The Howe Enterprise (Howe, Tex.), Vol. 17, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 17, 1981 Page: 1 of 6
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75059
N.J. iios&s
Bex 27°
Howe, Tex; 3
Howe’s that...
THE HOWE CITY COUNCIL has come under fire again.
Some people in town seem to believe that the council is
intentionally trying to do things wrong. Things like
Watergate and Abscam have given politics a bad name,
but are they really guilty until proven innocent?
The council made one little misstep while trying to set
up a budget and tax rate. There are several thousand
statutes of law for Texas cities to follow. Usually the
Texas State Board of Property Taxes sends information to
each city to help them comply with all pertinent statutes -
which can change yearly. However, for some reason the
board had the wrong address for Howe officials (that of a
former mayor from Several years back).
The only guide City Administrator Joe Fenton, in his
first year at this job, had to follow was a handbook on
7244c,V.T.C.S.which concerns setting the tax rate and
does not mention the budget. By the way, Fenton
received this booklet from the editor of the Howe
Enterprise. Fenton was carefully following the calendar
set up in this handbook and was unaware until late
Tuesday, Sept. 8 (about 4:30p.m.) that there was a
problem.
After checking the law and with the city attorney,
Fenton and council determined that a technicality had
been inadvertently broken. In order to do things correctly
the council changed their schedule on the budget and tax
rate.
The question has been raised of the necessity of having
a lawyer present at council meetings to help keep them
acting leaglly. Well, a lawyer charges a pretty stiff fee
per hour of time. Most likely any attorney would not be
able to answer questions of legality at the meetings and
would need time to check out various matters first. Why
waste our (the taxpayers’) money on this? Council can
instruct city administrator to check with the attorney on
matters and the appropriate action can then be taken at a
later time.
When the majority of voters elect representatives to
council, these voters should be willing to work with the
council -- not treat them as adversaries. They do wish to
represent the town to the best of their abilities.
I’ve heard comments in the past year that the council
already had “their minds made up” -- what purpose then
the meeting or public hearing? The members of the city
council are privileged to much information to study
before such a meeting or hearing. They have con-
sidered alternatives and listened to and sought views
from various citizens. Yes, maybe they have
decided how they intend to vote, but they still want to
hear from the residents of Howe. The council needs ideas
and input from as many citizens as possible. They, as far
as I can see, are willing to listen with an open mind and
will change their decisions if they feel that is what is truly
best for the whole community.
By the way, citizens who are truly concerned about how
the city business is being run should direct such ques-
tions to Joe Fenton, our city administrator. He was hired
by council to answer your questions and to find out the
answers if he doesn’t know.
ANSWERS - Two weeks ago I published a list of
questions and asked for your “best answer.” I received
two replies. One is from Ted Nicholas of Howe and the
other from Mr. and Mrs. A1 Rideout (my in-laws) of Mt.
Clemens, Michigan. Thanks for the answers which are
printed below. The two lists agree on all but one. The
questions are reprinted on page two for those who may
have missed them?
1. Depends on what time you go to bed. (Editor’s note:
The alarm will go off in one hour unless you have a
sophisticated clock with a.m. and p.m. on it.)
2. Half way, from there on he’s running out of the
woods.
3. White
4. Nine
5. Seventy
6. One (per year)
7. Half dollar and a nickel (only one isn’t a nickel)
8. Different people were playing.
9. Three
10. You don’t bury living people.
11. Lighter fluid (T.N.) or holes (A.JU).
12. The beggar is the woman’s sister.
Now I need an answer to this riddle. A bus was going
down the road with 12 people. At the first stop three got
off and four got on. At the next stop six got off and none
got one. At the last stop three got on and one got off.
What was the name of the bus driver?
********************
FROM WHAT I HAVE HEARD, there is not a lot of
opposition to the tax increase If the streets are repaired.
That is the big “if” in many people’s minds.
The city council discussed this among other things at a
work session on Friday, Sept. 11.
The council considered the possibility of contracting out
part of the work to someone who does this kind of work
all the time. They figured that about two miles of road
could be done for about $50,000. However, the city will
still need to have a street department. Howe will need
some equipment to do some of the work such as
preparing the roads and maintaining what we already
have.
