The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 24, 2008 Page: 6 of 32
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THURSDAY 24 APRIL 2DDB
NEWS PAGE
THE CANADIAN RECORD
City Manager proposes developing cooperative
building inspection plan with area cities
City Manager Colby Waters proposed a
possible solution to Canadian's code enforce-
ment issues during Monday's Council meet-
ng—a solution that could benefit other Pan-
handle communities for whom building-related
inspections are problematic, if not impossible.
Faced with a welcome increase in residen-
tial and commercial construction, the City of
Canadian has struggled with the need to moni-
tor the quality and safety of that work, as well.
Most smaller cities cannot afford the cost of
either hiring an inspector qualified in several
construction-related specialties, or of hiring
and training an employee to perform those in-
spections.
Waters explained to Council members
Monday that the City has from 2-10 requests
each week to perform inspections on work that
runs the gamut from plumbing and electrical
nstallations—which must be done by licensed
contractors—to construct ion work, which does
not require licensing but must comply with the
City's building code. Top inspectors in Ama-
rillo are paid as much as $58,000, Waters said.
Finding anyone qualified to do the jot s diffi-
cult.
"To get someone here," he said, "I'm going
to guess it would be much more than that."
In recent conversations with Panhandle Re-
gional Planning Commission (PRPC) officials,
Waters has suggested a cooperative effort by
several cities to recruit and fund the position,
creating essentially a "circuit-riding, as-need-
ed code enforcement officer." As proposed by
Waters, each City could contribute based on
the level of services needed, at a possible cost
of $10,000 to $15,000 annually per participat-
ing entity.
"The PRPC has been good about providing
services for those who will do things coopera-
tively," Waters said. "I've tried to get them to
look at this service for us, [knowing it would be]
beneficial to other communities."
Cities of 5,000 population or less are not
required to provide inspections, Waters said,
but both he and the Council have wrestled with
their concerns that the lack of oversight could
enable some contractors to perform marginal
work, and with the potential threat to public
health and safety that could present.
"We are of a size where we don't have to
require inspections," Waters said, "but I think
there are communities like ours that would like
have a certain degree of oversight."
Councilman Rob Talley was upset by com-
ments he had heard at a local construction site
this week, when one worker sa id, "We can just
put it in because they're not going to inspect it
anyway."
Waters said several other cities could ben-
efit from the cooperative inspection service,
ncluding Pampa and Dumas. Considerations
in drafting an agreement, he added, should
nclude resolving liability issues and setting
threshholds for which inspections should be re-
quired. The cost, though, could be considerably
less than the expense of hiring and educating
an employee to perform inspections.
Waters said this month's comptroller's
report showed a 26 percent gain in the City's
steadily climbing sales tax collections, and ob-
served, "Things are not slowing down."
With the Council's tacit approval, Waters
said he would continue to pursue a cooperative
plan for inspection services, and would report
on his progress.
CISD trustee Larry Gat n spoke during
public comment to the Council, explaining the
school board's efforts to address traffic conges-
tion problems around Canadian Elementary.
At the board's urging, school officials have al-
ready curtailed staff parking along both sides
of Dogwood Street.
At this point, Gat 11 said, traffic is coming
n from four different directions. Tentative
plans are to place a small Island in the center of
Fifth and Dogwood, with arms that drop down
and control traffic flow. "The street would be
blocked twice a day for about 15 minutes, limit-
ng traffic to coming in one of two ways," Gatlin
said.
Gatlin added that he was requesting no offi-
cial Council action— -just informing them of the
possible changes. Already, he said, the parking
ban along Dogwood has improved the situation,
opening up the street for parents who need to
park and go inside, and making the area safer
for children. He also said that the school's re-
cent re-alignment to accommodate Pre-K
classes, which release earlier each afternoon,
Re-Elect
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for Lipscomb County
North Plains Ground Water
Conservation District
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Vote May 10th
At Follett Community Center
Political ad paid for by: Kevin Wynn, Treasurer
may reduce the problem, "but with the grow-
ng numbers we're seeing in our elementary, it
would be nice to have some type of solution."
