The Colony Courier (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 5, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 11, 1997 Page: 1 of 10
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TL Proudly Serving The Colony, Texas
^ ^ WECOUW* ix 730»tm
Colony"Courier
Making News ...
Bottoms up
Lawsuits aside, three
new liquor stores on
121 would face fight for
survival.
Business, Page 3A
Take a bow
Country-band fiddler
Julie Giibreath tries to
combine her music
with her commitment
to kids.
Arts, Page 6A
Girls Soccer
The Angels advance at
State Tournament
Sports, Page 10A
Gift no-no
City animal shelter
director says pets
aren't good Christmas
gifts.
Local news, Page 2A
AROUND TOWN
Sarah Wilbrecht gets an
autograph from Gov. George
W. Bush at a campaign
rally.. Donna Stueber does
aerobic routines to the
sound of bells...Bill Longo
gets roasted...The Special
Unit officers have new digs
on South Colony...Rich
Seidler receives a ticking
box... BPW wine tasting
party was too successful...
Randy Robinson won the
award for longest drive at
The Colony Chamber Golf
Tournament...Loretta Hill
collects money for raffle
tickets...Larry Haynie
bought a teddy bear for $90.
INSIDE
Calendar 2A
Business 3A
Editorial 4A
Opinion 5A
Arts 6 A
Religion 6A
Social news 6A
School news 7A
Sports 9-1 OA
December 11,1997
Sales-tax panel girds for campaign home stretch
By Dave Sorter
Sometimes Richard Seidler has to
stop and pinch himself that there
hasn't been a major stumbling block
yet in the Quality of Life Citizens
Committee's campaign to pass a one-
cent sales tax increase economic-de-
velopment and community facilities
on January 17.
"It's hard for me to think of some-
thing like this that's gone so well,"
he said. "I wonder if it's not going
too well."
If there's any bumps in the road,
they'll begin to appear in the next few
weeks, now that the committee -
starting at a major organizational
meeting held on Tuesday night - is
making the transition from informa-
tion-gathering group to, as commit-
tee chairman Seidler put it, and edu-
cational group.
"We're going to go out and take
care of a speakers bureau, phone
banks.. .educating people to the pros
of voting for this," Seidler.said. "We
began as an information-gathering
group of about 40, arid I expected
maybe double that at Tuesday's
meeting. There are a lot of people
saying, 'What can I do to promote
this?"'
"This" is a two-item ballot, each
increasing the city's sales tax one-
half cent. One item, the "4A" mea-
sure, would earmark a half-cent for
economic development expenses.
The other, "4B," would allow the
city to use a half-cent for civic im-
provement projects. Frisco, for ex-
ample, passed a one-cent sales tax in-
crease several years ago and utilized
its 4A money for the Tollway exten-
sion, recruiting light industry and se-
curing the proposed Stonebriar Ridge
Mall. Arlington used 4B money to help
build The Ballpark in Arlington. If
passed, the sales tax in The Colony
would rise to the maximum 8-1/4
cents. The committee estimated that
each half-cent would raise $400,000 a
year.
Seidler's group spent much of the
summer and early fall asking residents
what results they wanted to see from
the tax revenues. "They overwhelm-
ingly want family entertainment" from
the 4A money, he said, mentioning
Chili's/Bennigan's types of restaurants,
bowling alleys, movie
theaters and the like. But Seidler also
said the committee would like to at-
tract light manufacturing enterprises
to bolster the tax base.
The surveys on 4B community fa-
cilities found that a community/
civic center is the top priority, fol-
lowed by a multi-sports facility to
complement and replace the Little
League complex on North Colony
Boulevard, The Colony Youth Foot-
ball Association fields on Lake High-
lands Drive and soccer fields, among
other things. A library was a close
third in one survey.
How the money will be spent to
attract this development is still up in
the air. Some of the revenue will be
used to pay the salary of recently
hired city economic-development
Santa greets the kids at The Colony Tree Lighting last Sunday night
photo by Shelli Garver
Richard Seidler
director Betty McKean, but Seidler
said he didn't know what exactly the
rest of the funds will go for. "That's
(Please see TAX on Page 8A)
Parade gets
rained out
The Colony Christmas Parade
was postponed last Sunday due to
bad weather.
