The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 68, Ed. 1 Friday, August 22, 2003 Page: 1 of 16
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Clifton Record and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Nellie Pederson Civic Library.
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The Clifton Record
500 — ONE SECTION...PLUS SUPPLEMENTS
© 2003, The Clifton Record, All Rights Reserved
Serving Bosque County Since 1895
Clifton, Texas 76634
VOL. 108, NO. 68 — FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2003
Clifton School District’s Board
Expects To Pass Deficit Budget
$6.7 Million Revenues Won’t Offset $7.5 Million In Expenses
By David Anderson
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
CLIFTON — Clifton Indepen-
dent School District’s Board of
Trustees will present a 2003-04
budget next Monday that likely will
result in an $800,000 deficit. How-
ever, some of that loss, possibly as
much as half or more, is expected
to be offset by savings in the dis-
trict incurred in the current fiscal
year.
The budget to be presented for
consideration during a 6 p.m. pub-
lic hearing Monday in the board
room on the middle school cam-
pus calls for revenues of approxi-
mately $6.7 million with
expenditures expected in the $7.5
million range. Even with the defi-
WITH SAFETY AN IMPORTANT FACTOR in their training, Clifton Po-
lice Officer Mark Wilcox and Bosque County Constable Scott Ferguson
learned to use protective gear like this during the week-long DEA Basic
Clandestine Laboratory Certif'cation School. The training facility is lo-
cated at Camp Upshur in Quantico, Va.
Ferguson, Wilcox Attend DEA
Clandestine Drug Lab Training
cit, the board is recommending no
increase over last year’s $1.4262
per $100 valuation tax rate.
Included in this year’s budget
are a three-percent pay increase
for all departments within the dis-
trict as well as other miscella-
neous stipends, purchase of new
school buses to continue an ongo-
ing replacement program, and re-
imbursement to employees of
$1,000 in medical insurance ben-
efits lost due to recent legislative
actions.
The deficit budget will have an
effect on the current $3.3 million
fund balance, but measures taken
by the district during the current
school year will help soften that
blow. Board President John Erick-
son said that the district will likely
be looking at similar problems
when the next school year rolls
around.
Pickup Purchase Okayed
The board approved a request
by Director of Operations Wade
Anderson to purchase a new
pickup truck solely for the use of
the vocational agriculture depart-
ment. Therm-rent truck reserved
for the department, a 1996 model,
is “flat wore out,” Anderson said.
He added the vehicle is “not de-
pendable,” and “has been in the
shop for two weeks.”
Anderson proposed purchasing
a 2003 ’/.-ton model with a V-8 gaso-
line engine that includes a trailer
• See TRUSTEES, Page 2
HALI HENDERSON CONFRONTS AN OPPONENT at the net during varsity volleyball action at the high
school gym Tuesday evening. The Lady Cubs’ 2003 season is under way, with their next home-court match
scheduled for next Tuesday.
— Staff Photo By Nathan Diebenow
Kruse Kicking Litter Nuisance
Abatement Program Into High Gear
— Court-Approved Program $eeks To Clean Up County—
By David Anderson
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
MERIDIAN — Laguna Park
resident Dennis Kruse is already
working to implement the state’s
abatement of public nuisance stat-
By David Anderson
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
CLIFTON — Bosque County
Constable Scott Ferguson and
Clifton Police Officer Mark Wilcox
recently returned from a week-
long trip to Virginia to participate
in the DEA Basic Clandestine
Laboratory Certification School.
Ferguson and Wilcox received the
all-expenses-paid training
through grants from the state and
federal governments.
“It was a very intense week, and
we came back with a lot of infor-
mation as well as a lot of equip-
ment that I’m sure will be very
beneficial,” Constable Ferguson
told The Clifton Record Monday.
“We were taught how to recognize
and deal with a wide variety of
types of drug labs.”
Ferguson and Wilcox were
among some 40 officers from
around the country to attend the
event, held Aug. 11-15 at the Clan-
destine Laboratory7 Training Fa-
cility is located at Camp Upshur
on the Marine Corps Base in
Quantico, Va. Texas Department
of Public Safety drug officers in
Waco nominated the two, with
those nominations then going to
Houston before being placed at
the national level.
