The Bastrop County Times (Smithville, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 1, 1976 Page: 1 of 24
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\hm 14-July 4***
Mj.crofi.ln banter, lac,
P. 0. Box 45436 .
Dallas, Texas 75235
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VOL. 85, NO. 27
S£7? VING: SMITHVILLE, BASTROP. ELGIN and ALL BASTROP COUNTY
THE BASTROP COUNTY TIMES, SMITHVILLE, TEXAS 78957
THURSDAY, JULY 1.1976
BICENTENNIAL MESSAGE
Judge Declines To Rule In Suit
THE COUNTY - Presid-
ing judge Wiliper Hunt
declined to make a ruling
Monday, June 28, in 21st
District Court in the suit
concerning the annexation "of
the Paige Independent
School District to Bastrop
Independent School District.
After hearing lengthy
testimony from numerous
witnesses. Judge Hunt
asked for letters from the
attorneys containing cita-
tions in reference to statutes
and laws pertaining to the
jurisdiction in this case.
Judge Hunt stated that his
decision would be forthcom-
ing as soon as possible.
Michael Simmang,
attorney for the petitioners,
attempted to prove that the
Bastrop County School
Board had acted illegally, in
annexing Paige ISD to
Bastrop ISD. Simmang also
contended ' that Bastrop
County Judge Jack Griesen-
beck had not acted appropri-
ately in not calling an elec-
tion among voters of the
Paige Independent School
District. •-
Judge Griesenbeck
expressed his sentiments by
stating, "My intention as
county judge in this case was
to do what the law required
me to do. In my opinion an
election at this point would
have been moot. My inter-
pretation of the law gave the
Bastrop County School
Board jurisdiction to de-
cide."
Simmang pressed Judge
Griesenbeck further and
asked if he had discussed the
annexation with Paige
constituents. Griesenbeck
responded by stating that the
incut that he had received
from Paige had been for
coming to Bastrop. He also
stated that he did not want to
see the Paige land go to
another county but he
elaborated further and
commented, "What I
thought personally had
nothing to do with my
decision in the matter. Anv
action made was determined
by the laws involved.'*
Many residents of Paige
summoned by Simmang
were present at the hearing
and ready to give their
opinion on which school
district they wanted to join.
They were not allowed to
testify, however, and
Judge Hunt
fortunately,
stated,
maybe,
"Un-
the
ics
pie
people don't count in these
\matters."
A ruling on the plea will
be forthcoming later next
' week after Judge Hunt has
had time to review the letters
of citations from the at-
torneys.
Sheriff Hires New Personnel
THE COUNTY -- Bastrop
County Sheriff Jimmy Nutt
announced last week a
number of personnel
number of personnel chan-
ges in his department, all
coming as a result of Weldon
Dixon's leaving the Sheriff's
Office to become Smithville
Chief of Police.
Sonny Brookshire, a
deputy hired under the
federally-funded CETA
program, was moved into
the place vacated by Dixon.
And because the CETA grant
to the department has been
extended another six
months, not only has Melvin
Barnes been retained as a
CETA deputy, but John
Corbett has been hi^ed as the
other CETA deputy.
Corbett comes to the
Sheriff's Office with a major
in criminology from SWTSU.
He has previously served as
a dispatcher in the office.
The federal government
has been paying the office an
extra $2 per day per federal
prisoner housed in the
Bastrop County Jail, a pro-
vision thai in the past three
months had^generated some
$1100 additional revenue for
the office. As a result, Nutt
has engaged John Martinez,
22_a health and educational
administration major, as a
correctional officer in the
jail. Aiding him will be
Tommy Hemphill, acting as
assistant correctional
officer and dispatcher, and
Linda Trigg, legal matron.
All three have been depu-
tized, including Ms. Trigg,
the first black female deputy
in Bastrop County.
Nutt commented on his
deputizing Ms. Trigg by
saying, "If 1 had a violent
female on my hands, I
wouldn't hesitate to use her
and I know she'd be able to
handle it."
BASTROP -- The' work
crew cleaning up in Bastrop
under the supervision of
Mayor Makes
Bicentennial
Proclamation
SMITHVILLE -- Smithville
Mayor Lawrence Skelley
has declared the week of
July 4 through July 10 as
Smithville Bicentennial
Week.
The mayor signed the
proclamation on June 21
which also endorsed all
patriotic celebrations and
activities within the weeks of
June 27 through July 10,
1976. Especially mentioned
was the nationwide bell
ringing at 1:00 p.m. on
July 4 in commemoration of
the American Revolution
Bicentennial.
Skejley's proclamation
also recognized Smithville's
having been endorsed as a
national and a Texas Bicen-
Dutch Shultz has made some
marked improvements
around the city.
