The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 105, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, March 7, 1980 Page: 1 of 6
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VOL. 105—NO. 10.
SULPHUR SPRINGS. TEXAS. FRIDAY. MARCH 7.1980.
*> PACKS 10 CENTS PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY .
Tasty1snakes'
The perfect solution for those who hate to knead bread is to
turn the job over to 16 three-year-olds. Jody Skidmore, who
directs one of the pre-school classes at the First United
Methodist Church, turned her class loose with the dough that
eventually was shaped and painted to look like a snake.
Undaunted by the evil-appearing monster, the children
gobbled up their snake sandwiches — and Jamie Hipp, left,
and Ryan McKenzie were two of the eager eaters.
-St«H Photo by JAN BLAKE
Local banks hold rate line
ByF.W. FRAILEY
News-Telegram Staff
Sulphur Springs banks are continuing to
lend money at rates well below the
towering New York prime, but an in-
creasing note of caution is being observed
in respect for the upheaval in the national
money market.
Bankers contacted said loans are being
generally limited to established customers
and that long-term commitments are
being avoided.
Top level mentioned on what might be
termed the “Sulphur Springs prime” in-
terest rate was 14 percent.
The New York prime soared to 17.25
percent Tuesday. This is the rate that
Target: Cooper Lake
banks charge their largest and most
credit-worthy borrowers.
Loan demand here was described as
strong.
“We could be financing all the houses in
the world,” W.W. Jones Jr., president of
City National Bank, declared.
Gerald Prim, president of the Sulphur
Springs State Bank, reported a similar
situation.
“We are taking care of our old
customers,” he said. “We are not taking
new customers, period.”
Bank deposits here, which have been at
all-time record highs, are reported to be
continuing to rise.
Home mortgage loans are described as
crowding their alloted shares of total
portfolios and in one case at least the ratio
of total loans to deposits is described as
being as high as considered justified.
The renewed pressure on interest rates
is part of the Federal Reserve Board’s
effort to slow down inflation by restricting
credit.
Prim took issue with this concept
Wednesday.
“I don’t think this is the answer,” he
declared. “The answer to the whole thing
is for the government to quit giving
everything away. That is the only thing
that will stop inflation.”
Area group makes water pitch
Sulphur River area users made their
pitch for future water needs in Sulphur
Springs Tuesday, a supportive effort in the
drive to obtain completion of the Cooper
Reservoir project.
The meeting was hosted by the Sulphur
River Municipal Water District and was
attended by eight engineers from the
Dallas and Fort Worth offices of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers.
Representatives from Sulphur Springs,
Cooper, Commerce, Texarkana and a
number of rural water districts in Hopkins
County presented documentation as to
present and future water needs to the
engineers, who are putting together new
programs for Cooper Reservoir.
“I think we had a very good meeting,”
Walter Helm, president of the SRMWD,
said. “The Corps engineers took our
figures and will compile them and come
back in a few weeks for review before final
adoption.”
Helm said that figures on population
trends, water demand and similar sup-
portive information were provided to the
engineers.
Local agencies had been upset with a
preliminary Corps report on needs of the
area which had been released several
weeks ago.
“Much of that report had been based on
1970 figures,” Helm said. “This is 1980.1
think we got that point across.”
Helm said one of the important features
of the meeting was the appearance of
presidents from the rural water districts in
the region. They pointed out their reliance
upon water sources from the membership
of the SRMWD, he said.
The Corps of Engineers is charged with
revising the Environmental Impact
Statement on the Cooper project con-
struction, but as a part of that work are
restudying all implications of the reservoir
proposed for the South Sulphur River.
’Skywarn' meeting set
Twister precautions urged here
The need for preparation and ample
warning in the event of a natural disaster
was stressed by representatives of the
Hopkins County REACT unit Tuesday at
the Sulphur Springs Lions Club.
Vernon Davis and Pat West presented a
program on tornado and severe storm
warning and the types of amateur radio
equipment available for use in such
programs.
“I know we’ve had two small tornadoes
hit Sulphur Springs in recent years,”
Davis said. “We’ve been very fortunate.
