The Nocona News (Nocona, Tex.), Vol. 104, No. 47, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 23, 2009 Page: 1 of 12
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Gov. Perry tours
fire ravaged county
calls for federal aid
... Page 1
FD saves 2-story
home in early
morning fire
... Page 1
Nocona LD does
well; two runner-
up finishes
... Page 9
J^ocona JBtetoS
Twelve Pages
Copyright 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Serving Montague County Since 1905
Seventy-five Cents
Volume 104, Issue 47
Burn Ban In Effect
No outdoor burning
by order of the
Commissioner's Court
intense damage drains gmjernoLS. aMention
Perry calls for federal response
By Tracy R. Mesler
MONTAGUE - Chiding
the federal government for
the slowness of their
response, Gov. Rick Perry
toured parts of the Montague
Fire Complex Friday while
announcing a gubernatorial
disaster declaration.
This was Gov. Perry's
second such trip to
Montague County in little
more than three years. The
governor made a similar trip
to Ringgold following the
2006 New Year's Day
Inferno.
Repeatedly the governor
expressed his amazement at
the heat of the fire. Noting
he grew up in West Texas in
a rural community, Perry
added he "was no stranger to
wildfires." But the blast fur-
nace that hit Montague
County, especially
Stoneburg and to the east,
left him amazed.
Honoring their efforts . . .
— Photo by Tracy Mesler
County Judge Ted Winn, center, leased the audience in a round of applause in recognition of the efforts and herosim
of area firefighters during the Easter Weekend Blaze that struck Montague County.
"It was a powerful fire
that left nothing but charred,
skeletal remains of automo-
biles and mobile homes,
people's residences and
businesses," he described.
In all a series of fires over
four counties burned more
than 155,000 areas,
destroyed 94 homes and
killing three, according to
state officials.
Montague Fire Chief
Tommy Fenoglio, who
spoke for the 11 county fire
chiefs in attendance Friday,
noted the losses in Montague
County alone had reached
60,000-plus acres, 76 homes,
countless outbuildings and
barns and three lives.
The governor has asked
President Barack Obama to
declare Montague, Callahan,
Clay, Jack, Wichita and
Young Counties as major
disaster areas, which would
open the door to help with
housing, legal services,
unemployment, small-busi-
ness loans and other servic-
es.
He has also asked for a
federal disaster declaration
for another 193 counties as
the state has lost more than
400,000 acres to wildfires
since the first of the year
destroying 221 homes in the
process.
"Our two senators have
sent a letter over, and others
have been working on it,"
said a spokesperson for
Cong. Mac Thornberry of
Clarendon of the request to
Presdident Obama to to
declare Montague County a
major disaster area.
"A lot of it is very
mechanical in the sense of
toting up the damages and
that sort of thing," he said
adding the Congressman's
office had no idea on a
timetable for a decision.
"Everybody's working
together to try and make it
happen, at the end of the day
it is a very mechanical
process," he concluded.
"The firefighters," com-
mented County Judge Ted
Winn, who opened the meet-
ing, "They're the best. They
put their lives on the line,"
he said as he led the gather
Please See "Call" Page 6
Board adds track to list of facility repairs
By Tracy R. Mesler
Facility maintenance and
repairs dominated Monday's
Nocona School Board meet-
ing.
At their February and
March meetings, the board
renewed investigation into
resolving drainage problems
at the secondary campus, as
well as discussed roof
repairs.
In March the board voted
to hire an engineer and go
out for bids on the drainage
work. It also voted to hire a
roofing consultant who rec-
ommended a series of
repairs will draft the bid
specifications and oversee
the repairs.
Monday the board
returned to an 18-month-old
issue - repairs to the track at
Jack Crain Stadium.
Using Bid Board to
secure a firm bid, Supt.
Vickie Gearheart said the
board needed to decide if it
wanted to add a side project
- relocation of the high jump
pit from behind the Field
House to inside the track as
well as construction new
long and triple jump pits also
inside the track.
She said the additional
work would add $72,099 to
the $204,171 project.
Because of the high foot traf-
fic leading into and out of
the field house crossing the
high jump pit, the asphalt is
quickly eroded down to the
concrete slab. That resulted
in Astroturf being put on the
slab as a stopgap approach
material.