In other action, the Count I:
•Approved the bid of E.D. Baker for this
year's City seal-coating project. Baker bid
$1.56 per square yard for the project, which
will include 48,610 square yards in all for a total
project cost of $75,831. Waters also told Coun-
cil members that the City has initiated legal ac-
tion against Lipham Construction, which per-
formed last year's seal-coating project. Much
of the work in that project failed because it had
not been executed to specifications. The City
Attorney has sent a demand letter to Lipham to
repair the damaged streets, but received no re-
sponse. Waters said he had already instructed
the Ci ty Engineer to increase this year's street
project to cover those repairs, which would be
made by E.D. Baker. "If we do not get com-
pensation or warranty from Lipham," he said,
"we will sue for damages, and will notify their
bonding company, making it more difficult for
them to get bonded in the future." (Hedgecoke/
Talley motion, approved 3-0)
•Unanimously approved an amendment to
City ordinances banning parking on the north
side of Cedar Street from Highway 60/83 to
Fifth Street. (Talley/Lusk motion, approved
3-0)
•Authorised the City Manager to upgrade
the City's financial and billing software from
the DOS-based InCode program for which
support is being phased out, to a newer Win-
dows-based version called InVision. The soft-
ware is widely used by several smaller cities
n the Panhandle. The software upgrade cost
is $27,583, and annual maintenance fees are
$5,500. (Hedgecoke/Lusk motion, approved
3-0)
In his monthly report, Waters told the
Council that the Main Street project contrac-
tor, J. Lee Milligan, had begun work here Mon-
day, and that TxDOT's $1 million accounting
error had been satisfactorily resolved follow-
ng a meeting with agency officials and several
Main Street committee members. "We are
back to where we were before the million dollar
ssue came out," he said."
Water also reported on the City's spring
cleaning, saying that Director of Public Works
Hoyt Manning had asked his crews to make
note of potential code violations while doing
cleanup work. He also said that the City will be
enforcing weed and trash violations soon.
In conclusion, Waters noted that he had
been elected president of the Panhandle City
Managers Association. "It's a nice honor," he
said, "and one I think will benefit us as a city
as well."
In addition to Waters, those present at
Monday's meeting were Mayor John Baker,
Council members Rob Talley, Ed Hedgecoke
and Bob Lusk, City staffers Terry South and
Hoyt Manning, Larry Gatlin and Record edi-
tor Laurie Brown.
The Council's next regularly scheduled
meeting will be held on Monday, May 19, at
5:30 p.m.
Hemphill County
Court docket call
held Thursday
Cases Disposed
•Eric M. Barkley pled guilty to driv-
ing while ntoxieated, and was ordered
to pay $1,000 in fines and $447 in court
costs.
•Jennifer Lee Wilkerson pled guilty
to possession of less than 2 ounces of
marijuana, and was ordered to pay $72 in
fines and $328 in court costs.
•Inocente Lopez-Reyes pled guilty
to driving while intoxicated, and was or-
dered to pay $1,050 in fines and $462 n
court costs.
•Brandon Lynn Green pled guilty to
driving while his license was invalid, and
was ordered to pay $250 in fines and $412
in court costs.
•Javier Lopez pled guilty to three
charges of driving with no license, and
was sentenced to serve 60 days in jail,
fully probated over 18 months. Lopez was
assessed a total of $1,500 In fines for the
three charges, and ordered to pay $974 in
court costs.
•Russell Wayne Wofford pled guilty
to deadly conduct and was ordered to pay
$1,600 in fines and $282 in court costs.
•James Dean Hamlin, Jr., pled guilty
to a second offense of driving while intox:
cated, and was sentenced to serve 60 days
in jail, fully probated over 12 months. He
was also ordered to pay $1,500 in fines
and $472 in court costs.
Cases Disposed Prior to Docket
•Manuel Gonzalez Hernandez pled
gu ilty to driving while his license was in-
valid, and was ordered to pay $100 in fines
and $338 in court costs.
•Thomas Luis Franklin James' case
was dismissed.
•Hector Balcazar Garcia pled guilty
to two charges of driving with no license,
and was ordered to pay $500 in fines and
$666 in court costs.
•Joel Bryant pled guilty to theft by
check, and was ordered to pay $100 in
fines, $317 in court costs, and $449.92 n
restitution.
•Taylor Ad kins' case was dismissed.
Set for Trial or Passed to Next Docket
•James Robert Woessner, theft by
check.
•John Marcus Faus, possession of less
than 2 ounces of mar uana.
•Allen Short, criminal trespass.
•Steven Mitchell Campbell, driving
while intoxicated.
•Tommy Lee Swindle, driving while
intoxicated.
•Jessica Louise Puryear, driving
while intoxicated.
•Jesse M. Butler, theft by check.
•Adelita Cortez, theft by check.
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 24, 2008, newspaper, April 24, 2008; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth252701/m1/6/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.