Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 85, Ed. 1 Monday, August 11, 1980 Page: 1 of 12
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P.o. 10X i+5L';4 JtJ>' PNC.
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Slim Majority Approves Charter Changes
Voters approved a change in the city
charter that will ease the restrictions
on purchases and awarding of contracts
for the City of Burleson.
By margins of 189 in favor and 156
against, Burleson voters approved both
measures Saturday.
The measures hiked the maximum
purchase the city could take without the
formal bidding process from $1,000 to
$3,000 on purchases of equipment or
contracts for services.
The purchases would still require ap-
proval of the city council if over $500.
The $1,000 maximum had been
established in 1969 when Burleson first
adopted a city charter.
The $3,000 maximum had been in ex-
istence for several years for smaller
general rule cities.
Additional wording in each item
allows the city to seek repairs on equip-
ment without the formal bidding pro-
cess and would allow the city to make
purchases on items that firms refused
to bid on after attemipting to advertise
for bids two times.
Mayor Robert Abies said gasoline for
city vehicles and some road materials
are items that firms have not provided
bids recently.
On the ballot, amendment No. 1 ap-
plied to price limitations on purchase of
materials while Amendment No. 2 ap-
plied to bids on contracts of service
Abies expressed some disappoint-
ment in the narrow margin that voters
approved the measures by.
“I don’t consider it a vote of con-
fidence when the items passed by only
33 votes," Abies said. “Only slightly
See Charter, Page 2A
12 PAGES IN ONE SECTION
MONDAY
EDITION
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DURLEI
For Mail Delivery Fall 295-5278
Monday, August 11, 1980 Burleson, Johnson County, Texas 76028
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
1980
Vol. 15, No. 85
Transit
Proposal
Rejected
liurleson Voters
Go With Majority
Burleson voters said a resounding
“no” to a proposal for a regional
transportation authority financed by a
one-cent sales tax in a special election
Saturday
Voters here voted against the
measure by a five-to-one margin Only
60 voters here favored the measure and
303 were against it in what was believed
to be the first election conducted on
voting machines in the city
Voters elsewhere were also opposed
to the transportation idea
PORT WORTH VOTERS turned
down the proposals by four to-one and
Dallas voters rejected the measure by
two-to-one.
The measure would have subsidized
transportation for Dallas and Fort
Worth and provided Burleson and other
suburban cities with bus and/or van
service along with park-and-ride lots.
It would have been financed through
fares and through an additional one-
cent sales tax
The metroplex proposal could have
survived without Burleson’s backing
but the defeat of the measure in Fort
Worth and Dallas, hub cities for the
transportation plan, signaled its death
knell
“I'm not surprised to see the idea go
down,” said Burleson Mayor Robert
Abies, a supporter of the plan. “I was in
support of the idea but I can certainly
support the opposition to it.”
Abies said it was through the city
council's efforts in meetings with the
Tarrant Council of Mayors that
Burleson was even included in the
transportation proposal and allowed to
vote in the election
HE SAID IN ADDITION to the
general negative of an additional one-
cent sales tax administered by an ap-
pointed body to administer the
transportation authority, he felt some
Burleson opposition was from the ad-
vantages that might have been gained
if Fort Worth had approved the authori-
ty and had an additional penny sales
tax and Burleson did not
“The thinking was that it would have
helped local merchants because it
might have promoted more Burleson
residents to stay home and shop in
Burleson,” Abies said.
Mayor Abies also said some op-
ponents told him Burleson might have
the advantages of the service if it were
as near as Crowley and not have the
penny sales tax disadvantage.
But Crowley voters were even more
against the idea than Burleson voters.
See Transit, Rage 2A
Gramm Aide
Speaks Here
Wednesday
Jamie Vick, who is in charge of
U S Rep. Phil Gramm’s Fort
Worth office, will be in Burleson
on Wednesday, Aug. 13 to meet
with Johnson County residents
and discuss problems with them.
Vick will be in the Conference
Room of Burleson City Hall, 141
W. Renfro, from 9 to 11 a m. on
the 13th.
Vick will assist Johnson County
residents with problems they
may have with federal agencies
and provide information concern-
ing government programs ser-
vices.
Congressman Gramm’s
District Representative conducts
a work session in Burleson each
month. The date, time and loca-
tion will be announced prior to
each monthly work session.
;et Hearing T onight
School Tax Hike Would Give Teachers Pay Raise
Burleson School trustees will have
the opportunity to get the feeling of
their constituents on a pay hike for
teachers at a public hearing on the
school district’s proposed operating
budget tonight (Monday).
The hearing, a part of the school
board’s scheduled meeting, will start at
7:30 p.m. in the school administration
building.
School trustees have committed
themselves to “significant” pay in-
creases for teachers and have proposed
two operating budgets—each requiring
a tax increase—for tonight’s public
hearing.
Whatever happens tonight will not be
final but will be a significant step
toward pay raises the school district’s
employees have sought.
After the hearing on the operating
budget, the board will set a proposed
tax rate and officially set a hearing on
Projects are being completed at
several Burleson schools in preparation
for the start of school. In photo above,
Alan Perkins puts in new ceiling panels
at Nola Dunn Elementary. At right,
parking lot improvements are being
made at Nola Dunn. A sidewalk and
curbing project for Frazier Elementary
is also beimr romoleted in nhoto below
% ”
i-w'F
that proposed date for next Monday
(Aug. 18).
Final action on both the proposed
operating budget and the proposed tax
rate will be taken Aug. 25 at the next
regular meeting of the school board.
Both budget proposals are for
operating costs in excess of $9 million.
Last year’s budget was just over $8
million and the previous budget was
about $132,000 under $7 million.
