El Campo Leader-News (El Campo, Tex.), Vol. 99B, No. 42, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 15, 1984 Page: 1 of 38
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Wharton County Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Wharton County Library.
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1
(didders
6Get After It'
— Page 1-B
Bond Financing OKed
—Page 3-A
Opening Day Jitters—Page 2-C
Break in'
Accelerates
—Page Id)
Leader- N e ws
VOLUME 99-B NUMBER 42
77437
El Campo, Texas, Wednesday, August 15, 1984
25 CENTS
6 SECTIONS 56 PAGES
|,-N IMioto by Nancy
It liter Works
El Campo firefighters give a new hose the water pressure test Monday
night behind the fire station. Herman Novak, emergency service super-
visor. adjusts the pressurt while keeping his feet dry. Johnny Staff, train-
ing officer, stands ready to assist. Many of the 51 volunteer firefighters
were present for the training sesson. The group tested two new hoses, one
a 5(H) foot 24 inch size, the other a 1(H) foot 14 inch hose.
Asbestos
Ed SI) Found Free And Clear
By CYNTHIA L. MILLER
The persistence of a school
employee recently exposed
erroneous asbestos test
results, saving the El Campo
Independent School District
thousands of dollars which
would have been spent to
remove or encapsulate
friable asbestos which does
not exist.
Recent polarized light
microscopy tests show there
is no friable asbestos in any
ECISD building, contrary to
earlier analysis by phase
contrast microscopy, which
indicated more than 40.(MX) sq
ft of asbestos.
Thomas U. Hollis, ECISD
maintenance director, ap-
parently knew all along there
was no asbestos in any
ECISD campus, although two
preliminary tests were
positive for the substance.
On June 14, 1983,I.awrence
I) Simoneaux of Asbestos
Management Systems< AMS)
of Texas, which conducted
the first tests, told ECISD
trustees that about 45,200 sq.
ft of material containing
friable asbestos was in
ECISD He apparently did not
tell the school board that
phase contrast microscopy is
not specific for asbestos.
Using this information,
trustees had set aside $50.0(H)
in the 1983-84 budget for
asbestos removal or en-
capsulation Estimated cost
ol removal would have been
about $17 per sq ft., or
$714,(MM>. according to Dr. Joe
Thedford, assistant
superintendent for finance
and support services. Hollis
said this is a conservative
estimate.
“By the time you got all of
it out, you would have gutted
those rooms,” Hollis said.
Strict EPA guidelines for
removal would have added to
the cost.
The first test used 22
samples from Hutchins
Elementary, Nort hside
Elementary, Southside
Kindergarten, El Campo
Junior High and El Campo
High Scnool. All hulk samples
showed some asbestos, from
a low of 5-10 percent at
Northside’s cafeteria to a
high of 30-40 percent in room
E-12of the high school.
E< 1S1) posted notices at the
campuses informing students
and teachers that asbestos
was present However, school
board members anticipated
further regulations requiring
encapsulation (covering) or
removal of asbestos, and
were prepared to spend the
necessary money.
Hollis went to Superin-
tendent Bill Dowden and
Thedford, insisting that no
asbestos was present in those
buildings “Hollis contended
that he felt the testing done
was invalid, based on his
experience,” Thedford said
Hollis’ father, Thomas E
Hollis, was the contractor
hired to build the second floor
of the “E” building at ECUS.
“He (the younger Hollis) was
there the day they poured the
insulating material in 1959,”
Thedford said. “He
remembered the brand
name, and there was no
asbestos in it .”
Hollis found the original
architect’s specifications for
ECUS, Northside and Hut-
chins Those specifications
called for use of Zonolite or
Vermiculite.
Hollis contacted the
manufacturers of these
brands, and found that
Zonolite is "a natural oc-
curring ore containing
magnesium iron and
aluminum silica.” Ver-
miculite is also naturally-
occurring. a clay-like
material.
Thedford added that Hollis
had “first hand knowledge”
of the specifications drawn
for the second floor, and those
w ere identical to specs for the
first floor of the high school
and to those used in Hutchins
and Northside.
Thus alerted, ECISD asked
AMS to run a second test,
identical to the first, on six
samples from the same
rooms These tests showed
much higher levels of
asbestos, from 40 to 70 per-
cent per bulk sample,
although samples were Irom
the same areas of the iden-
tical rooms.
“We knew right there
i See \SBESTOS. Page 2)
Mayor Delays Hearing On Rezoning Proposal
Bn CYNTIII \ L. MILLER
A public rezoning hearing
was tabled until Aug 27 by
Mayor Cecil Davis, although
a number of local citizens
were on hand to speak
against the rezoning
Councilmen David Zalman.