"We have received a lot oi
compliments from merchants
in the downtown , area and
from a lot of citizens in
general, in reference to the
work being done by the
young men working under
the supervision of Dutch
Schultz," Mayor James P.
Sharp reported this week.
"The young men arc
coming to work at 7 a.m. and
getting the streets cleaned
prior to the day's traffic and
also improving the approach-
es at intersections and at the
same time re-installing some
of the traffic control Signs
throughout the city," the
mayor said.
County Meetings
Scheduled
THE COUNTY - Three
tennial city, and its having meetings open to the public
been awarded the Janie and of interest to county
Briscoe Bicentennial Grand voters are scheduled this
Award of 1975 for having the week:
best planned Bicentennial Monday. July 5, 7:30
program hi the state. p.m.--Paige School Board,.
J
Paige School Building.
Tuesday, July 6. 8:00
p.m.-Elgin School Board,
EISD Administrative Build-
ing,
Tuesday, July 6, 7:30
p.m.-Elgin City Council,
Elgin City Hall
Robert Martinez has also
been hired to work in the
Sheriffs Office during the
summer months as a dis-
patcher.
Obviously pleased that the/
grants have been continued
and the ; extra funding
allowed-for federal prison-
ers,, Nutt beamed, "I did all
this and it : didn't cost the
county a red penny."
Bastrop Council
Action Postponed
" BASTROP - With only
three councilmen present,
the Bastrop City Council met
Thursday, June 24, at 10
a.m. to render decisions on
Entex Gas Company's
request for a base rat® hike
'The way Ijsee it, if we give
"them 85* now and they come
back in $ix months for
another 85?, we're not too
far from'$2.25 anyway."
' Onlythe' briefest discus-
sion preceded the council's
of 85* and CCA's request for , decision to, deny CCA any
$4,000 of revenue sharing funds -whatsoever. Gordon,
saying, "Why doesn't the
federal government fund
them?"'made the motion to
give CCA no funds. The
motion passed unanimously.
Cox requested and re-
ceived the council's approval
to sell the city's police car
with a worn-out transmission
for $30C, and to hire the
niVersal Company to string
wire
out Hwy 71 -for approximate-
ly $2700. I A 5300 kwh
maximum use estimate for
LCRA was also approved.
The Bastrop City Council
will next meet in regular
session on Monday, July 12.
SMITHVILLE -- The Board
of Directors of the Smithville
Hospital Authority met in
regular session Tuesday,
June 22 to approve the
amended budget and dis-
cuss insurance coverage and
the bond issue.
The board voted unani-
mously to accept the budget
DELIBERATION - The Bastrop City Council debated long and thoroughly over the pro-
posed Entex base rate hike. Because of the absence of two members, any decision was
postponed until they would be present. Times Photo
Bastrop Starts Clean - Up
"Our plans are to get
every ditch and intersection
in the city cleaned and
cleared during the next two
months and hopefully they
will remain that way for
awhile, it is hard to keep up
the grass the way our rights
of way are grown up."
"If the citizens have a
special project that is
important to them during the
time these youngsters are
working contact should be
made with Dutch, who in
turn will schedule it as best
he can," the mayor said.
The men working are Billy
Aldridge, Victor Clemons,
Randy Boone, James Evans,
Michael Franklin, and
Fonest McMarion, accord-
ing to the mayor.
funds. .
After considerable discus-
sion with Entex District
Manager Overstreet,
councilmen Glenn, Gordon,
and Long voted unanimously
to postpone any decision in
the matter until the council's
next regular meeting July
12. Long, in seconding
Glenn's motion,<- expressed
concern over the two absent
councilmen's not being able
to participate in such, an
important decision.
At City Manager Bill Cox's
request, Overstreet outlined
Entex's procedure if the base
rate increase is not approved
by the council. Overstreet
first stated that the request-
ed 85* increase would raise
Entex's rate of return in
Bastrop^ from 2.78% to
3.6%. He indicated that
should the council turn this
request down, he would
come back with a formal
request for a $2.25 base rate
hike, which would give
Entex an 8% rate of return,
the highest allowed by law.
If the council should refuse
that request, Entex would
then take its request to the
Railroad Commission.
Overstreet stated that
because the process was an
expensive one, Entex would
not be justified in pursuing
this route unless it would
hope to receive a maximum
rate increase. Overstreet
also indicated that whatever
the outcome Entex would
very likely be coming to the
council early in '77 for
another increase.
Bastrop Mayor James P.