We hope that the ‘third strike and you’re
out’ condition doesn’t happen here. But we
should be prepared.”
Davis noted that man is helpless to
change the course or halt a tornado. The
alternative is to be prepared, he said.
He noted that Wichita Falls was totally
without communications systems after
being struck by a killer tornado last year.
But that community, he said, was able to
function to a degree because of emergency
radio networks that were quickly
established.
This is one of the goals of local volun-
teers working with law enforcement
Council eyes city's
delinquent tax roll
By JIMMOORE
News-Telegram Staff
The sale of property upon which back
taxes are owed wasn't on the agenda for
action by the Sulphur Springs City Com-
mission Tuesday night, but condemnation
acts were, triggering a discussion of the
delinquent tax problem.
“We've got about 8,000 pieces of
property in the City of Sulphur Springs,"
said City Manager Wendell Sapaugh in
answer to questions from the com-
missioners, “and maybe 400-500 are not
paying taxes."
He said that the reason for non-payment
often include a low value of the property
itself or being tied up in estates with
multiple beneficiaries.
Sapaugh did note that several pieces of
property were sold in a Sheriff’s Tax Sale
Tuesday and that such action is prompting
others to pay their delinquent taxes.
City Attorney Tommy Allison said that
the city is filing about 20 tax suits per
month as are the schools and county and
that where all three entities are owed
delinquent taxes, the money gained from
tax sales will be split on a pro-rata basis.
The discussion came about when the
condemnation proceedings began on
property at 827 Longino, 124 S. Moore and
1004 N. Jackson.
City Building Inspector Joe Cerretani
said that the buildings were being con-
demned based on structural, sanitation
and health conditions.
Commissioners approved the cleaning
and clearing of the three pieces of property
with the costs to be assessed to the
property owners.
ih
:
The City Commission also agreed to join
with the Texas Municipal League in in-
tervening in the General Telephone
Company of the Southwest rate increase
request that was filed with the Public
Utilities Commission on Feb. 25 seeking an
increase of $58,000,000 per year.
Commissioner Lewis Helm advocated
joining with TML and said, “We can’t sit
out here and be complacent.”
Sapaugh said the total cost of the in-
tervention was estimated at between
$90,000 to $100,000 and the city’s cost would
be about $2,000. He said the cost was based
on 15 cents per capita and that any unspent
funds would be refunded upon final
determination of the case before the PUC.
The rate increase would affect 291 cities
in Texas and would cost Sulphur Springs
residents approximately $3 per month if
approved in its original form.
Members of the commission approved
the revised final plat for the Hopkins
County Memorial Hospital Addition which
changes the number of lots from six to five
and makes the boundary lines run north
and south instead of east and west.
Power of attorney was given to the
Texas Aeronautics Commission to act for
the city in dealing with the Federal
Aviation Administration.
The TAC will provide all funds not
provided for by the FAA under an Airport
Development Aid Program to pay for
installation of a radio controlled runway
lighting system at the Municipal Airport.
Sapaugh said that once installed, a pilot
could turn the runway lights on while still
airborne and the system will not cost the
Sandpointe fire
Sulphur Springs firemen were called to Sandpointe Homes of Texas, Inc. on Como
Street at 11: to a.m. Wednesday after a fire broke out amidst bathroom fixtures. Fire
Marshal Jerry Bolding said that it was believed that the fire started from a
discarded citgarette which ignited the cardboard packing around the plastic and
porcelain fixtures. Preliminary estimates set the damage in excess of $5,000.
Firemen were on duty 30 minutes.
-St*H Photo by JIM MOORE
agencies and government units, Davis
said.
, West displayed some of the equipment
being utilized by REACT in the com-
munity.
Both men urged local citizens to attend
the second presentation of the Skywarn
program, scheduled for 7 p.m. March 27 at
the Hopkins County Regional Civic Center. '
They said that the first such program last
year was well attended and well received.
Deanna Cousin was introduced as the
Honorary Lionness for March at the noon
luncheon meeting.
