Port Lavaca Wave (Port Lavaca, Tex.), Vol. 96, No. 197, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 30, 1987 Page: 1 of 10
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Calhoun County Area Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Calhoun County Public Library.
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MAT I 87
Thursday
JO 1‘ages, 1 Section
April 30, 1987
The family newspaper of dynamic Calhoun County!
96TH YEAR-NO. 197
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ALCOA FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND to a pit tire as
part of the company's biannual emergency response
training held Wednesday. The exercise helps to build
confidence, familiarity with equipment and technics
used in the event of a real emergency . < Staff photo by
Hick Welch 1
Sunset at 8:03 pm today.
Sunrise at 6 48 a m Friday
ed Jack
I Willie
tied the
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two run
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Inc runs
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By PAI I. I oft TN El
W«>r Mall Writer
Bv PAULCONATZER
Wit? Malt Writer
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By (HARLYN FINN
Hair Muff Hrilrr
Tides
Friday, a high of 1.5 ft. at 9:57
a m in Indianola, 9:52 a m in
Port O'Connor and 10:02 a m in
Port Lavaca; a low of -0.1 ft at
12:02a m . 12:32a tn and 12:22
Index
Agriculture
Classified
Comics
Deaths
Editorials
People's voice
Police beat
Sports
Wavelengths.
...3
8 9
...7
...2
...4
...2
...2
10
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UDI- I
Matagorda Bay.
However. Gersch said, the de-
mand lor disposal sites will soon
outstrip the available area
Private landowners contacted by
the department in its quest lor dona-
tions of upland disposal sites have
generally been negative to the pro-
posals
In its efforts to obtain donations,
the department has pointed out to
landowners the dredged materials
become the property ol the lan-
downer and can improve the value ol
property by raising the elevation
The dredged materials are also
rich in organic matter and, in most
areas, tree ol contaminants The
material can become prime
agricultural land alter it dries
Another benefit to landowners
from donating disposal sites is the
reduction in undesirable disposal of
spoil into the bays
Most ol the negative rcsjionses
Irom la ndw oners were because ol
prior commitments for leasing the
property or that spoil disposal would
interfere with planned use of the
land
Another common response was
the lack of tax abatements lor
donated disposal sites
Many ol the landow ners contacted
by the department would have been
willing to donate easements, but telt
il they were going to donate the pro-
perty Io the state they should be ex-
empted Irom paying property taxes
on the donated site
The department is supporting
legislation in the current session ol
the legislature to provide tax ex-
emptions lor landowners who donate
properly lor use as disposal sites
There are several state-owned
tracts along the* GIWW that would
make good disposal sites, but the
General Land Office is required by
law to charge a fee lor the use ol
Weather
Calhoun County
The high Wednesday was 85
with an overnight low of 64
Temperature at 9 a m. today
was 74. The Wave recorded no
rainfall in the last 24 hours
* York io,
I Brown?
non i o i,
I ab r h bi
Lb 4 2 10
L‘ 4013
lib 2 10 1
I If 3 I 1 I
I 4 0 12
Lib 5 0 0 0
3 0)0
k 2 110
I 3b 4 110
Cf 2 2 10
ph 1011
■
Calhoun County Independent
School District could lose $2 6
million and perhaps more as the
result of a ruling made by State
District Judge Harley Clark, accor-
ding to CCISD Superintendent Elvis
Arterbury, Ph D
Clark ruled that the Texas system
of distributing state money to public
schools discriminates against pro-
perty poor districts An injunction
has been filed to order the state to
change its current school funding
system.
Arterbury said that if Clark's rul-
ing is upheld, the impact of this rul
ing would “obviously be negative for
us (CCISD)." He said such a reform
could cost CCISD the rest of its state
foundation fund support
As a result of House Bill 72
reforms that sought to equalize
Texas public school education,
CCISD has already lost $3 2 million
in state aid CCISD is still among the
school districts receiving Texas
School Foundation Fund monies, but
because it is classified among the se-
cond loo richest school districts in
the state. CCISD is already receiv-
School finance
IM 47
75 ' 52'
72'
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By the time the impasse tietween
the state and federal governments
was resolved in 1983, the Legislature
had reduced funding lor tfie pro-
gram to cover administrative costs
only
Since 1983, the Legislature has
relused to appropriate funds to im-
plement the Texas Coastal Water
way Act ol 1975 which established
the highway department as the local
sponsor and instructed the depart
men! to carry out its mandate in an
“environmentally sate manner."
