The Bastrop Advertiser and County News (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 135, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 30, 1988 Page: 1 of 26
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ii
McDade
readies
royalty
I p. 2
Garfield debate
Cleanup gets prod
July 4th festivities
I, p. 4
I, p. 5
^ Camp
calling
BHS girls
I, p. 11
y .. to
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TEXAS'
OLDEST
WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER
Vol. 135, No. 35
CHIEF HONORED
^astrop JVhirerttser
County JNeftis
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251
Since March 1, 1853
Bastrop, Texas
Thursday, June 30, 1988
Law enforcement officers from
Bastrop and surrounding coun-
ties formed an escort Monday for
Bastrop Police Chief Adell
Powell. The funeral procession,
which began at the First Baptist
Church in Bastrop, and ended at
the High Grove Cemetery near
Red Rock included about two
miles of police cars with lights
flashing in a final tribute to the
"Chief." Photo by Cecil Johnson
em r ■
Fellow law enforcement officers
assumed the role of pallbearers
Monday to carry BastropT?plice
Chief Adell Powell to his final
resting place in the High Grove
Cemetery near "Red Rock.
Powell, 61, died Saturday after
the front-end loader he was oper-
A fond farewell
Chief Adell Powell remembered in Monday services
By Cecil Johnson
Friends, family and fellow law
enforcement officers gathered at
the First Baptist Church in Bastrop
and later at the High Grove
Cemetery near Red Rock Monday
to bid a fond farewell to longtime'
Bastrop Police Chief Adell Powell.
Powell, 61, died Saturday after
the front-end loader he was oper-
ating rolled over him in a dirt pit
off Mcsquite Street in north
Bastrop.
Powell or "Chief" as he was
known by friends and aquain-
tances, was a father figure to many
of the younger law enforcement
officers in the county and helped
them with their careers.
During services Monday tears
streaked the faces of many of these
men in a profession where emo<
tions are normally concealed and
their tears are seldom seen.
A procession of police vehicles
from Bastrop and surrounding
counties, displaying a seemingly
endless line of flashing lights, was
more than two miles long on FM
20 as fellow law officers accom-
panied the chief to his final rest-
ing placc.
The Bastrop County Sheriff's
Department watched for crimc in
the city as well as the county so the
entire Bastrop police force could
attend the funeral.
Pallbearers included Sergeant
Ronnie Duncan and officers Ed
Salmela, Paul Alexander and W.R.
"Sully" Simpson of the Bastrop
Police Department; Sheriff O.J.
"Jay" Beggs and Chief Deputy
Charles Kothmann of the Bastrop
County Sheriffs Department; and
Sgt. Lloyd Kohring and Trooper
Gary Turner of the Texas Depart-
ment of Public Safety.
During a service in Bastrop, area
residents crowded into the sanctu-
ary and the adjoining hallway of
Continued on Page 2, Section I
No site found for crisis food effort
Bastrop County commissioners
denied a request Monday by Bas-
trop Fcxxl Pantry to use space in
the Old County Jail as a distribu-
tion point for emergency f<xxl aid.
Once the program has a home it
can tap additional resources
through the Capital Area Food
Bank, said Jewell Hodges.
Until then the crisis aid effort,
1 backed by area churches and the
Bastrop Ministerial Alliance, must
remain fragemented, she said. i
"It's a shame we can't be every'
thing to everybody," said Precinct
3 Commissioner Jerry Alexander.
Narrow hallways in the 1892 jail
building and the amount of traffkv
the food pantry operation seems
likely to generate suggest the old
jail is not a good home, he said.
Mrs. Hodges said the Food Pan-
try first approached county officials
about possible use of space some-
where in the courthouse complex
in April. Officials promised to
study the issue.
Monday she said space in any
county facility would be welcome.
Organizers receive a constant
stream of crisis referrals, she said.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim V.
Mogonye said the county also has
more pressing uses for the third
floor of the Courthouse, recently
vacated by the 21 st Judicial District
Probation Department.