Permits log dollar gain
Only 12 building permits were
issued by the City of Sulphur Springs
in February, but the dollar gain over
January showed a slight increase
despite the continued unfavorable
weather.
Joe Cerretani, city building in-
specter, pointed to four residential
units as sparking the $144,412 con-
struction activity for. the month.
Added to the $125,239 permitted
constructions in January, the total for
the current year to date runs $269,651,
which is about $350,000 behind the 1979
pace.
Permits issued in February in-
cluded:
Jimmy Hudson, Loop 301 North,
$33,000.
Thomas Gregory, 405 South League,
$4,500.
H. E. Enlow, 310 Main St., $5,000.
Capps and Roberts, 745 Calvert St.,
$32,700.
Road Runner, 1237 Broadway St.,
$10,000.
Road Runner, 1237 Broadway St.,
$3,000.
Gene Watson and Company, 406
Jarbo St., $19,700.
J.T.Stirson, $2,000.
city any money for purchasing or in-
stalling.
Mrs. Don (Barbara) Phillips, vice
president of the Lamar PTA, appeared
before the commission to request that
Milligan Street be made one-way to
“eliminate congestion and make traffic
flow smoother” at Lamar Elementary
School.
Commissioner Vaden Richey, who is
also principal at Lamar, said that
California Street was no problem but that
Milligan is the street used by the school
buses when picking up and delivering
children.
The commissioners approved the
changing of Milligan Street to one-way
traffic during school hours only.
In other business, the commissioners
passed a rezoning request on second and
final reading to change property between
Shannon Road and Duckworth Street from
Residential II to Local Business; passed
on first reading an ordinance including
Lake Sulphur Springs among the lakes
covered in the ordinances that regulate
fishing regulations; and passed an or-
dinance that in effect is a maintenance
agreement with the State Department of
Highways and Public Transportation; and
named five persons to the Rehabilitation
Project Advisory Committee for the
Community Development Block Grant
Program.
New mall
project
unveiled
By JOE WOOSLEY
News-Telegram Staff
A major new shopping center which will
feature an air-conditioned mall is planned
in Sulphur Springs on the south side of
Interstate 30 at the intersection with
Highway 19, according to a report released
Monday by Larry Maroney, local real
estate dealer who has been working on the
project for several months.
Maroney said he had handled the deal
for the land transaction which includes
68% acres at the southwest side of the
Cross Roads Restaurant and Truck Ter-
minal.
Maroney said he was not at liberty at
this time to name the developers, who are
planning a shopping center containing
273,000 square feet.
He said that four major users already
had been signed for the mall, including a
discount store, two department stores, and
a grocery store.
Maroney said the developers are
projecting to have the mall ready for
occupancy by the end of 1981. He added
that the developers have tentatively
selected the name of Sulphur Springs Mall
for the center.
The Sulphur Springs real estate broker
also reported that the same Arkansas
developers are planning a business park
with office quarters and commercial
warehousing within a mile of Broadway
Street on the southside of Interstate 30.
Kiwanians
converge
on center
Some 150 to 200 Kiwanians will be con-
verging on Sulphur Springs Saturday for
the Kiwanis Division 32 Workshop ac-
cording to local Kiwanis President Rod
Henderson.
The workshop will be held from 1-5 p.m.
at the Civic Center with Kiwanis Gub
members present from Bonham, Com-
merce, Greenville, Hugo, Okla., Leonard,
Wolfe City, two Kiwanis Guba in Paris and
the Sulphur Springs hosts.
Numerous Kiwanis Club dignitaries are
also expected to attend according to
Henderson, who said that Governor-Elect
•Art Swanburg; International Trustee
Luman Holman, who is a past governor;
TexaaOklahoma District Youth Services
Chairman Glenn Huddleston; Key Gub
Governor John Scaief; Key Chib
Lieutenant Governor Loye Young;
Keywanettes Governor Julie Caruthers;
Circle K Governor Stan Soderstrom; and
Circle K Lieutenant Governor Angela
Blanton have indicated that they will be at
the workshop.
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Keys, Clarke & Woosley, Joe. The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 105, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, March 7, 1980, newspaper, March 7, 1980; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth779955/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.