Van Zandt News (Wills Point, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 15, Ed. 1 Sunday, September 18, 1983 Page: 4 of 22
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N$e 4A — VAN ZANBT MWt,
Building policy discussod
II. 1913
Commissioners hold closed session
By Kerry Yancey
\ CANTON - The Van Zandt
County Commissioners Gourt spent
45 minutes in a mysterious executive
yession with almgft all of the elected
county officials Monday afternoon.
4»ut afterward had no action to an-
nounce. and no one would tay then
what the session was about.
County Judge Sam Hilliard said
the officials had discussed “building
policies" and no action would be
-taken, after the meeting was reopen-
ed to the public. The closed session
Jbad been listed on the agenda as
dealing with personnel,
j The officials attending the session
^here Sheriff Travis Shafer. County
-£lerk Steve Candy, and County
Justices of the Peace Chili Campbell,
^jrank Churchwell and R. G. Mar-
jin. County Treasurer Shirley
$lorgan and District Judge Richard
J>avis were not notified about the
leaion.
Contacted Tuesday. Mrs. Morgan
Ifaid. “I wasn't asked, and I don't
jknow why I wasn't. I guess they had
!| reason not to invite me.” District
•plerk Veta Burns and District At-
torney Tommy Wallace were said to
lhave been invited to the session, but
rjjoth were busy with jury selections
jnd did not appear,
j “Maybe they considered only the
Ones with employees working under
them, but the J. P.'s don’t have
employees under them," Mrs.
Morgan said.
Campbell was the first to exit the
county courtroom, and answered a
question ahou: the session with a
grin and a shrug. The other officials
gave similar responses.
According to the Texas Open
Meetings Law. governmental bodies
may meet in closed session for three
items only: employee matters; con-
sultation with the agency’s attorney
about pending litigation; or discus-
sion about the purchase or leasing of
land or other real DroDertv.
In the section of Article 6252-17
(the Open Meetings Law) covering
employee matters, the article reads:
“Nothing in this act shall be con-
strued to require governmental
bodies to hold meetings open to the
public in cases involving .he ap-
pointment, employment, evalua-
tion, reassignment, duties,
discipline or dismissal of a public of-
ficer or employee or to hear com-
plaints or charges against such of-
ficer or employee, unless such officer
or employee requests a public hear-
ing."
Blanket policies covering all
employees are not mentioned in Ar-
ticle 6252-17 as being items that can
be discussed in a closed session.
Later in the week, officials con-
firmed privately thaL. the items
discussed in the session included
purchase of a new telephone system,
along with setting vacation and sick
leave pay policies. None of those
items can be discussed in closed ses-
sions.
The remainder of the commis-
sioners court meeting was routine, if
lengthy. An expected meeting with
officials of the First State Bank of
Van did not take place, as Hilliard
presented the commissioners with a
letter explaining that the county
would not be charged service fees on
its accounts, reversing a stand in-
dicated in a letter presented to the
commissioners in their September 6
regular session.
Hilliard noted that the letter, ex-
plaining that county accounts would
be handled in the manner agreed in
the bank's contract with the county
as depository, had taken six days to
reach the courthouse from Van.
Citing an expected poor voter tur-
nout. the commissioners combined
nine of the 27 voting boxes in the
county for the November 8 general
election as a cost-cutting move. The
general election ballot contains only
proposed amendments to the Texas
Constitution, and in past elections
with similar ballots, dollar costs
have been higher than votes cast.
In Precinct 1. Box 14 (East Grand
Saline) and Box 25 (Corinth) were
combined with Box 6, the voting
box placed at the 100F Lodge HaU
on West State Highway 80.
Also in Precinct 1, Box 22 (Col-
fax) and Box 18 (Pruitt) were com-
bined with Box 7, the Van Chamber
of Commerce office. Other Precinct
1 boxes were not changed.