Mogonye suggested that area
churches would he a better location
for the Food Pantry. " Put it back
in the churches," he said. "I don't
think' it would be wise in the
Courthouse."
City okays livestock
site near water wells
Ml
"*•11
Bastrop city council agreed in
principal Tuesday to lease a site on
Mayfest Hill for a proposed
Bastrop Area Livestock Show and
Fair Association stock show
facility.
The fair association expects to
hold its Bastrop FFA—4-H
Livestock Show next spring in a
permanent home, hopefully on the
hill, officials s'aid.
The site adjoins the cjty water
well field on Loop 150 East behind
the American Legion Post.
"We desperately need a perma-
nent location for a show facility,"
William Griesenbeck told council
members. The site preferred over-
whelmingly by members of the
livestock show group is the hill
overlooking the city, he said.
City Manager Henry Cunn-
ingham Jr. said a proposed stock
show building, packing areas and
restrooms can by located on city
property but outside a radius of 50
feet from three ctty-ssylls nearby.
The 50-foot distanceSFrom the
wells is a state health department
rule governing public water sup-
plies in relation to livestock pasture
areas. 1 ^ —:
A septic tank or sewer line
would have to be 150 feet from any
well, Cunningham said! A feedlot
would have to be 500 feet away
State officials have given verbal'
indication that a livestock show
barn for occasional use 50 feet
from a well would satisfy health
department requirements, Cunn-
ingham said.
The city should seek formal writ
ten assurances before the land is
leased, he said.
Mayor David Lock said of all the
sites discussed as possible for the
show facility in recent years, his
favorite is Mayfest Hill
Bastrop School Board President
Verlin Callahan said the fair
association hopes to erect a show
barn SO feet by 150 feet and enclos-
ed on two sides-
The building Could be rented to
accomodate trade shows, a farmers
market or other community events,
he suggested.
The city would not be responsi-
ble for operating or maintaining the
building, he said.
Callahan told the council the fair
association has $9,000 in hand for
the building and within six months
expects to raise about $50,(XX) in
gifts and pledges.
The show barn will cost an
estimated $40,(XX) plus the expense
of paved parking, restrooms and
related facilities, Callahan said.
Continued on Page 2, Section I
County shifts funds
for road expenses
ating roiled over him in a dirt pit
off Mesquite Street in north Bas-
trop. Photo by Cecil Johnson
Alexander said the second floor
of the jail is already under con-
sideration as a possible archive for
historically important county
records and documents.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Tf J.
Adams called for County Judge
Jimmy Copeland and County Court
at Law Judge Robert Raesz to
"look into it and make a recotH-
mendation" for housing the Food
Pantry
Raesz and Alexander are already
on a panel studying possible Court-
house restoration efforts and how
to allocate space on the presently -
vacant third floor.
Adams presided over Monday's
meeting while Copeland was in
Fort Worth attending a judges con-
ference'. ' -V
County commissioners reluctant-
ly approved borrowing more than
$80,000 from the general operat-
ing fund Monday to pay outstand-
ing bills for Precinct I and Precinct
3 road and bridge departments.
Commissioners Robert Scidel
and Jim V. ^Mogonye turned a deaf
ear to suggestions the loans could
come from Precinct 2 and 4 road
and bridge funds.
"I'm notJ really for that,"
Mogonye said. "If it's from the
general fund, okay."
"You need money to operate,"
Mogonye told Adams. "But maybe
you need to curb (spending) a lit-
tle bit. Some things you just can't
do."
, A substantial fraction of out-
standing Precinct 1 bills represent
paving projects Adams said he
hopes to complete this year.
Adams conceded he will have to
scale back road improvement pro-
grams sharply, at least until a new
budget year begins Oct. 1.
County Auditor Jim Wither
warned that Precinct 1 still owes
the county's general fund $20,(XX)
borrowed last year. New income
projections for the final quarter of
the fiscal year suggest Precinct I
won't get enough ^naney to pay
back last year's borrowing. Wither
said.
Wither also warned the general
fund may run short before Sept
30. .
"I don't think the general fund
has too much to play with," he
said.