Have you ever considered who is supposed to clean up
our streets - broken glass, snow and ice, fallen tree
limbs. Until this year there was no set time or group to do
this. This is a job for the street department. What about
the maintenance of the city park? These jobs were done
on a “when we have the time” basis by whoever was
available the quickest.
For years, these things have been left to slide along,
doing only what had to be done in order not to spend any
money.
What is your desire? Do you want the streets of our
town to continue to deteriorate? Or do you want
something done to keep our streets and town looking
good? It takes money to do anything nowdays. We cannot
expect the services of a street department and not pay
anything for it.
TACKLING FRISCO are is a Bulldog. The Frisco players
at the sideline are watching intently. Howe lost to Frisco,
35-0. (Photo by Kirby Rideout)
Howe Drops Game
To Frisco, 35-0
The Howe Bulldogs hosted
Frisco Saturday, Sept. 12,
and lost 35-0.
Coach Buck Smith said the
Bulldogs played a good de-
fense the first half of the
game, but let down on the
job during the second half.
Barry Dunn led in yards
rushing gaining 27 on 9
carries. Scott Taylor had 19
on 8 and Tim Parrent had 19
on 6. Mark Stonebarger
carried twice for 13 and Guy
Williams carried once for 10.
During the first half Frisco
scored once in each quarter.
In the first quarter Frisco
scored on a fumble but the
extra point was no good. An
attempt at a field goal was
blocked by Archie Sutton.
In the second quarter
Frisco scored on a 2 yard run
and made two more points
on a 3 yard conversion play.
In the third quarter Frisco
scored twice, once on a 9
yard run and another on a 22
yard run. The PAT kicks
were both good.
In the fourth quarter,
Frisco scored on a 14 yard
TD run and the extra point
kick was good.
Statistics
Howe Frisco
4
1st Downs
19
78
yds running
310
10
yds passing
116
10
passes-attempted
19
1
passes completed
9
2
passes intercepted
0
8-30.6 punts, avg. 235.5
3
fumbles
2
3
opp. fumbles rec.
2
25
yds penalties
45
JY’s Fight To 0-0 Tie
Defense was the name of
the game at Frisco when the
Howe Junior Varsity played
the Frisco J.V. at the end of
the game the score was still
0-0, but a lot of good football
occurred between the open-
ing kick off and the final
whistle.
The first series started with
a return to the 35-yard line
by Dennis Foster. Robert
Perkins carried for 20 yards.
Randy Geer carried the ball
twice for good yardage.
Frisco stopped the Bulldogs
at the 10 when a pass was
dropped in the end zone.
After three plays Frisco was
on their 15-yard line and
punted. Howe in return ran
only 3 plays and punted. The
Howe defense led by Steven
Dobbins and Steve Miller
held and again Frisco
punted.
Geer ran a keeper for 5
yards. A pass to Mike
Ortega added 4 and with the
down marker showing 3 and
1 foot Perkins number was
called. He made the first
with seven yards to spare.
The offense was stopped by
Frisco at their 35. Frisco
made it out to the 50 and a
15-yard penalty. Two plays
later its third down and 15
yards to go. Wade Kannen-
berg sacked the ball carrier
for a ten yard loss and on a
4th and 25 Frisco punted.
The Howe team came alive
with a 30 yard pass from
Geer to Ortega but Howe
was soon forced to punt.
Greg Allison after several
good tackles striped the ball
from a Frisco runner and
covered the fumble. Before
Howe could really start
moving they fumbled and
Frisco recovered.
In the third quarter it was
again defense for both teams
without much offense except
for a 30-yard pass from Geer
to Ortega.
In the fourth the ball stayed
in Frisco’s end of the field.
The best drive was started
with a 12-yard run by
Perkins, a 12-yard run by
Geer and a lot of short
yardage plays until Howe
had it first and ten on the
2-yard line. Frisco held and
Howe was unable to cross
the goal line. Good tackles
by Ken Cornelison, Allison,
and Pat Gilstrap fqrced Fris-
co to punt.
The rest of the game was
defense except a good pass
to Steve Dobbins so the
final score was 0-0.
Statistics
Howe JV Frisco JV
13
1st downs
3
164
yds running
52
63
yds passing
20
9
passes att.
6
4
passes completed
3
0
passes intercepted
0
2-35
punts, avg. 6-36.5
3
fumbles
1
3
opp. fumbles rec.