In Precinct 2, Box 21 (Jackson)
and Box 26 (Tundra) were combin-
ed with Box 12, the Southwest Can-
ton box, located at the county cour-
thouse. Also, Box 16 (Stone Point)
was combined with Box 4, the Wise,
Watkins Community Center box.
In Precinct S, Box 17 (Small) was
combined with Box 10, located at
the Edgewood City Hall, and Box IS
(North Wills Point) was combined
with Box 5, the South Wills Point
bos. located at the city fire station.
None of the Precinct 4 voting
boxes were combined, as Commit
doner “Cobb” Smith pointed out
that the four botes in the prednet
were too widely-teattmod to hg cod-
solidated without inconveniencing
the voters.
In a related move, the commis-
sioners accepted the resignation of
Grace Ayres as the election judge for
Box 23 (Northwest Canton) in
Precinct 3, but tabled action on
naming a replacement for more
study. The alternate judge at the
box is Commissioner Bruce
Wilemon's sister, and he noted,
“That wouldn't work out in the elec-
tion, and I know it wouldn't in the
primary."
In other action, the commis-
sioners:
— heard from Shafer that no ruling
on enforcing the county's permit re-
quirement has yet arrived from the
state Attorney General's office. In a
related move, the commissioners
granted a permit, with a 950.000
bond requirement, to Conoco of
Grand Saline, a company that hauls
crude oil.
— approved the purchase of
carpeting for Judge Davis' office,
presently under renovation, and also
discussed renovation of the cour-
thouse and library exteriors, in-
cluding a ramp required for han-
dicapped persons.
Cruelty
(Continued from poga l A)
previously captured. “Animal'' does
not include an uncaptured wild
creature or a. wild creature whose
capture was accomplished by con-
duct at issue under this section.
(d)An offense under this section is a
Class A misdemeanor.
“The way I interpret this section,
one can kill, injure or poison one's
own animals, but not one that
belongs to someone else," Kirkley
said. “If there is no owner, then you
have a dog of a different color.”
Grand Saline^,^,,,
federal revenue sharing funds, and $280,000, he added
Shafer spent nearly an hour pour-
ing through law books in search of
statutes that pertained to the case,
at the request of The Van Zandt
News, and no statute was found that
specifically speaks to stray animals.
All of the statues spoke to acts
against animals that were aimed at
injury to the owner.
The case may not come up on the
county court docket for at least a
month, and may or may not be pur-
sued, as such decisions rest in the
District Attorney's office.
with $1,888 more, the librarian's
position could get a raise to $4.50
and hour for a 32-hour week.
With the raitt, the library can be
more competitive in the labor
market, she pointed out. Van Zandt
County is expected to double in
population during the next 10 years,
and “one way to encourage that
growth is to get a good library
system," she said.
The request would increase the
library allocation from $3,900 to
around $5,800, but Mrs. Matthews
said, "On something like this, you
must look at not what it’s going to
cost, but what is it worth?"
Another request came from the
Grand Saline Youth Foundation,
who told of increased use of the city
park and increasing expenses, par-
ticularly for the city pool. The re-
quest there was just for the amount
the library received, whatever that
happened to be.
A third request was for the con-
tinuation of funding for the Van
Zandt County Humane Society
animal shelter. As proposed, the
budget did not include the $1,200
donated to the shelter last year.
In the final voting, the council did
not raise the library's allocation
from the proposed $3,900. and did
not replace the $1,200 for the
animal shelter. They did. however,
vote to give that same $1,200 to the
Grand Saline Youth Foundation.
Both Allison and Grant noted
that the proposed $622,921 budget
would see some "dollar changes" as
figures were reajusted to reflect the
changes in police pay and the single
addition of $1,200, but the total
amount would remain virtually the
same.
To fund that budget, the council
also approved a tax rate of 26.41
cents per $100 valuation, an in-
crease of eight percent above last
year's effective rate of 24 cents per
$100.