“To be chosen to participate so
quickly is pretty unusual,” Fergu-
son explained. “Some people have
had their names on the lists for
over a year.”
With clandestine laboratory sei-
zures rising exponentially not just
locally but on a national level,
state and local agencies are find-
ing it much more difficult to deal
with such finds. The DEA estab-
lished the school to ensure state
or local law enforcement officers
are properly trained to investi-
• See TRAINING, Page 2
v
./tagwpi
afternoon traffic congestion on
West 11th Street, Clifton El-
Plan Seeks
ffic Problems
itary Sch<
;k pick-up
iool is offe
k-up lane” this
emen
“quick
year.
Ftereats will receive a
: the name o
child,
play the
side of
the t$
curb. A
at the end
dio the studi
waiting staff n
are asked
on the right
dashboard so
visible fro
member sta
11th Street
ent’s name
member in
f the elementary. The staff mem-
ber will then call the student so
,i that he or she is waiting for the
parent curb-side.
Students in grades kindergar-
through second will be exit-
_ the building at the main
France by the office this
bool year.
'r**“re will be no parking in
uick pick-up lane.” Par-
Tnhing to park may do so
i main lot across from
Auditorium.
for more information about
theCESof-
utes in an attempt .o clean up
long-neglected areas of Bosque
County. Kruse was recently ap-
pointed as the county’s part-time
litter code abatement officer by
Bosque County Commissioners’
Court.
“I want our citizens to know I
will work with them in any way I
can to help them get their prop-
erty cleaned up,” Kruse told The
Clifton Record. “However, these
violations must be dealt with.”
“We’re not looking to be the Ge-
stapo. We want to give these folks
some options,” County Judge
Cole Word said during a court ses-
sion Monday, Aug. 11. “We’ll work
with them any way we can.”
The violations Kruse refers to
include but are not limited to
abandoned or disabled vehicles
and appliances, piles of refuse and
brush, and dilapidated buildings.
According to the Texas Health
and Safety Code, a person is in vio-
lation of the statute for “keeping,
storing, or accumulating rubbish,
including newspapers, abandoned
vehicles, refrigerators, stoves, fur-
niture, tires, and cans, on pre-
mises in a neighborhood or within
300 feet of a public street.” Other
violations can include “maintain-
ing premises in a manner that cre-
ates an unsanitary condition likely
to attract or harbor mosquitoes,
• See LITTER, Page 2
Clifton City Council Reviews
2003-2004 Tax Rate Options
21st Annual Omar Awards
To Sparkle Saturday Night
CLIFTON — The 21st Annual
Omar Awards will be held this Sat-
urday, Aug. 23, at 7 p.m., at the Tin
Blue-Ribbon Committee Being Assembled To
Prepare Long-Range Plan For City Of Clifton
CLIFTON — After receiving
approval from the Clifton City
Council earlier this month, the
Planning and Zoning Commission
has begun to compile a blue-rib-
bon committee charged with de-
veloping a new long-range plan for
the city. Commission members
agreed to facilitate the process at
its July monthly meeting, pending
approval by the City Council.
Three members of the Planning
and Zoning Commission, includ-
ing Chairman Walter Langston,
New Traffic Laws To Take Effect Sept. 1
AUSTIN - Officials with the
Texas Department of Public Safety
have released a number of descrip-
tions of new traffic laws. Among the
driving-related legislation taking ef-
fect Monday, Sept. 1, are:
• Senate Bill 45 makes it a state
* jail felony to drive while intoxicated
With a passenger younger than 15.
• SB 193 requires drivers nearing
-a stopped emergency vehicle that
has lights activated, unless other-
wise directed by a law enforcement
officer, to vacate the lane closest to
the emergency vehicle, if the high-
way has two or more lanes travel-
ing the direction of the emergency
vehicle; or slow to a speed not more
than 20 miles per hour (mph) less
than the posted speed limit when the
posted speed limit is 25 mph or
more; or slow to a speed not more
than five mph when the posted
speed limit is less than 25 mph. A
violation is a punishable by a maxi-
mum fine of $200. If the violation
results in property damage, the
• See LAWS, Page 2
will facilitate the committee, with
invitations being sent this week to
over a dozen entities asking for
representatives to serve on the
project.