1
25
yds penalties
5
Geer carried 30 times for
100 yards and Ortega made
3 recoveries for 52 yards.
Perkins carried 10 times for
40 yards and Foster made 24
yards on 12 carries. Dobbins
had one recovery for 11
yards.
New Form
For Water Bills
A new form for the City of
Howe water bill will go out
on October 1. The new bill
will contain a place for the
dates of the previous and
present readings as well as
the amount of water con-
sumed. Costs of water,
sewer and garbage will each
be shown separately as in
the past. A schedule of rates
is available at City Hall.
Library
Arts & Crafts
Fair
The Howe Public Library
will sponsor an Arts and
Crafts Fair on Saturday, Oct.
24, from 10 a.m. to dusk.
All area artists and crafts-
men are invited to partici-
pate. Booth space is $5.
All interested artists should
contact Donna Bearden at
532-5328 or Anne Wallace at
532-6205. No rain date has
been set.
m Howe
Enterprise
Home Town Newspaper
Vol. XVII, No. H USPS 253240 Thursday, September 17, 1981
Council Re-Sets Tax Rate Hearings,
Sets Budget Schedule
The Howe City Council has
determined that they over-
looked a legal technicality in
setting up tax rate increase
hearings and the budget of
the city, according to Joe
Fenton, City Administrator.
Therefore, a new schedule of
hearings and dates is now
set up.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9,
the proposed budget for
1981-82 was officially filed
with City Clerk Marilee
Vaughan. On Thursday,
Sept. 24 a public hearing
will be held on the proposed
budget. On Friday, Sept. 25,
a public hearing on the pro-
posed tax rate increase will
be held. Both meetings will
be at City Hall at 7 p.m.
Fenton said he was
following state statute 7244c
which addresses the proper
procedure to set a tax rate
and how to advertise
meetings for any increase
over 3% as set in the statute
On Tuesday, Sept. 8, at
4:30 p.m. Carol Cox
approached Fenton at City
Hall and contended that the
proposed budget had to be
approved before any tax rate
hearings. Fenton said he
disagreed with this. (And
upon checking the law later
he determined that the
budget had to be filed but
not approved). Fenton did
not have time to check the
statute before the Tuesday
night public hearing that
was set for 7:00 p.m.
Fenton said later he
learned that the city had not
been receiving the mail from
the Texas State Property
Board and he had not re-
ceived any information on
how and when to present
and approve the budget. He
was trying to comply with
7244c V.T.C.S. on the tax
rate.
At Tuesday night’s public
hearing, Carol Cox informed
council that they were not
complying with 689 a-13
through a-15 which says the
proposed budget is to be
filed with the city clerk 30
days before the council
makes it tax levy. A public
hearing on the budget must
be held 15 days after the
budget is filed. The budget
may be adopted 30 days
(or later) after it is filed with
the city clerk.
The following morning
Fenton began checking and
learned the procedures that
needed to be followed on the
budget and tax rate
hearings.
On Thursday, Sept. 10, a
notice was circulated in town
by a group known as “Citi-
zens United For Representa-
tive City Government.” The
notice said the city council
“has not conducted the bud-
get process as stipulated in
Articles 689a-13 through
689a-15 V.T.C.S.” Citizens
were urged to point out the
irregularities and request
council to act properly or if
Sherman Community
Series Set
The 1981-82 Community
Series will include nine
events such as opera, sym-
phony, recitals, plays and an
evening of folk music and
dance.
The first event, The
Romanian Folk Festival,
Maramurasel, is set for Oct.
18 at 8 p.m. in the Walter
Carpenter Auditorium at
Sherman High School.
Cecil Isaac, conductor of
the Sherman Symphony, has
announced four concerts this
season, with the opening
concert set for 8 p.m. Nov. 7
in Wynne Chapel of Austin
College.
The Christmas Pops con-
cert, which is very popular,
will be given twice this year
- Dec. 5 and 6 at Austin
College’s Richardson Center
The other two concerts will
be March 27 and May 8.
A performance of Verdi’s
Rigoletto in English is set
for Feb. 5 at the Fine Arts
Auditorium of Grayson
County College.
Recitalists will be George
Livings, tenor, at 8 p.m. on
April 15 in the Ida Green
Theater, and American
cellist Peter Rejto 8 p.m.
Nov. 19 in the Ida Green
Theater.