The $61,000 difference between one
alternative budget and the other is com-
mitted to payroll costs.
To the taxpayer, it would mean one
dollar per month for the owner of a
$40,000 piece of property.
Alternative Budget Proposal No. 1
calls for 12-cent tax increase on a rate
calculated at 100 percent of market
value and costing $48 more per year on
a $40,000 piece of property.
The second proposal would call for a
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15-cent tax increase and would repre-
sent an annual increase of $60 per year
on a $40,000 piece of property.
Presently the owner of a home valued
at $40,000 would pay $432 in taxes per
year. The school tax cost would be $480
per year on the lower alternative pro-
posal and $492 per year on the higher
alternative proposal.
A summary of the two operating
budgets will be distributed to persons
attending the public hearing tonight.
School Supt. Gordon Cockerham said
the school district is committed to
make some salary increase for school
district employees.
In a memorandum to the board on Ju-
ly 28, Cockerham said priorities in the
1980-81 budget would provide sufficient
resources to do an effective job in the
educational effort, to provide a substan-
tial increase in local contribution to
employee compensation to help offset
the effects of inflation on staff salaries
while minimizing the increase in the ex-
isting tax structure while ac-
complishing the other two priorities
Other items on the agenda Monday
night include:
—Consideration of purchasing pro-
cedures, bids and awarding of con-
tracts for food service products for the
1980-81 school year.
—Consider approval of school lunch
prices for the school year.
—Consideration of contracting for the
services of a tax appraisal consultant.
—Consideration of personnel mat-
ters.
Included in discussion and informa-
tion items is a review of procedures for
policy revisions and adoption schedule
for Aug. 25 and discussion for pro-
cedure for handling requests for use of
school facilities by non-school organiza-
tions.
The first alternate budget proposal
would provide a pay increase of $500
over last year’s salary from the school
district for teachers with bachelor’s or
master’s degrees.
Under alternative No. 2, teachers
with a bachelor degree would receive
an additional $600 over last year and
teachers with a master’s degree would
receive an additional $800.
Last year all teachers received $1,000
above the state schedule. The minimum
proposal would pay a teacher no less
than $1,500 above the state schedule.
Commissioners Eye
Proposal For Road
CLEBURNE—Johnson County Com-
missioners today were expected to hear
a request from Henry J. McGinnis,
president of Adelphon Inc. to construct
a two-mile stretch of county road to
‘ connect FM171 to provide accessability
to a proposed estimated $10 million
transmission testing tower plant to be
located near Cresson.
McGinnis briefed commissioners on
the request at their Aug. 1 meeting but
since he was not on the agenda was ask-
ed to appear again today.
McGinnis appeared first before the
court in December, 1979, with a pro-
posal to construct the plant just off of
135, about 10 or 12 miles south of
Burleson McGinnis said purchase of
that land had fallen through but he had
secured a site near Cresson.
PCT. 2 COMMISSIONER A J.
Lambert, in whose jurisdiction the
plant would be located, agreed to ac-
company McDelphon representatives
out to the area and see the feasiblity of
building the road His report is ex-
pected at today’s meeting.
Back in December, commissioners
authorized creation of the non-profit
Johnson County Industrial Develop-
ment Authority for the purpose of issu-
ing tax exempt revenue bonds to
finance the project. Five area bankers
were named to serve on the JCIDA
charter board.
The last session of the state
legislature allowed the creation of a
See Roads, Page 2A
Ambulance Fee Adopted For Businesses Outside City
A fee for businesses and non profit
organizations was established by
A.B L.E.S., the organization attemp-
ting to keep rural ambulance service in
areas adjoining Burleson, at the
organization’s meeting Tuesday night.
The action came at the request of
Lone Star Gas Co. which said it was in-
terested in having employees working
outside the Burleson City Limits pro-
vided with ambulance service if they
are injured on the job.
AS OF JUNE 1, AMBULANCE service
outside of the Burleson City Limits has
been contracted by an agreement be
tween A.B.L.E.S. and Mobile Life Sup-
port, the firm that provides ambulance
for Burleson, and, with certain excep-
tions, covers only A.B.L.E.S. members.
A.B.L.E.S. set a fee of $100 for Lone
Star Gas for the remainder of 1980 and
established a fee of $100 each six months
thereafter for businesses.
In policies adopted at Tuesday’s
meeting, Abies also said that non-profit
organizations can join the organization
and be eligible for emergency am-
bulance service by paying the $100
semi-annual fee or by paying family
membership fees if all employees are
already dues paying members of
A.B.L.E.S.
Current fee is $26 per year per family
and is not pro-rated joining in mid-year.
The membership scheduled its an-
nual membership meeting for Sept. 11
at First United Methodist Church when
annual fees for 1981 will be discussed.
Proposed is a $32 fee—$30 to pay the
MLS subsidy and $2 for operating ex-
penses.
The fee is based on a membership of
1,000, about 325 more than presently
belong.
A.B.L.E.S. PRESIDENT Don Robson
said this $30,000 subsidy must be col-
lected by Jan. 1 of 1981.
Robson said plans for a broader
membership campaign were being
made this year.
He said membership vice-president,
See Ambulance, Page 2A
I Vs Inside!
Indecency Verdict............2A
Summer Reading.............2A
Police Report................3A
People Etc....................4A
Church Page.................5A
School For Firemen..........«A
Adult Probation..............7A
Sports........................8 A
Classified...............».10,t|A
Business Review............12A
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Hutson, Wayne & Moody, James. Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 85, Ed. 1 Monday, August 11, 1980, newspaper, August 11, 1980; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth760682/m1/1/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Burleson Public Library.