I, p. 12
Classified
II, p. 4
......I, p. 9
I, P- «
II, 2
....I, p. 11
Last week Wither calculated the
general lund will end the fiscal year
about $62,(XX) in the black. The
figure did not include the borrow-
ing approved Monday.
Adams expressed hope the
county will adopt a more realistic
budget for the coming year.
Last week Wither calculated
Precinct 1 will end the budget year
$33,(XX) in the red.
If Wither's income predictions
are accurate. Precinct 3 will have
about $38,(XX) to spend in the next
three months after paying salaries
and debt service.
Adams said commissioners have
frequently borrowed from each
other temporarily to meet cash flow
requirements.
By Wither's calculations
Precinct 2 will have $133,(XX) to
spend in the coming three months
and Preyifnct 4 will have $93,(XX)
after baying salaries and debt-
paymerki.X'
County Treasurer Doris.Oldfield
said the general fund will be tapped
for $35,900 to meet outstanding
Precinct I bills. Another $44,300
will go to pay current Precinct 3
obligations.
She blamed the current cash
crunch in part on past overesti-
mates of sales tax income Budget
planners estimated the tax would
bring in about $325,(XX) this year
with $200.(XX) earmarked for
precinct road and bridge funds.
To elate the county has collect-
ed $11 y053, said Mrs. Oldfield
"It's/really a cloudy picture,"
she said. "The general fund is not
that flush, and it's not a very true
budget."
The county began collecting a
one-cent sales tax in January as a
property tax reduction move. Next
year county property taxes will be
reduced by the dollar amount
brought in by the county sales tax.
Wither is also estimating a five
pcrcent decline in property tax col-
lections front the projections of
budget planners last fall.
Holdup
suspects
sought
Bastrop County sheriff's
deputies are on the lookout for
three men who held a clerk at the
I'M 2430 grocery near Elroy at
gunpoint Friday night and took ap-
proximately $650 from the cash
register.
According to a report by deputy
sheriff Mike Wade, three hispanic
males entered the convenience
store at approximately 5:45 p.m.
and after questioning the clerk
about the cost of a 12-pack of beer,
pulled a gun and a hunting knife
on her.
The report said when the older
man, believed to be in his early
30's, leveled what appeared to be
a 380 caliber blue steel revolver on
the clerk, a younger man pulled a
knife and both men told her they
were going to rob her.
The clerk tokl deputies that the
younger, man gave the youngest of
thfc three the knife and the two
youngest men then walked behind
the counter and took approximately,
$650 in cash from" the register.
She told Wade while the younger
men cleaned out the register the
older man kept pointing the gun at
her and telling the other two to
hurry up and get the money.
The clerk said after the men took
the money one of the younger men
kept blowing her kisses while the
older man told her to be nice to him
and touched her hand.
She said after the younger man
repeatedly told the other two to
hurry up the three left the store
with the money and the 12 pack of
beer driving in the direction of FM
X12.
The clerk said the three men ap-
peared to be calm and kept calling
each other dirty names during the
robbery.
Witnesses described the three
men and the car they were driving
which turned out to be stolen out
Continued on Page 2, Section I
Courthouse
remodel urged
Bastrop County's 1883 Court
house needs a throughgoing clean
up effort and a long-range resto-
ration plan, officials said Monday.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim V
Mogoncy charged the Bastrop
Courthouse has been neglected and
needs to be cleaned up "inside and
outside."
"We're not putting pride in what
we have," Mogonye said.
~-He called for trimming trees,
edging the grass, pruning shrub-
bery and new paint. "It's been
neglected for years," he said
Precinct 3 Commissioner Jerry
Alexander said officials of the state
historical commission are "recom-
mending and offering help to draft
a long-range master plan for Court-
house restoration. Such a plan is
necessary in order to apply for
grants to help pay for the yvork, he
said. „
County at Law Judge
Robert Raesz, who has worked
with Alexander and Bastrop
County Historical Commission
Continued on Page 2, Section I
-I
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McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser and County News (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 135, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 30, 1988, newspaper, June 30, 1988; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth390924/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.