The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 115, No. 34, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 25, 2005 Page: 5 of 40
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THE CANADIAN RECORD
NEWS PAGE
THURSDAY 25 AUGUST 2005
Dean Looper's (Inter m City Manager's) inal report
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad
When the Railroad came in here in 2003
with the purpose of double-mainlining through
Hemphill County, they had an express pur-
pose, at that time, to close down at least one
of the grade crossings here. They knew they
would have to compromise by installing an
overpass to replace the closing of a street. The
closing of Elliot Street, in my opinion, was a
poor exchange for what was received. The
Railroad should have committed to construc-
tion of a much wider overpass than was built,
including all of the approach work except util-
ity adjustments. BNSF should have commit-
ted, at the very least, to one walkway overpass
and more reasonably, two. The Railroad should
have committed to street improvements on ev^
ery street on the railroad right-of-way within
the city limits, specifically to include paving
every one of those streets!
Instead, Canadian made compromises
and concessions beyond good judgment. We
provided utility adjustments when the Rail-
road installed the second mainline through
Canadian.
The City also donated, free of charge, a
considerable amount of wood chips and bro-
ken concrete to the project. Regardless of the
material's value to the City, it should have been
used as a bargaining chip to gain concessions
from the Railroad.
The Railroad will approach the City in the
future to close Purcell Street. Several things
should be strongly considered at that time. Our
history with the RR proves that when we have
asked for a lease or purchase of property, the
upgrading of city streets on their property or
any other reasonable request, the answer has
always been a resounding "no." The City of
Canadian has been forced to used excessive
effort, through the years, negotiating even
the smallest favor from the RR. In the past we
have had to cajole, beg, and even threaten to
get them to maintain and improve the grade
crossings which otherwise tear up private and
public owned vehicles crossing over them. As
always, it is an ongoing effort to browbeat them
to mow the weeds on the right-of-way through
the City. Good relations are important with
all commerce in Hemphill County, but when
a multimillion dollar monolith has a history of
saying "no" to even the simplest of requests,
the City should not say "yes" to what seems to
be unreasonable requests by them. This surely
includes demanding the closing of heavily used,
grade crossings important to the commercial
health of the community.
Municipal Court
The City is budgeting $7,200 per year, plus
training and travel expenses, for Municipal
Court. The Court, so far since December of
2003, has collected $745. I recommend the:
Council eliminate the appointment of the cur-
rent Municipal Judge, and collect fines within
the operations of City Hall. The Mayor is de
facto Municipal Judge, and in his absence,
any person the Mayor appoints. The staff can
be authorized to collect fines under authority
of City Code eliminating the cost of an outside
contract.
Most City fines are levied for violations
of the Animal Control Ordinance. Currently,
the Ordinance, (#473) provides for a fine of
only $10 for violations, and most people would
rather pay the small fine than the higher cost
for the pick-up and boarding of their animals. I
recommend the fine be increased to $30 or $50
for the first violation, and incrementally higher
for additional violations.
Law Enforcement
The current law enforcement agreement
between Canadian and Hemphill County
expired in January of 2004. It has not been
reconsidered for renewal. The current Mu-
nicipal Judge, (Justice of the peace) recently
noted the oversight and has approached the
City Secretary regarding a renewal of this
agreement. Texas law clearly states a county
is responsible for law enforcement in their ju-
risdiction, including within city limits. I don't
believe any other written agreement is neces-
sary in order to hold the county responsible for
their prescribed responsibilities.
I do believe that in the future the' city will
be pressured to hire either a police officer, a
marshal or a Constable to be responsible for
any areas of law enforcement which the sher-
iffs department does not choose to enforce.
This would probably include traffic, domestic
disturbances and other mundane tasks now
completely under the County's jurisdiction.
The City should look into the liability costs of
this type of venture before creating any posi-
tion of this kind. An alternative proposal, for
the County, might be to ask or demand the City
pay an annual fee for the service the County
should perform. If this approach is consid-
ered, I recommend an unshakable contract
to include patrolling of school zones, traffic
enforcement, routine patrolling within the city
limits, day and night; the Stipulation that on-
duty personnel must attend all city meetings,
and written daily reports filed with the City
Manager or City Secretary. Although many
cities do have contracts with their counties, if a
contract is not carefully written and enforced,
there is room for abuse.
Gas Company Franchise
Last year, West Texas Gas Company
negotiated a rate increase with the City. At
that time, a suggestion was made that the city
should approach the gas company to purchase
their distribution system This was a brilliant
idea on someone's part. Most cities that own a
gas utility system have a high reserve in the
general fund. Spearman, for instance, a few
months ago had a reserve: of about three mil-
lion dollars.
Nearly every city that I know of has paved
its streets, through projects primarily paid for
by gas revenue. Income from gas revenues,
unlike water and sewer revenues, can be trans-
ferred to general fund.
The timing of franchise negotiations was
right to establish strong negotiations with the
company to purchase the system. A city can't
force a sale, but it can be made part of the bar-
gaining process. Should this opportunity ever
present itself in the future (and it will), I rec-
ommend the city aggressively pursue the pur-
chase of the natural gas distribution system.
Water
Most of what I would recommend regard-
ing the future of Canadian's water resources
is covered in Dwight's Water Analysis. I want
to emphasize the importance of the acquisition
of future water rights: particularly the water
well site designated as area one on the Santa
Fe Property. This and other well sites should
be considered for acquisition before someone
else buys the property from BNSF which may
nullify the existing leases.
I also: caution you to pay close attention to
the management practices of the Hemphill
County Underground Water Conservation
Districtas they continue to evolve; and Chap-
ter 36.121 of the Texas Water Code as it applies
to the District's management plan. In addition
to Dwight's advice regarding getting clarifica-
tion on City Ordinance #491 from the Water
District and the City Attorney, I would suggest
getting clarification on the opinion that all
property owned by the Burlington Northern
Santa Fe Railroad in Hemphill County may be
claimed as existing water rights by the City.
Main Street Project
When I Came back to Canadian in June, I
promised myself I would keep my nose out of
the Main Street enhancement project. How-
ever, Canadian is now about four years into
an agreement which mandates completion in
six years. Other than the visitor's center, still
no other contract has been let. Time is slipping
away. There has been a lot of discussion about
lighting and pavers versus textured concrete.
Since the City is responsible for overages, I
think the Council should direct the Main Street
committee to reach a final decision regarding
these issues and move on. I encourage you to
pay close attention to the original agreement
made with TxDOT regarding the material and
lighting. Since the City has only a "handshake"
agreement with that agency to support us fi-
nancially in the event of overages, we should
proceed with TxDOT's recommended material
and support their involvement in a contract to
complete the work.
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 115, No. 34, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 25, 2005, newspaper, August 25, 2005; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220695/m1/5/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.