Other hikes came in water, gar-
bage and service fees. The per-1,000
gallons charge for water was increas-
ed from 80 cents to 90 cents per
1,000 gallons; residential garbage
fees were increased from $3.75 to
$4; minimum business garbage fees
were increased from $5.40 to $6;
and water and tap fees were increas-
ed from $125 to $150. Service
charges went from four to six, and
tax certificates went from two to
four.
City employees were given a 3.5
percent salary hike instead of a five
percent raise, and the item for street
department supplies was reduced by
$2,000. The allocation for the
volunteer fire department was
doubled, from $3,000 to $6,015, ac-
cording to figures released by Grant.
In a related action, the council
spoke with Whalen Corporation
representative Dean Perry about
possibly contracting with Whalen to
get a new city water well. Whalen
will build the well, taking all of the
risks of construction, and in turn,
provide treated water to the city.
The well would be placed on a site
leased from the city, and at the end
of the lease, the entire facility would
revert to the city’s ownership, Perry
explained. Whalen would sell water
to the city on a take-or-pay basis un-
til the end of the lease, at which time
the city would buy the physical
plant, “which amounts to buying (he
pump, really." be said. *
Such an approach would allow
the city to get a $200,000 water weU
for that price, where going the con-
ventional bond financing route
would coat the city
"It’s off line
financing, and won't encumber your
bond capability," he said.
The payback for a conventional
20-year bond program would be
about $894,000, but payback over a
10-year lease with the Whalen pro-
gram would amount to around
$480,000, he pointed out.
The council took no action, but
Perry noted that if a decision was
made, it needed to be soon, because
the city will almost certainly need
the well by next summer. “It’s ob-
vious that we're going to have to at-
tack the problem," Allison said, and
added to Perry that he probably
would be called back to a future
council meeting.
In other business during a lengthy
and heavily attended regular ses-
sion, the council;
— met with representatives of Mar-
tin Gas Sales of Kilgore about com-
plaints on the loading of sulphur at
a downtown railroad siding. The
council took no action, but warned
the company that it would be barred
from loading sulphur in the city
limits if spillage and dust problems
were not corrected.
— took no action on a Planning and
Zoning agenda item after City At-
torney Richard Ray noted that the
item concerned the city’s authority
to deny zoning changes when a Plan-
ning and Zoning Commission is
operating, the subject of a pending
lawsuit against the city. Ray noted
that item would be answered at the
same time as the lawsuit.
— instructed Grant to write the
Grand Saline Housing Authority, re-
questing tenant payment records.
Grant noted that the Housing
Authority management was in the
process of changing, and the council
noted that the federal agency that
controls the project funding has
pointed out that the project is
seriously deliquent in collecting te-
nant rent.
— instructed Grant to get in touch
with the area Salvation Army com-
mander about the state of the SA
collection box on the Brookshire's
Food Store parking lot. "It's a mess,"
Allison said, and he told Grant to re-
quest a bigger box, more pickups
each week, or both.
— approved regular hionthly reports
from the police department,
volunteer fire department and am-
bulance service, and the public
works department.
Grand Saline Fire Chief Teddy Anderson (second from right) looks over a "Jaws of Life" power rescue tool
owned by the Von Volunteer Fire Department with Van Fire Chief Keith Hilliard (second from left) and
department members John Blackmon, left, ond Paul Woods, right. The Van rescue tool has been used
some 30 times since the department bought it in 1981, and the Grand Saline Fire Department will be trying
to raise funds to purchase a power rescue tool. A demonstration of a power rescue tool is scheduled for 6
p.m. Monday, September 19, across from the Grand Saline City Hall. The new ambulance slated for pur-
chase by the Grand Saline Ambulance Service will also be at the demonstration. The Van department
reports that the tool has saved a life or prevented more serious injury five times. A rescue tool costs about
$9,700, and Anderson said that the Grand Saline department will try to raise the money through chili sup-
pers and donations. (Photo by David Barber)
Grand Saline School Board queries
into the use of activity budget
Dog control
By Kerry Yancey
GRAND SALINE - Questions
over the use of school activity funds
occupied most of a three-hour
regular session of the Grand Saline
School Board Monday night, as
board members asked for reports of
how money not normally included in
the school's operation budget was
spent.