The National Shakespeare
Company is scheduled to
present two productions in
Sherman. Richard II is set
for 8 p.m. Feb. 19 in the
Ida Green Theater and The
Tempest is set for 8 p.m.
Feb. 20.
, -Reason tickets are $18 for
adults and $9 for students.
Individual event tickets
range from $3 to $5 per
event.
Season tickets may be pur-
chased in Howe from
Barbara Gilstrap. She may
be contacted at her home,
532-6456, or at the Howe
State Bank, 532-5521.
Hearings Set On
The Legislative Redistrict-
ing Board, which will deter-
mine Senatorial representa-
tion for the next ten years,
will hold public hearings in
Austin on Sept. 24-25.
This is the only opportunity
individuals will have to ex-
press their opinions on State
Senatorial districts to this
board.
The hearings will be held in
the Senate Chamber of the
capitol building between
9:30 and 5:00 on Sept. 24
Redistricting
and 25, and will receive
comments regarding both
State Senate and House re-
apportionment plans.
Letters may be written on
the subject and will become
a part of permanent records
of this Board. They should
be addressed to: Lt. Gover-
nor William P. Hobby,
Chairman; Legislative Re-
districting Board; P.O. Box
12068; Austin, TX 78711.
ignored, “file a lawsuit”.
The notice contained no
political advertisement dis-
claimer as required by Art.
14.09A of the Texas Election
Code. This disclaimer should
contain the words “Political
advertising paid by - name
of group, person’s name as
designated treasurer, and a
complete address.” Failure
to properly identify political
advertising is a Class A
misdemeanor.
The notices were passed
out in downtown Howe by
Carol Cox on Thursday after-
noon and on Friday morning
Glynn Hestand was circula-
ting it in the south part of
town.
Mrs. Cox told the Howe
Enterprise that she wanted
the council “to do it right.
They have handbooks tp
follow and they are elected
to do it right.”
City attorney John Ellis
said it is the intention of the
city council to comply with
the law in adopting the bud-
get and setting the tax rate.
The council is proposing to
raise the tax rate about 114
percent in order to set up a
street department for street
repair and maintenance.
Council To Hold
Regular Meeting
The Howe City Council will
meet in regular session on
Thursdays Sept. 17, at 7
p.m. in the City Hall. The
meeting is open to the public
On the agenda are approval
of minutes and citizen
comments.
Under old business are:
policy clarification about ball
field usage for teams other
than the youth league and
health insurance.
Items under new business
include: 1) set date for tax
rate hearing for Sept. 25; 2)
Planning & Zoning recom-
mendation - Don Seelye -
Westgate Estates; 3) set
policy on cost of copies of
City Documents at $1 per
sheet; 4) set policy on citizen
comment time on agenda; 5)
set date for budget hearing
sept. 24; 6) appoint auditor;
7) adopt amended Budget
for FY 1980-81; 8) accept
resignation of Carrie Waller
from Library Board and
appoint Kathy Puckett to fill
vacancy; 9) accept resigna-
tion of Municipal Judge
David King and appoint
municipal judge; and 10) set
tax rate distribution (per-
centage for general fund,
sinking fund, rattan fund)
Also on the agenda are
departmental reports by Joe
Fenton and Ken Vickers.
THJ2 CHICKEN COOP restaurant is now open in
Collinsville at the Sale Block serving home style cooking.
Collinsville Cafe
Now Open
The Chicken Coop restau-
rant is now open in Collins-
ville at the Sale Block.
The Chicken Coop is open
six days a week, closed
Mondays, from 10 to 4.
Lunch is served from 11:30
to 1:00. Sandwiches are
available until 4.
Sue Snider of Gainesville,
owner, specializes in home
style cooking with a different
menu each day featuring
home made dessert.
It is a good place for family
gatherings. You can shop
and have lunch at the Sale
Block.
Paper Drive
The Howe Boy Scouts will Church for assignments,
hold a paper drive Saturday, Parents who can help are
Sept. 19, beginning at 9 requested to be there too.
a.m. Scouts will meet at the If it rains, the paper drive
First United Methodist will be postponed.
*****************„*„,
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Rideout, Lana. The Howe Enterprise (Howe, Tex.), Vol. 17, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 17, 1981, newspaper, September 17, 1981; Howe, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1015287/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .