The Silsbee Bee (Silsbee, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 14, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 3, 2013 Page: 3 of 18
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SECTION 1, PAGE 003:Layout 4 4/3/13 12:17 AM Page 1
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
THE SILSBEE BEE • www.silsbeebee.com
Section 1, Page 3
■e-
Double duty a Creel challenge
Andrea Creel doubles as code enforcer and animal
control officer to help keep the City of Kountze in shape.
By Andrea Whitney
reporter @ silsbeebee .com
Andrea "A.J." Creel puts
new meaning into working
double duty. Creel serves as
the City of Kountze's Animal
Control Officer and also as a
city code enforcer.
Creel began her career with
the City of Kountze in 2006
and has since taken on more
responsibility.
Upon her beginnings with
the city, Creel's lead responsi-
bility was animal control. She
worked tirelessly with animal
owners to educate and enforce
ordinances that would make
happier, healthier pets and pet
owners.
When an opening came
open in code enforcement,
Creel was approached by
Kountze Police Chief Paul
Darks and offered the posi-
tion. She accepted and a part
time employee was hired to
assist her in animal control.
Due to budget cuts, Creel
now operates both positions at
the city. Her days are mixed
between time spent as an ani-
mal control officer and the
other half spent enforcing
codes around the city.
Creel stated that there is a
goal for code enforcement and
that is to inspect, improve and
rehabilitate the city. She
works daily visiting sites
where homes, buildings and
vehicles have fallen in disre-
pair.
Creel also focuses on prop-
erty around the city that has
become overgrown or has ac-
cumulated things that would
be better served hauled off.
Buildings in the area that
have been abandoned and do
not have the proper mainte-
nance will often draw tran-
sients, gang and drug activity,
and become a safety and
health hazard on a whole.
Even children seeing an
empty run down building and
using the property as a place
to play hide and seek can have
dire consequences. She inves-
tigates each property individ-
ually and works to locate the
owner.
Once contact has been made
Andrea "A.J." Creel has become a familiar face among
the citizens of Kountze. Creel handles all code enforce-
ment as well as all animal control issues throughout the
city.
and the owner has been in-
formed of the violation, Creel
will work with the owner, of-
fering education and options
to help correct the problem.
A warning is normally given
first and ample time will be
given based on the needs of
each owner to come into com-
pliance.
"We are there to help. We
offer them options and do not
just order them to fix it," Creel
said. "We're there from start to
finish to assist in any way we
can."
Abandoned vechicles are
presenting a large problem
within the city at present.
Many residents do not under-
stand that a vehicle must be
registered, inspected and have
the correct license plates on it
and it must run.
If a vehicle is not running, it
has to be moved into a garage
or suitable place for repairs.
Vehicles cannot be parked for
a long period in resident's
yards and cannot be visible
from any roadway.
With summer around the
comer, the code enforcement
department will begin focus-
ing on overgrowth and rub-
bish that has collected in
areas. As with the buildings
and vehicles, overgrowth and
garbage on properties creates
a health and safety hazard as
well. Snakes, rodents and in-
sects will thrive in an environ-
ment that has no upkeep.
Creel and the code enforce-
ment department will begin
canvassing the entire city and
addressing areas that need at-
tention.
Creel stated that her goal is
not to harass home, vehicle
and property owners, but to
enhance the City of Kountze.
LIT announces President’s,
Vice President’s lists
BEAUMONT - Lamar In-
stitute of Technology an-
nounces the President and
Vice President’s lists for the
Fall 2012 semester. For stu-
dents to be included on the
President’s List, they must
have earned a 4.0 GPA for the
semester. Students on the Vice
President’s List have earned a
3.40 to 3.99 GPA for the se-
mester.
Students on the President’s
List are:
Kountze: Deanna Good-
man, Connor Hanna, Shannon
Overstreet.