Philip Miller and Travis
Raun were absent, so Davis
asked for a motion to delay
the public hearing “1 think
we serve the interest of the
city better when we vote with
all present. Davissaid
The controversy involves
lots 7-12, block 5 of Hardey
Addition .John Drozd Jr has
asked for a rezoning of that
property from R 1 single
family residential to "C l.
commercial. The El Campo
Planning Commission has
made no recommendation
According to City Attorney
Richard Collins, if 2<i percent
of the property owners in the
area 1 w ithin 2(H) yards i ot the
property sign a petition
against the rezoning, such
rezoning must be approved
by three-quarters of the city
council. “I interpret that to
mean that all councilmen
must vote,’ he said The city
has received such a petition
Davis appointed a com
mittee of himself and
councilmen Walter Ely and
Melvin “Bubba" Parker to
iron out an agreement for
garbage pickup at Country
Aire Mobile Home Park
Alter numerous hearing1'
VS barton County Com-
missioners Court came up
with .i proposed 1985 budget
that would allow for a 5
percent ad valorem tax
dot i ea s»
It s ,i long cry from the 20
I■ ■ 11 ent dei te,isi |,t, 1 b\
( outiiy Judge Ed Will hr m ti
i arbei in Hu \e«r tint John
Grigat Precinct 2 corn
inisMonrr said It wet ut it
loo tiMit h then wt would |U't
Wuthrich -aid the pi.
I.ii k is to rMtie *■ tin
rate gradually to reduce
|Missibilitles lor any drastic
increase This way we can
bold it down lor the next three
to lour y ears (»rig.ir said
Promised ellective tax rate
t h< tax rate needed to raise
the -aine amount ot revenue
,i' last veal (lastsI on Hus
Neat s valuation was set at
in ft; cents pet Jkl*h» ol
N aluat loll I tie pi oposed
.n tii.il tax i at* would tit* i< i
i cot - |h*r lion
I tie i outitn s workable lax
11,i is k I • tall ioii
| ao iiew lull'll, one a It e«id\
.ippioxetl ••rid tta ottiei 'till
the city’s comprehensive
sewer and drainage plan
Mercer also presented a
reimbursement agreement
for improvements along St
Lukes Drive in relation to
Ouail Hollow Subdivision
Councilmen accepted
improvements to Town and
Country Drive from the west
right-oi way line of My alt
I«me to the east right of way
line ot West Loop The closing
hearing will be Aug 27 at the
regular council meeting
Lundy presented an
estimate shirt on improving
Avenue < from Norris Street
to Highway 71 An overlay on
that section would cost
tentative, have been added to
next year s proposed budget
Added to the county payroll
will be a registered county
engineer who will !«■ paid a
salary of no more than
t U (MMI
Pi iqioscd i i county w id*
bridge and diainage I nod it
$1 million tti.it would t*
(list 11buted ac cording 111
pi iof ity w it tun the < ount •
instead of individual
pl ec III't -
It ttoped ••-tablishiiu'ht ol
I|k hitter loud n ill help hi Oo
down the i.i'li halam *
$lit,(MM) Hot mix paving,
scarifying existing material,
would cost $30,300; the same
paving with removal of
existing material would cost
$51,550 Complete curt) and
gutter paving would cost the
city $115,920
Davis asked that this item
be put on the Aug 27 agenda,
so that the work could
possibly be done before
(ictobei it council so decides
Lundy reported that the
city has painter! the interior
ot tlie community center and
made other improvements.
Council will meet again
tomorrow night at 8 p m to
discuss health insurance
Wuthrich said he projects a
surplus operating fund* of
W million tor the e\d of
198., Establishment of the
lund will also keep the tax
rule from t*emg reduced
di .isti« ally
Wuthrich also said a 5
I* ii cot ,ii in - the Ihuird pay
ii,ci ca -e I or count y ern
I , i i ini hi |tot .lied ill the
II ,' I get p.i i k.ig'
i -i mi,it'll .ippropi is lions
i., i v i 'Ol non Mm e
.in,.itim m tin pfupuscit
,, ' tiudgel will be
'< polled in Saturday h
I < ut• i New-
7 ut or in Is Ii etptirrd
For Failing Pupils
Tutorials tor lading students wilt In* implemented by El
Campo Independent School District iH ginnmg this ve.ir
as mandated by the new curriculum law and will tie rc
quired tor students in grades l 12 who arc making la*low
7o in any subject area
Pat Rogers .issistant superintendent for instruction
presented a plan for implementation at last night »school
lioard meeting The plan will designate tutorials during
the m Imm'I day at Hutchins Elementary Northsid*
Elementary and K I < arrqu. Junior High s< hr ml EM arrq«
S< II'M'I I*4g*
City Manager Robert
Lundy told council the city is
trying to phase out time-
based garbage pickup, which
had been used in mobile home
parks and other businesses
Lundy asked Ruby Bunton.
owner ot Country Aire, to
choose between containerized
pickup or curbside pickup
Bunton s attorney. Karen
Meinardus. contended that
the streets within the park
are privately owned, and
therefore the city cannot
mandate emit a men zed
pickup
Council also voted to ap
prove a decrease of 27 cents
per MCE in the gas rate by
Entex, effective Aug 1 This
w ill lower the gas rate for an
average customer alniut $1 40
per month.
In other business, council
approved a contract with
John Mercer to compile a
study and report for
providing sewer service to
approximately 54 acres of
undeveloped property located
east of Ires Palacios Creek,
south of Chapel I^ine and
west of Meadow Cm*k ditch,
and the potential impact on
Norris Street and Eifth Street
lilt stations
Council agreed to pay
Mercer $4.5<mi tor the study,
which will Ih* an addition to
County May Decrease Tax Rate
|
Ilf |til I
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Barbee, Chris. El Campo Leader-News (El Campo, Tex.), Vol. 99B, No. 42, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 15, 1984, newspaper, August 15, 1984; El Campo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1018278/m1/1/?q=library+literature+and+Information+Science: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Wharton County Library.