Sharp seemed to speak the
council's mind when he said,
Patrolman
Dan Hall
Terminated
SMITHVILLE - Patrolman
Dan Hall of the Smithville
city police department was
asked by Mayor Skelley on
June 22 to resign from his
position at the police depart-
ment.
Mr. Hall refused to submit
a resignation and was
informed by Skelley that he
would therefore be terminat-
ed as of July 6, 1976. Hall
requested his two-week
vacation and has asked for
written notification of the
termination with the reasons
for the firing stated.
Hall has stated that he
does not believe there were
valid reasons for the firing. «will be observed on Monde)
There has been no official the 5th," City Manager Bill
comment on the matter from Cos explained.
the mayor or the chief of "O. B. Johnson will be
police as of this date.
By the President of the United States of America
-
We now mark the beginning of our Third Century as an independent nation as well as the
200th Anniversary of the American Revolution. For two centuriesour Nation has grown,
changed and flourished. A diverse people, drawn from all corners of the earth, have joined
together to fulfill the Promise of Democracy.
America's Bicentennial is rich in History and in
that lie ahead. It Is about the events of our past,
diversity, our freedoms, dor fafcn^ipycramc
life for all Americans. ffieBtaMtennial offers each'
fellow citizens in honoring the past and preparing for the
Nation. Thus, in joining together as races, nationalities, and
strengthen our traditions, background and personal freedom.
As we lay the cornerstone of America's Third Century, I am moat
Bicentennial Communities for playing a special part in this |
/Jfe
i great nat
_ to commend the
celebration.
Gerakl Ford
Hospital Board Approves Budget
Wk
Vy
for fiscal year '76-'77 consid-
ering the revenue on 70%
occupancy with a room rate
raise to $55 for private,. $50
for semi-private, effective
July 1. Even though the
previous budget proposal
was based upon 80% oc-
cupancy the revenue from
the hospital should remain
the same due to the room
rate raises
The board went into
"closed door" aession to
discuss the bond issue and
insurance coverage. At this
date no board member h*s
been able to.cite any statute
authorizing . the "closed
door" aession.
Mr. Bob Batho presented
building plans for the
hospital addition and aaked
the board to consider five
construction companies,
hsving had knowledge of
previous building experi-
ences with the larger firms.
Board member Johnny
Campbell aaked Mr. Batho to
submit nsmes of construc-
tion companies closer to the
SmithvfOe area for. consid- %
eration.
The board unanimoualy
approved the proposal to
place malpractice insurance
for the hospital with the
Texas Hospital Insurance
Exchange. M
insurance for the
Nursing Home will be placed
with Crutn and Forster.
Mr. James Street present-
ed two proposals for the
board's approval. Mr.
Street asked that the board
give Vineyard and Street,
Inc., an option to purchase
the junior lien bonds for the
clinic construction and .
hospital renovation. He also f
presented an agreement to
have the law firm of Demas,
Hugeunn, Boathman, and
Morrow of Dallas, T<
•:-v
wf-.
MM
CAMP SWIFT - Recognize this scene? Dodson, Harry Erhard, and Newberry wait outside
the signal corps office at Camp Swift. If this scene brings back memories, see our Bicen-
tennial Scrapbook in Section 2 for more glimpses into the country's past.
Offices To Be Closed
BASTROP - The Bastrop
city offices will be closed
Mondsy, July 5, and city
employees will be off, due to
the fourth of July being on
Sundsy this year.
"July 4 Is a regular holi-
day for the employees and it
the supervisor on duty for
the weekend and this will
include Monday the 5th.
His home phone number is
321-3828 snd if s citizen has
a probem he is urged to
contact Mr. Johnson,"
Cox said.
"The duty roster always
includes Saturday and
Sunday and we rotate the
responsibility between us.
Usually we keep two men on
standby for the two-day
period, but we have other
employees svailable In case
of a severe emergency
situation," the manager
continued. r
"The Landfill will be open
until noon Saturday and
Monday, but will be closed
as usual on Sunday,
concluded.
... 0u:
perform the required lei
services in connection
the insurance, sale, and
delivery of the junior lien
bonds. Both agreements
were approved by the board
and signed.
In further action, the
board approved a
that hospi
Georges Bond may sell , a
copy machine for not leas
than $400, the financial
report waa made and ap-
proved, and Carroll Smith s
resignation wa
No names of
new board
brought up for consideration. £&g
The meeting was adjourn-
ed at 10:30 p.m. and the next
regular session of the
Cox. Smithville Hospital Authori-
ty will be held Tuesday.
July 27. ^*T F
J
I, '
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Prentiss, Paul M. The Bastrop County Times (Smithville, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 1, 1976, newspaper, July 1, 1976; Smithville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth390913/m1/1/?q=music: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.