The funds receiving the most at-
tention were the student activity
fund and the athletic department
budget; specifically, the money the
school makes off the sale of soft
drinks and candy, and the money
the athletic department spends to
feed athletes after out-of-town
games.
The soft drink fund, in par-
ticular, is used to fund capital pur-
chases, Middle School Principal
Shirley Anderson pointed out. The
school has used the profit to pur-
chase typewriters, desks,
duplicators, and some $1,500 in
darkroom equipment, which was us-
ed to start a photography class this
year, he said.
Board member Russell Adams
noted that all other purchases were
overseen by the school board, and
added - he had not heard that
photography equipment had been
purchased through the soft drink
fund. "That’s just what 1 was trying
to point out a while ago,” he said.
Both Adams and board member
Scott Bartley objected to the use of
the soft drink fund without board
approval, particularly for capital
purchases. Anderson replied that
waiting for board approval would be
“a real bottleneck."
Superintendent Nathan Lee told
the trustees that any large purchases
made out of the soft drink fund were
discussed by all of the top ad-
ministrators, including himself,
before any action. Such had been
the practice for many years, without
any reports to the board, Anderson
pointed out, and no major problems
with the system had been experienc-
ed.
Lee and Anderson eventually
agreed to report all planned expen-
ditures over $500 to the board in a
monthly summary.
In a related move, the board ap-
proved the purchase of three
typewriters for the high school typ-
ing class, using the $500 included in
the 1983 '84 budget for capital pur-
chases. and using the student activi-
ty fund to make up the balance.
Anderson pointed out the planned
action earlier in the discussion as an
example of how the fund had been
put to use in the past.
Athletic Director Carter Elliott
also agreed to provide the trustees
with a running balance in the
athletic fund, after Adams had
opened the discussion over fund use
by asking how the coaching staff
knew how much money they had,
since no account balances were
reported to the school board.
Elliott noted that running
balances could be provided, as long
as he did not do the totals. "There’s
just not enough time in the day for
me to do it now," he told the
trustees. "I'll be happy to do it after
football season, when I can take the
time and add up the totals.”
The debate over the football ac-
tivity fund centered around the
practice of providing meals for the
football team after out-of-town
games. A meal for the team runs
around $200 or so, Elliott said.
Bartley said, “To me, providing
meals seems like an
extravagance...(after the board)...
has been looking at spending $189 at
fixing power lines, something that
must be done." He noted that when
he played football, players were told
to eat before the game, and meals
were never provided.
In addition, Bartley objected to
providing meals for just the major
teams fielded by the school. "If we're
going to do it for the football and
basketball teams, we ought to do it
for everybody." Elliott replied that
he would be in favor of cancelling all
meals, “if that's what you (the
board) decide. I'm not going to
argue with you."
Eventually, as in the case with the
student activity fund, the board
voted to continue providing meals as
had been done in the past, but with
a 25 mile distance limit in addition
to the 10 p.m. time limit already en-
forced. With that, Adams noted,
the team would not be eating out
when playing at Mineola or Quit-
man, unlike last year.
In connection with the funding
question, Lee reported that the
school district would be carrying for-
ward into the new fiscal year about
$127,000 in all funds, compared to
minus balances at the start of the
1982- 83 fiscal year.
In other action, the board:
— approved the replacement of old
power lines at the football field,
which had shorted out. The replace-
ment cost was $189. the amount
referred to by Bartley elsewhere in
this story.
— heard a report from Lee that
school enrollment stood at 976 as of
Friday, September 9. The largest
classes were the first grade, with 89
students, and the sixth grade, with
92 students, he said. Other classes
average about 70 students. Elliott
reported indications were that the
school would stay in Class AA
another two years, unless the
University Interscholastic League
lowers the enrollment limits on
classification.