As a result ol the lack of funds, the
department has Iwen forced to seek
donated sites tor disposal ol the spoil
dredged from the canal during
routine maintenance operations
The department has succeeded in
obtaining some private land through
donations and the United Stales Fish
and W ildlite Service has donated the
use ol 155 acres in the Big Boggy Na
tional Wildlife Refuge in East
state lands under its control
Therefore, without funds being ap-
propriated by the legislature the
department cannot obtain leases on
state-owned property for use as
disposal sites
Gersch said the lead time lor ob-
taining new disposal sites varies
along the length of the waterway
The department, under the act, is
also responsible for making sure the
spoil is disposed of in an en-
vironmentally safe manner that
does not harm existing wetlands
The Corps has similar restrictions
on spoil disposal areas
In the area of the canal within the
critical habitat boundary for the en
dangered whooping crane, no spoil
disposal project can damage the
feeding grounds of the cranes
The cranes primarily feed on
clams and other wetlands shellfish
while in the Aransas refuge and the
(Please see Waterway. Page 2)
4' -;F
Area forecasts
Through tonight, con-
siderable late night and early
morning cloudiness, otherwise
partly cloudy. The low
temperatures will be in the mid
6U's and the highs will reach up
into the mid 80’s South winds
blowing at 10 to 15 mph
The forecast for the upper
Texas coast from Port Arthur to
Port O'Connor calls for
southeast winds near 10 knots
with the seas at 2 to 4 feet Fri
day, southwest winds at 10 to 15
knots and seas 3 to 5 tret.
A?®
A shortage ol spoil disposal sites is
threatening the luture ol the Gull In
tracoastal Waterway (GIWW) in
Texas, according to a study by the
Texas Department of Highways and
Public Transportation.
While the U.S Army Corps ol
Engineers is responsible lor the
maintenance of th«- GIWW, local
sponsors must provide all ol the
lands needed tor maintenance at no
cost to the federal government
The Texas legislature in 1975
designated the highway department
as the local sponsor replacing
several local port authorities and
navigation districts in that role
A required federal indemnity
policy resulted in an impasse Irom
1975 until 1983 that prevented the
highway department Irom spending
funds to acquire disposal sites
ly Attendance Option (Option C).
Today, after learning Clark ruled
in favor of the property poor school
district's request for a massive state
fund shift. Arterbury said that
CCISD stands to lose a lol more than
ail of its foundation fund monies
He said his greater concern is that
if Clark's ruling stands, this could
lead to the formation of regional ap-
praisal districts This would mean
that all of the school districts within
a region (In CCiSD's case, Region
111) would share a property tax
base The regional appraisal district
would collect the taxes and
distribute the tax dollars to the
school districts within the region
If the taxpayers wanted to spend
the same amount of tax dollars per
child as it has in the past. CCISD
would have to impose a self tax
According to the CCISD ad-
ministration, if the Clark ruling
stands, local taxpayers will begin
paying for children's education in
other school districts along with the
education of their own children
In addition to having the tax struc-
ture restructured and the taxpayers
possibly paying education costs, in
addition to local education costs.
Superintendent Arterbury indicates
the local taxpayers may next year
shoulder the burden of all of the H B
72 mandates Tuesday night he in-
dicated that neither the legislature
or Governor Bill Clements has in-
dicated plans to back off from H B.
72 reforms. However, so far, funding
for 22:1 maximum class size pro-
gram and teacher salaries are not
included in the proposed budgets of
Gov. Clements, the state House or
Senate.
Arterbury indicated he did not
know how much the 22 1 would cost
the school district.
He said the school district would
have to pay local dollars totaling
$455,120 for teacher staff snfarres
This would cost the taxpayer- $2 64
per $100 tax dollars
Other new local costs have arisen
in the school district. Arterbury
said They include $40,000 for a
special education bus. an unan-
ticipated $28,000 for property tn
surance. $200,000 for facility paint,
$205,000 for student desks (most ol
the desks in CCISD are 30-40 years
old and the newer ones are 20 years
old, according to Finance Director
Wailecki $10,400 for instructional
materials and $35,000 lor audio-
visual equipment These expen-
ditures total $518,400. according to
Arterbury, and would cost the tax-
payers $3 01 per $100 dollars
Arterbury said the cost of the H.B.
72 mandates would raise CCISD
taxes 7.52 percent, if the mandates
must be funded solely by local tax
dollars.
Thought for today: Money
can be lost in more ways than
won." —Unknown
fll
3K y-
- BMI
Houston
HR KHcr
mg considerably less foundation
funds than it received prior to 1984
CCISD taxpayers, in fact, pay for
80 percent of their children's educa-
tion versus taxpayers in poorer
districts paying about 67 percent, ac-
cording to statistics from the office
of CCISD Finance Director
Sylvester Walleck, Ed.D
Before Clark's ruling, CCISD has
already been looking at loss of in-
come threats According to pro-
jected numbers from the Texas
Education Agency, CCISD would
have to raise its taxes from 10 79
percent to 22 94 percent, if the
legislature adopts one of three pro-
posed options for reducing public
school education aid.