Lumberton: Michael Allen,
Maranda Anderson, David
Delacerda, Trace Freeman,
Jacob Galloway, Michelle
Holland, Austen Jenkins,
Melissa Mattox, Andrea
Richardson, Manuela Rivera,
Douglas Thompson.
Silsbee: Stephen Erickson,
Jason Hollyfield, Jessica Tay-
lor, Lexie Thomas.
Sour Lake: Courtney Evans,
Leah McIntosh.
Warren: Jeremy Lee.
Students on the Vice Presi-
dent’s List are:
Batson: Justin Harrington.
Kountze: Jacob Gunter,
Kristi Johnson, David Nar-
vaiz, Thomas Wolcott, Tori
Yount.
Lumberton: Lauren Booth-
man, John Brown, Christo-
pher Buchanan, Dawn
Campo, John Edgar, Chad
McFarlin, Joshua Pruitt, Mark
Rothlisberger, Brady Smith,
Stephen Speers.
Silsbee: Josh Bertling,
David Collins, Micah Durbin,
Adam Farnsworth, Kelsie
Garrett, Nick Payton, Arline
Saenz, Leroy Simmons.
Sour Lake: Colleen Huff, Ty
Reimer.
Thicket: Brian Cotton.
Warren: Jonathan Butaud,
Jeromy Morrell, John Sutton.
Getting Well Naturally
STORE
Grand Opening
April 12 -13 (Fri.-Sat.)
Complimentary Health Scan
Complimentary Pain Relief Session
Complimentary Food Tastings
20% Discount - Health Evaluations
1021 S. Main Lumberton M-F 9-6 Sat 9-5
227-4192 www.GettingWellNaturally.com
"We need to be proud of
where we live. This is a great
town," she said. "Let's show
some pride and get those
properties cleaned up."
One way for citizens to
begin the clean up is to attend
the County Wide Clean-up
that will be held on April 6
from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Resi-
dents are invited to bring their
garbage and rubbish items to
the city hall where they will be
able to dispose of them prop-
erly.
Animal control and public
education on animal control is
the other part of Creel's job.
With a large amount of stray
animals on the loose in and
around Kountze, Creel finds
this part of the job harder
every day.
Residents of Kountze are re-
quired to register each animal
in the home, each animal must
be vaccinated and the fee is $3
per year. Creel will be visiting
homes in the area in an effort
to determine how many ani-
mals are registered and how
many are strays.
Another aspect of animal
control that Creel and the city
are looking into is possibly
imposing an anti chaining law.
Research has shown that
chaining an animal is detri-
mental to both the health and
safety of the animals. The city
discussed the possibility at last
week's city council meeting
and will continue the discus-
sion and possible decision at
the next meeting.
Creel is urging anyone with
any questions or concerns on
either issue to call the city and
have them addressed. "We
have a lot of city workers and
a lot of officers here to help
me. We want our citizens to be
proactive and we are here to
help them. Kountze is a great
place to live and we are lucky
to have that home town at-
mosphere. We just want to
help keep it that way."
William R. Gieseke
Certified Public Accountant
• INCOME TAX • GENERAL ACCOUNTING
• BOOKKEEPING • OTHER ACCOUNTING MATTERS
• IRS REPRESENTATION
420 NORTH FOURTH - SILSBEE
385-4647
HOURS: 9am to 6:30pm Monday through Saturday
WORD OF LIFE CHURCH
“Equipping the Family for Life ”
Services:
Sunday -10:15am & 6pm
Wednesday - 7pm
Children & Nursery care
provided for each service
Youth & College/Career Programs
Pastors ferry & Jeannine, Josh & Leslie meet Wednesday’s at 7pm
Graves & Shellye & Tommy Thompson
7955 Mormon Church Road
Silsbee • (409)385-6536
www.woroflife-silsbee.com
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Elizondo, Daniel. The Silsbee Bee (Silsbee, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 14, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 3, 2013, newspaper, April 3, 2013; Silsbee, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth661446/m1/3/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Silsbee Public Library.