enter through the
courtyard and the main entrance
doors.
Other plans for the party include
background piano music and gifts for
every child who attends. Parents are
invited to bring their children, with
all ages welcome from preschool on
UP-
Piano music will be provided by
Sandy Abel throughout the two-hour
event.
Santa is expected to arrive around
4:45 p.m., said Mitchell.
Those who would like to take pic-
tures with their own cameras are in-
vited to do so, or Polaroid prints will
be available for $1.
For more information, call the Old
Jail at 762-2269.
*
Shekyl Spore / Albany News
Kathryn Mitchell attaches some handmade "snowflakes" on a wall at the Old jail
to form a large Christmas tree, which Friday's party participants will complete.
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I
11
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Lucas, Melinda L. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 131, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 21, 2006, newspaper, December 21, 2006; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth412772/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.