The TEA projections were an-
nounced at the CCISD board of
trustee meeting Tuesday night. John
Kizirian, a member of the Calhoun
County Taxpayers Association pre-
sent at the meeting, said that he had
talked to Gov Bill Clements, who
had informed him the schools would
not lose as much as TEA projected
Arterbury. using TEA projections,
said Tuesday night that CCISD could
lose $422,639 under program Option
A, $1,995,510 under the local fund
assignment option (Option B) or
$978,104 under the Per Average Dai-
|)IU 4UU 7
k'l 231 8
CCISD predicting cuts
following court ruling
illegal by judge
AUSTIN iAP Texas public
school financing, a joint state local
effort, has been declared illegal
because students in one part of the
state don't get the same educational
opportunities as those in another
"One of dismay," said Gov. Bill
Clement when asked his reaction
when told of Wednesday's unex-
pected ruling by State District Judge
Harley Clark.
"I'm not exactly sure what we do
at this point," Clements told
reporters
Clements and other officials said
the state probably would appeal to
the Austin Court of Appeals.
Legislators began talking about
changing the school district to
equalize the taxable property wealth
in each
Another hearing will be held
before Clark on May 11 to determine
if an injunction is needed to enforce
the order
Clark's decision set aside the pre-
sent system “w ith all due respects to
history and to the Legislature for its
recent generous and thoughtful ef-
forts to rectify this situation. '
Education Commissioner William
Kirby said the state over the past 15
years had increased state spending
on public education from $1.1 billion
in 1972 to more than $5 billion this
year.
"We remain convinced that the
Texas system of public school
finance meets the constitutional
tests of equity," Kirby said
The suit, which began Jan. 20, was
filed by 67 property-poor districts
who claimed the present system was
discriminatory
The state was supported in the 2'2
month trial by 48 other districts.
POINT COMFORT The firelighters advanced
slowly on the fire, using the jets ot water as a shield
Oily, thick, black smoke filled the an and the heat
was intense, it appeared to tie an industrial lire ot
major proportion
However, it was a just a drill Every six months.
Alcoa s own tire department holds training sessions
at their fire training field The company has had a
fire department since the plant was established in the
1950s
"We've got an oil pit, rescue tower, and a Christ
mas tree." Norris Neeley, Alcoa's fire protection and
worker's compensation chief, said. Christmas Trees
are used to simulate gas leak tires They are called
Christmas Trees because they look like bare
C hristmas Trees, but they shoot out streams of
ignited propane which must be controlled by the
firefighters.
We use the rescue tower to practice emergency
rescues. It's got switch-back, and barrel ladders, a
I'.Jlion students
Clark noted that these school
districts were created and
developed without “any rational or
articulated policy." As a result, he
said, there is a pattern of a wide
variation of taxable property wealth
per pupil among the districts.
Clark said the state had maintain
ed during the trial that there was no
direct relation between school spen-
ding and learning by students, as
reflected by achievement tests given
Texas students.
“This court, however, does not sit
to resolve disputes over educational
theory but to enforce our constitu-
tion," Clark said
“If one district has more access to
funds than another district, the
wealthier one will have the best
ability to fulfill the needs of its
students, " he said
Clark did not order a redistricting
of school boundaries, but state and
legislative officials immediatley
began talking about that possibility
"This lengthy trial has pointed out
there were some discrepancies bet-
ween the very poorest and the very
wealthiest school districts in the
state. For the vast majority,
however, equity exists,” Kirby said
Albert Kauffman, attorney for a
group of property-poor districts,
suggested that the requested injunc-
tion give the state three to six mon-
ths to begin operating a constitu-
tional school finance system.
But assistant attorney general
Kevin O'Hanlon said it "is silly to
ask for an injunction You would
have to enjoin the Legislature, but 1
don't think they can do that because
the Legislature is not a party to this
lawsuit.”
Jim Turner, who represents a
(Please see Finance. Page 2)
Alcoa firefighters prepared
to deal with major disasters
the side ot the tower." Neeley said "We simulate the
rescue of people with broken limbs and burns We
have people monitoring vital signs. It s not the real
thing but it's as close as we can get," he added
Alcoa's fire department consists ot 40 members,
drawn from the electricians, maintenance workers,
and instrument technicians who work rotating shifts
at the plant. "It works out so that there are at least 10
qualifed trained tirefighters at the plant on all
shifts,” Neeley said
The training session is divided into two sessions
a morning session and an afternoon session The
firelighters are split into two groups with about 20
taking part in each session
The first drill in the afternoon session was the
Christmas Tree drill In this drill, the firelighters had
to control a gas tire so someone could turn off the
valve that controlled the gas
"We run each crew through this drill three to tour
times," Neeley said
According to Neeley, in this drill the firefighters
use a water pattern called a full-fog protective pat-
l(auwl9 „ ,t’rn T)**8 pattern blankets the tire and allows the r
tank-car simulation, and we practice rappeling down (Please see Alcoa, Page 2) Texas has a total of almost 1,100 Jim Turner, who represen
----———--1 public school districts with about 3 (Please see Finance. Page 2
Spoil disposal sites needed for GIWW
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Surber, Chester C. & Fulghum, Gary. Port Lavaca Wave (Port Lavaca, Tex.), Vol. 96, No. 197, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 30, 1987, newspaper, April 30, 1987; Port Lavaca, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1280582/m1/1/?q=lumber+does+its+stuff: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Calhoun County Public Library.