— approved the student handbook,
with a notation that corporal
punishment incidents must be
recorded and conducted with at
least one witness.
— approved the hiring of Smith and
Moore as school auditors.
— approved the purchase of six more
computers for classroom and
teacher applications, using federal
Chapter I and II funding.
— authorized Lee to look into the
possibility of hiring a part-time
music teacher for the elementary
grades.
— approved adding Mary Hosea to
the list of substitute teachers for the
1983- ’84 school year.
— approved the building trades pro-
ject for the coming school year.
However, Grand
neither a dog catcher nor a nearby
animal shelter, and Councilwoman
Betty Adamson questioned the use
of the city sending $100 a month
($1,200 a year) to the Humane
Society shelter in Canton.
"I think the cities would be willing
to pay more (in donations to the
shelter) if they were getting good ser-
vice," she said. "I don't think we're
getting the service."
Mrs. Adamson and other council
members told of instances when
Grand Saline residents had taken.
animals to the Humane Society
shelter and had been turned away,
despite their willingness to pay the
requested donation. Allison,
however, countered that taking
away the city’s donation to the
shelter might worsen the problem.
"Right or wrong, it's the only legal
means of disposing of animals in the
county,” he pointed out. One sug-
gestion made was that city residents
would be imued a voucher, which
around would jdlow them to bring animals .
t
(Continued from poga 1A)
Saline has to the shelter until the normal fees
recorded matched the city’s dona-
tion.
Allison reported that since the
shelter opened in February, 56 dogs
had been brought to the shelter by
city residents, and Mrs. Adamson
noted that at $3 a head, that came
to less than $170. “And they’re ask-
ing for $100 a month," she said.
When the vote came, Mrs. Adam-
son noted, "I think (the shelter) is a
good thing, but if the citizens of
Grand Saline can't use it, then I
don't want to waste tax money on
it." The council then voted 3-2 to
stop its $1,200 donation to the
animal shelter.
Margaret Stone, who alternates
with Ann Hall to manage the
Humane Society shelter, denies that
persons with animals are turned
away or that animals are not taken
unless donations are paid.
"I’ve only turned away one
customer the whale time I’ve been
working here, ” she said. In that
Used in Canton,
and came in with a dog just after a
First Monday Trades Day. "I had 45
dogs here (in just 12 cages), and I
told her that the doctor would be
here tomorrow, and we could take
the dog then," she explained. The
customer came back the next day,
and the animal was accepted, she
added.
Plus, some animals have been ac-
cepted when the persons bringing
them in could not or would not give
a donation, she said.
The donations, $3 for large dogs,
$2 for small dogs and can, and $1
for puppies or kittens, go to buy feed
for the animals, she said. “We try to
keep animals that we feel can be
adopted as long as we can," she
noted.
Animals brought in by city
employees must be kept 72 hours so
that owners have a chance to
reclaim them, she pointed out. For
those that are not adopted, or are
obviously ill, death comes in the
form of an injection from Canton
veterinarian E. R. Davis. Who
comes to the shelter on his own time
each week.
All persons who bring in animals
are asked to fill out a form for con-
sent to euthanasia if the animals are
not adopted, Mrs. Stone said.
Adoption fees are $20 for large
dogs. $15 for puppies or cats, and
$10 for kittens. Such fees and dona-
tions are “the only way we have to
keep the shelter operating," Mrs.
Stone said. Volunteer workers are
trying to expand the shelter so that it
can house more animals at one time,
she added.
“A lot of people still don't know
that we are out here," she noted,
although the shelter regularly adver-
tises about the animals that it
presently holds for adoption.
The question over the disposal of
stray dogs and cats will continue to
be a problem in towns that do not
fund animal control officers through
their city budgets.
“If the city doesn't have one con
stantly on the job, people will let
their animals loose again," Read
A
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Van Zandt News (Wills Point, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 15, Ed. 1 Sunday, September 18, 1983, newspaper, September 18, 1983; Wills Point, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth990210/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Van Zandt County Library.