The Llano News (Llano, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 11, 2000 Page: 1 of 26
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Llano County Library
102 E Haynie
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Llano TX 78643
Volume 112 No. 31
LA NO N EWS
Thursday, May 11,2000
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500
Llano, Texas 78643
www.hillcountrytexas.com
26 pages 2 sections
County gets $2.8 million from THC
Courthouse to be restored with
funds from state-wide initiative
Llano County was among 19
s^g£ted by the Texas Historical
Commission (THC) to receive
grant funding for courthouse res-
toration.
Matching grants totaling more
than $42 million were awarded
to 19 counties to restore and pre-
serve their historic county court-
houses.
The Llano County Courthouse,
built before the turn of the cen-
tury, received $2.86 million to be
used for restoration. According
to Llano County Judge, J.P.
Dodgen, a large portion of the
money will be spent on the exte-
rior, including replacement of
the roof.
“We are responsible for 15 per-
cent in matching funds,” Dodgen
said. “Seven and a half percent
can be in in-kind services and
seven and a half will be in cash.”
The in-kind services include
some work that has already
taken place, such as an engineer-
ing study and master plan or-
dered by the Commissioners
Court last fall.
Other counties tq receive funds
include Atascosa. Bexar, Donley,
Ellis, Erath, Gray, Grimes,
Hopkins, Lampasas, Lee, Mav-
erick, Milam, Presidio, Rains,
Red River, Shackelford, Sutton
and Wharton.
“We applied for a little over $3
million and we got $2.86,”
Dodgen said. “I’m not sure what
part was kicked out.”
Dodgen said that among
completion of the project, which
is scheduled to start in the be-
ginning of 2001, the entire sec-
ond floor will be reverted to
courtroom space, including
judges chambers, client/attorney
rooms and a larger courtroom
The first floor will consist solely
of county judges offices.
“The courthouse will be solely
judicial again," Dodgen said
However, the newly remodeled
downstairs rest rooms will re-
main and the entire building will
be ADA approved, according to
the master plan
“Historic courthouses are a pro-
found reminder of the spirit and
vision of our ancestors,” said
THC Executive Director Larry
Oaks. “Today, it is our responsi-
bility to honor this irreplaceable
legacy by empowering local com-
munities to use preservation as
a way to promote heritage tour-
ism and revitalize local econo-
mies.”
The Texas Courthouse Preser-
vation Program was created in
1999 by Gov. George W. Bush and
the Texas Legislature to distrib-
ute $50 million in matching
grants to Texas counties for the
restoration of their historic
courthouses. It represents the
largest and most far reaching
historic preservation initiative
ever conceived by a state govern-
ment.
The grant recipients will sub-
mit architectural plans and
specifications for improvements
on the courthouse to the THC.
In a Monday meeting of the
Commissioners Court, it was
announced by Regina Eldridge,
Executive Director of the Llano
Chamber of Commerce, that a
fall concert has been scheduled
as a fund raiser for courthouse
preservation
Franklin, Yates,
Franklin win
council seats
Incumbents Randolph
Franklin and Joe David
Yates along with newcomer
Sarah Franklin won seats on
the Llano City Council Sat-
urday.
A reported 476 ballots were
cast, accounting for 22 per-
cent of the city’s registered
voters.
R. Franklin will be serving
his third term as Yates be-
gins his second.
Monday, May 15, all three
will take their oath of office
at the regular meeting of the
Llano City Council.
The following are results of
the elections in order of most
votes:
SARAH FRANKLIN 265
JOE DAVID YATES 246
RANDOLPH FRANKLIN 234
ESTHER LAIRD 217
TERRY MIKIJLENKA 203
Body of
Tow man
recovered
Three days after his disappear-
ance in Lake Buchanan, Llano
County EMS recovered the body
of a Tow man who drowned Sun-
day, April 30, near Cedar Point.
The body of John Lester Moore
was found Wednesday, May 3
just about 50 yards from where
he was reported to have entered
the water.
According to a report from the
Llano County Sheriff’s office,
Moore was helping an individual
recover a loose boat and decided
to swim to shore. He was not
seen again. According to wit-
nesses, he managed to swim
about 50 yards before going un-
der.
At about 3 p.m. Sunday Llano
County EMS received a report
that a man had jumped out of his
boat off of Cedar Point in Tow to
swim ashore.
Texas Parks and Wildlife War-
ddtls began dragging the lake
Sunday evening and continued
throughout the day Monday be-
fore calling off the search due to
darkness.
According to wardens, several
trot lines and other fishing lines
had to be cleared before divers
took to the water Tuesday.
Divers found the body Wednes-
day. Moore, 35, was pronounced
dead at the scene by Justice of
the Peace LA Stephenson.
The slide
This member of the Dairy Queen T-ball team is safe at home after sliding in while a helpful catcher for the Golden Fried Chicken team holds the bat out of the
way. this past weekend, a full day of games were played at the annual Llano Little League barbecue. (See photo spread on Page 17)
Court sets time frame for bank reconciliations
Llano County Commissioners
voiced the need for urgency in
the treasurer’s office to complete
its bank records reconciliations.
