The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 107, No. 39, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 25, 1997 Page: 6 of 28
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THURSDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 1997
eauuUia*RECORD
City and County officials squabble over
library funding and transfer station fees
City and County oSkrud-
verbal word* Last week
over joint funding of Hemphill
Count;. Library and rifling for
non-resident use of the transfer
station. The debate took place
during la.-.t Monday's bi-monthly
meeting of City Council and
County Commit,-loners, held to
diMtusas matters of c jminor, con-
cern between the two taxing enti-
tle*.
Having adopted a new permit
and fee policy for non-resident
ar.d coramercta. users of the
City. County transfer station.
Commissioners asked that City
/rnpioyee- handle the billing re-
sponsibilities Permits are now re-
quired for those users, and a
$43 50 tor, fee will be assessed for
waste disposal Of tr.at fee. $12 l-
to be paid to the City for opera-
tional and administrative costs,
and the rest to the County to cover
hauling costs and tipping fees
Hemphill County resident-
may continue to use the transfer
station at no cost.
Mayor Jim Pollard flatly
stated his. personal opposition to
tne proposal to collect user fees,
saying, “I don’t think it’s worth
the effort, or worth the public re-
lation.-. problem that it can cause.
I’d just like to see the City get out
of it.”
“Part of that £12 covers the
costs of you running that transfer
station,” objected County Attor-
ney Charles Ke&sSe “As a tax-
payer. Fd like to say Fm opposed
to that
“Are we going to
get into a situation
where a contract
trash hauler says,
‘Canadian’s got a
pretty good deal. I'll
just haul it down
there.’?” Council
member George
Briant asked.
County Commissioner Joe
Schaef raised concerns that, con-
trary to previous statements, the
City is charging for recyclaoiei,
City Manager Dear, Loo per ex-
plained that a fee had been as-
sessed for the City of Parr.fa.
which in the past had delivered
trash mixed in with reeyclables to
the transfer station The fee was
imposed in order to cover the
County’s cost of hauling that trash
oack to the Pampa landfill.
“Now that the recycling is a
totally separate operation,”
Loo per said, “they bring recy-
clable* over here, we separate out
the trash, put it in a dumpster
marked f: r the Cry of Pampa. and
they take it back ~
“H:w do we know that
Schaef asked
“You know that c*ecause we
told voq that," Looper replied.
“Do- you want the City to be the
one that does the billing"" Mayor
Pollard asked his fellow council
members, warning that. “If we
bOL and they don’t like the way
we're billing it. they complain to
us. If The County] bills it. and they
dor,'*, like the way they're billing it.
they complain to them.”
But the council disagreed, and
Patti Fulcher’s motion that the
City handle the billing for a trial
period of three months was sec-
onded by Briar.:, and unanimously
approved.
An ongoing dispute over
County vs. City funding was re-
newed when the Looper asked
County officials to honor their
commitment to co-fund construc-
tion of a sewer extension to the
Riverview Addition. The $198,000
sewer project is funded in part by
a grant, with matching funds to be
provided in a Go 40 split between
the City and County.
Looper explained that the
sewer project would cost substan-
tially less than originally ex-
pected. The County’s share would
be $19,755—about $6,000 less
than was anticipated a year ago.
The money was included in last
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year's budget. Judge Gober re-
sponded. and should be spent by
fiscal year end on September 30th.
Looper explained that the
money would not be needed until
spring, and asked if the County
would prefer to deposit it into an
escrow account. Gober objected
that the county would lose interest
on those funds, but Commissioner
John Ramp intervened, saying,
“We’ve agreed to it. Let’s not
quibble about it.”
"Well stand up to our part of
the bargain,” Ed Culver prom-
ised. and Gober relented, assuring
the council that "We’ll have the
money.”
That brief accord faded, how-
ever, when County officials asked
that the City increase its share of
funding for Hemphill County Li-
brary by $6,000 to a total of
$10,000. The County budgets ap-
proximately $100,000 annually for
Library expenses.
“I’m on the search committee
for a new librarian,” Culver ex-
plained. "We’ve been paying
Libby [Barker] about $22,000 a
year. In order to keep our certifi-
cation, salaries are going to have
to be increased.”
Culver said the County had ap-
proved a salary range for the head
librarian of $28,000-32,(XX) a year.
'You’re basically asking us to pay
the extra $6,000?” Fulcher asked.
‘Yes,” Culver responded.
Calculating out loud, Pollard
offered an alternative: “For
$10,000, we could drop our tax
rate 2-cents,” he said, “the County
could raise their rate by 2/10 of
1-cent, and we’d drop the total tax
rate on our citizens...and raise
more tax dollars.”
“I’m not opposed to supporting
the library,” Pollard continued,
"...but I think those of us who live
in the city limits are being asked
to support it twice.”
“I’m sure there’s people [ in the
country’] that have never been in-
side the doors of the library,”
Ramp said.
“I’m sure there are people in
the city who have never been in-
side the library,” Pollard rebut-
ted.
“You come to us and ask for
$19,000,” Commissioner Lee
Young objected, “and we say ‘yes.’
We come to you and ask for $ 1,000,
and you say ‘no.’”
“/ have to put a
pencil to it, and see
what it's going to
cost the folks in this
town, ” Pollard
responded. “You're
right. I do it. I'm the
ring-tail leader of
that. I do that. I will
continue to do that
as long as I am
mayor. And when
I'm no longer mayor,
I'm going to be really
vocal about it. ”
Mayor and council promised
Culver that the library’s request
would be considered, but no fur-
ther action was taken.
Other action taken:
—At the County’ request, City
officials agreed to place an addi-
tional dumpster near the 4-H pens
while students have animals
housed there. (Briant motion/Ful-
cher second; Unanimous)
—The group agreed to invite
CIS!) Superintendent Gene Whit-
sell and HCH Administrator
Robert Ezzell to discuss inclusion
of hospital and school district rep-
resentatives in the joint meetings.
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Ezzell, Nancy & Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 107, No. 39, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 25, 1997, newspaper, September 25, 1997; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth520218/m1/6/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hemphill County Library.