The developmental plan will be
similar to one compiled in the
1970s by a similar group of citi-
zens. Mayor W. Leon Smith, who
asked the commission to consider
taking charge of the project,
praised the 1970s plan, titled
“Planning Clifton by Choice,” and
said he believes the city needs a
similar document today to “set
some standard to guide future
growth.”
“There are several good re-
sources you can utilize, including
local studies that are fairly cur-
rent,” Mayor Smith said at this
past Tuesday's commission meet-
ing. “I’d like to see the plan be a
• See BLUE-RIBBON, Page 2
Building Theatre, in celebration of
recently wrapping up its 2002-2003
season.
Hosted this year by Kevin Paris,
the Omar Awards are the TBT’s
version of Broadway’s Tony
Awards. The show is open to the
public, and tickets can be bought
for $5.
In the running for the coveted
Best Play this year are “Anything
Goes,” “Brothers,” “All I Really
Need to Know I Learned in Kin-
dergarten,” “Mischief in the Mag-
• See OMARS, Page 2
By Nathan Diebenow
STAFF WRITER
CLIFTON — At its called meet-
ing on Tuesday, Aug. 19, the Clif-
ton City Cpuncil heard City
Administrator Jerry Golden’s re-
port on the 2003-2004 ad valorem
tax rate options, which included
Mayor W. Leon Smith’s recom-
mended tax rate of $.4265 per $100
valuation.
Golden explained that, although
the rate is lower than the previous
year’s $.43 per $100 valuation, in-
creased property values will cause
this new lower rate to produce
more income, thus resulting in a
2.8 percent increase in revenues.
Because the total net increase of
revenue due to the tax change is
below three percent, no public
hearing is required for passing the
tax rate increase, but the public is
still welcome to attend the meet-
ing next month and make com-
ments to the Council.
Under this plan, the average
homeowner’s tax bill will be raised
by $7 per year. Golden emphasized
that this is an average, and that
some tax bills will increase more
than the $7 figure, some will in-
crease less, and some will de-
crease from last year’s total. Last
year’s average home value was set
at $57,500, with this year’s average
home valued at $59,595.
Golden explained that the total
assessed value of property has in-
creased from $97,925,814 the prior
year to $102,335,364, which in-
cludes $749,950 in new property,
according to the Bosque County
Central Appraisal District.
“It’s a veiy nominal increase,”
said Golden of the proposed rate
structure.
Council members took no offi-
cial action, but indicated the
$0.4265 rate is one they wish to
pursue. Final action will be taken
• See COUNCIL, Page 3
16th National Championship Barbecue
Cookoff Fires Up In Meridian This Weekend
By David Anderson
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
MERIDIAN — The National
Championship Barbecue Cookoff
weekend, now in its 16th year, re-
turns to the Bosque Bottom in Me-
ridian this Friday and Satui-day,
Aug. 22-23. The cookoff is an invi-
tation-only event for cookers who
have won or placed in a recognized
barbecue cookoff during the past
year.
Last year, over 195 cooking
teams competed for over $17,000
in prize money, and to raise money
for national and local charities.
This year’s prize purse is esti-
mated near the same amount.
The weekend actually kicks off
Friday night, Aug. 22, with the an-
nual “Meet the Cooks” fish fry
starting at 5 p.m. The meal is ojJen
to the public at a cost of $5 per
plate. Held at the Meridian Civic
Center, an auction, which begins
at 7 p.m., helps raise funds to pro-
duce the annual cookoff. A dance
in Lions Park, co-sponsored by the
Meridian Lions Club and the
cookoff, will feature Tommy
Alverson and his band. The popu-
lar country-western group wiU
play two 90-minute sets, starting
at 9 p.m. in the new pavilion on the
cookoff grounds.
• See BARBECUE, Page 2
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Smith, W. Leon. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 68, Ed. 1 Friday, August 22, 2003, newspaper, August 22, 2003; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth789041/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.