Recently, the court held a spe-
cial meeting to address a prob-
lem with reconciling some of the
county’s bank accounts. At that
time, an outside auditing firm
was hired to help get the process
underway and complete.
In Monday’s regular meeting of
the court, Treasurer Dianna
Cummings requested permis-
sion for overtime pay for county
employees to work in her office
to help with the reconciliations.
She explained that a recent
change is computer systems
stemmed the need for additional
help.
“In October, we had the books
balanced in Quicken,”
Cummings told commissioners.
“Now we have the Apallo System
on line and the ch ange over is a
very slow process.”
The court denied the overtime
pay but encouraged Cummings
to seek temporary help with
budgeted funds.
Cummings also explained that
one of her employees recently
transferred to another depart-
ment and she is short one. She
said it would be June 1 before
the position is likely to be filled.
“You have some money avail-
able to hire some help on a tem-
porary basis,” said County Judge
J.P. Dodgen.
The court agreed that the situ-
ation should be cleared by June
1
“We really need you to under-
stand the urgency of this mat-
ter,” said Commissioner Bill
Kinney.
In other action, the court heard
a report from Regina Eldridge,
Executive Director of the Llano
Chamber of Commerce that a
benefit concert has been set for
September to help with court
house restoration.
“We’re going to have Pat Green
and Cory Morrow booked for
September 23,” Eldridge said.
“The concert will be held at the
(Llano Economic Development
Corporation) property across
from the rodeo arena ”
The chambers is also attempt-
ing to book Robert Earl Keen,
who is a major draw for younger
audiences. Plans are to hold an
all-day, outdoor concert from 1
p.m. until midnight.
Eldridge said that if things go
well, she expects that as much
as $50,000 could be raised for
courthouse restoration.
LISD shows
savings from
incentives .
The retirement of 17 individu-
als from Llano ISD will result in
savings to the budge of more
than $430,000, according to a
report from Superintendent
Jack Patton.
Recently, after the school board
approved a retirement incentive
to employees who qualified, 14
teachers and three administra-
tors decided to step down. To
date, three fourths of the posi-
tions have been filled
“For the most part, we’ve hired
teachers with five years experi-
ence or less," Patton said “We
feel like we’ve made some good
choices.”
Patton said that with the lower
levels of experience come lower
pay scales. In the first year, even
with paying the retirement in-
centive, the district will realize
a savings of about $126,563.
However, until all of the posi-
tions are filled, Patton said he
won’t know the extent of payroll
savings.
The incentive program paid
teachers 75 percent of their an-
nual Salaries over the course of
five years. That amount comes
to $117,874 per year The total
payroll with the incentives and
retirements is $3,492,518, with-
out is $3,929,151
Coc<^
• Thursday, May 11 the
Llano High School Concert
Band will perform in the au-
ditorium. The spring concert
will begin at 7 p m Also,
there will be a drawing for a
television set as part of a
fund-raising raffle
• A retirement receptions
has been slated for May
17 at the Llano Junior High
Cafetorium from 3:30-5:30
p.m.
Seventeen long-time faculty
and staff members are retir-
ing this year and the school
administration decided to
recognize them for the years
of service.
Retirees include: Ken
Barington, LaNell Cham-
pion, Frances Costner, Carol
Dodgen, Brenda Fleming,
Candace Hauser, All Jewell,
Neva Kemper, Billie Laning,
Lynn Mosier, Joan Myers,
Judith Robbins, James
Saucier, Anna Shipp, Sally
Steinpreis, Zee Underwood
and Mary Ruth Wallis.
Tl>e Llano News
Online
www.hillcountrvtexas.coni
• State Golf and Track and
Field Results for Llano
Athletes.
WEATHER
MAY 2000
High Low
Rain
May 2
76
55
.35
May 3
83
55
.00
May 4
84
68
.00
May 5
85
64
.00
May 6
91
69
.00
May 7
92
67
.00
May 8
93
66
.00
Rain this week:
.35
Rain this month:
1.78
Total for year: 2000
7.87
Data collected by Luke Rogers,
Wolf Mountain Ranch, Llano,
Texas.
FORECAST
Courtesy of Bob Rose,
LCRA Meteorologist
Thursday:
Late night and early morning
low clouds and hot.
Fridoy-Soturday:
Partly cloudy skies with a
slight chance for afternoon
thunderstorms. High near 92.
River Flow
Llano River flowing at
107 CFS as of Tuesday
Deaths:
Richard Lloyd Harlan
Lewis C. Wkldon
Lahoma White
Garland Franklin Wheatley
John Lester Moor
a»o>t»r>»2 |
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Stephenson, Jimmy. The Llano News (Llano, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 11, 2000, newspaper, May 11, 2000; Llano, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1038123/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Llano County Public Library.