The high jump pit would
require a 4-inch slab before
the same 1.5 Type 4 asphalt
surface is placed on the
approach area.
Engineers have already
spotted four areas of the
existing track where the sub-
surface slab would need
repairs and included that in
the base bid.
Pointing to the fact that
the track projected was pro-
jected to cost $180,000 last
fall, "So it's already cost us
$20,000 more by not doing
anything (earlier)?" rhetori-
cally asked Trustee Guy Hill
added when members gave
him a puzzled look, "That
means it's not getting any
cheaper!"
The board discussed track
repairs last August as part of
the drainage repairs, but then
lost several months after
tabling hiring an engineer to
design the drainage work.
Because part of the
drainage work will extend
under the track, the superin-
tendent reminded the board
the two projects will need to
be coordinated. As a result,
she said, the two drainage
projects involving the track
and football field will be
done first when the board
advertises and lets bids next
month, with work expected
to start on the drainage June
4. Then the other drainage
issues will be addressed.
She also pointed out "It's
been several years since we
added dirt to the football
field". She asked if the board
felt it needed to be
Please See "Track" Page 6
Reaching out to help . . .
■mJS* ««
scmiE
Bowie's ladder track gives the Nocoan Fire Department some assis-
tance last week as a fire broke out in the second story of a home. By
extending the ladder, firemen were able to cut a hole and attack the
— Photo by Trena Henley
fire at its origin. Fire Marshall Kent Holcomb called the fire "suspi-
cious" noting the home had no electrical service or natural gas service,
and the blaze began upstairs.
ot a sprinkler yon
must get a Knox
Box; alse alarms
can get you a fine
By Tracy R. Mesler
Property owners whose
security systems persistently
give false fire alarms may
soon find it costing them
money.
Tuesday night the Nocona
City Council adopted an
ordinance regulating fire
alarm systems including
$500 fees for the fourth and
fifth false alarms during a
calendar year and $ 1,000 for
each subsequent "false or
nuisance fire alarm".
The ordinance requires
the city's enforcement offi-
cer to serve the owner, or
representative, with a fire
alarm activation report with-
in three days of the false or
nuisance alarm.
A "nuisance fire alarm" is
Please See 'Fire' Page 12
AREA WEATHER
Apr. 15
Apr 16
Apr 17
Apr 18
Apr 19
Apr 20
Apr 21
77
73
73
62
73
67
83
44
55
55
55
50
46
46
0.38
0.15
24 Hour period ending at 7 a.m.
Offical recording site at Nocona Hills
Tot Rain 2009 5.00
Tot. April 2.78
Thru Apr. 2008 2.93
Thru Arp 2007 2.17
Hudrologist to recommend next step
ell in dump draws GCD eye
By Debbie Schneider
Hood County News
GRANBURY
Officials with the Upper
Trinity Groundwater
Conservation District (GCD)
are investigating whether a
misplaced water well could
endanger the Upper Trinity
Aquifer.
It seems the well near
Nocona was drilled through
the remains of a former
dumping ground in
Montague County.
Water wells drilled to the
aquifer provide drinking
water for most residents in
Hood County.
"There is a chance the
well could contaminate the
aquifer," said GCD General
Manager Bob Patterson. "If
it were contaminated, it
would generally be a con-
cern in the immediate area."
Patterson noted that the
aquifer has the natural abili-
ty to handle contaminants.
The dump ground near
Nocona was an unknown
factor until drilling was
under way. When drilling on
the property began, board
president Mike Massey said
that a neighbor contacted the
GCD with information about
the former dump ground.
In talking with folks who
grew up in the area, board
member Tracy Mesler said it
seems that an undocumented
dump ground had been locat-
ed at the property. "People
say it was operating for 50
years before it was closed in
1973," he explained.
There's no record or sur-
vey that shows the dump
ground, since it was never
really licensed, noted
Massey.
"Who knows what kind
Please See "Well" Page 2
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Mesler, Tracy R. & Mesler, Linda L. The Nocona News (Nocona, Tex.), Vol. 104, No. 47, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 23, 2009, newspaper, April 23, 2009; Nocona, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth439260/m1/1/: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Friends of the Nocona Public Library.