The city had its annual Christmas
Tree lighting that evening even
though the rain continued to come
down. Mayor Mary Watts was the
Master of Ceremonies with the Rev.
David Freehling offering the invocation.
Kid's count, a singing group
made up of young singers did a won-
derful job of entertaining the crowd
who dared the weather to see the
show. Patti Hicks sang two songs
which set the Holiday mood.
The highlight was Santa arriving
by Fire Engine to light the tree and
wish everyone a, Happy Holiday
Season.
The Christmas Parade will take
place this Sunday, December 14
beginning at 2:00pm.
The parade will start at the little
league fields off of North Colony
Blvd. Anyone interested in entering
the parade can call the Parks and
Recreation Department at 972-625-
1106 ext. 557. There is no cost to
enter and lineup for the parade will
begin at 1:15pm.
New learning center to help city
'think green'
By Jim Barnes
It's been said that "one man's trash
is another man's treasure." In an ef-
fort to become more environmentally
friendly. The city of The Colony is
taking steps to ensure that as much
trash as.possible is being converted
into treasure to benefit residents and
their property.
One major tool for doing this will
be the soon-to-be-completed Envi-
ronmental Learning Center. Located
next to Fire Station Number 2 on
North Colony Boulevard, the center
should be open for business by the
end of December.
The center is being built with a
$39,000 grant, as well as donations
of material and time by area mer-
chants and Independent Environ-
mental Services, Inc., the city's trash
hauler.
With landfills fast reaching ca-
pacity and a government mandate by
2002 that all Texans, by law, will be
required to recycle their trash, resi-
dents now need to be taught how to
"think green" and how to make more
practical use of their garbage. Ac-
cording to Public Works Superinten-
dent Kenneth Leverich, the center
A_
is being built to do just that.
Activities offered at this center will
include a composting course to teach
people how to convert coffee grounds,
fruit cores and vegetable peelings into
nutrient-rich compost instead of
throwing it in the trash. Compost adds
valuable minerals to the hard-to-garden
clay soil based in The Colony.
And the center will offer some-
thing for folks who fish on a regular
basis - namely, lessons on how to de-
velop and maintain a worm farm that
supplies bait.
(Please see CENTER on Page 8A)
~
:
Ex-mayor feels loss
may have been good
Manning has time for family, business
Former Mayor Bill Manning stands by his dental chair. He has been able to
devote more time to his family and practice since leaving city government.
By Dave Sorter
Bill Manning calls the beard he
grown since leaving The Colony's
mayor's seat the result of "post mili-
tary environment syndrome." After
seven years in the city's top elected
position, he certainly feels he has been
through some wars.
But now, seven months after his
loss to Mary Blair Watts in the May
city elections, Manning leans back in
a couch in his dental office and says
the defeat, in retrospect, "might have
been the best thing that could have
happened at this point of my life."
The 23 to 25 hours a week - not
including City Council meetings - he
used to spend on city business are now
being devoted to his family, his
dental practice and his church, First
United Methodist. His 15-year-old
son, Patrick, is in The Colony High
School Marching Band, and Manning
was able to attend all of his band
events, something he could not have
done as mayor. He is better able to
help guide his 13-year-old daughter,
Sarah, through the beginnings of
adolescence.
"It's given me more time to be
more of a father, and that's what's
most important to someone when he's
an adult," Manning said. "So from a
family standpoint, it's been a posi-
tive." The free time has also helped
him become a more efficient dental
practitioner. "There are two or three
(Please see MANNING on Page 8A)
Jimmie McCormick
McCormick
loses city from
TU territory
Jimmie McCormick, TU
Electric's longtime area manager for
the region that included The Colony,
will no longer serve the city because
of a reorganization of the utility
caused by TU's merger with Enserch
Corp., the parent company of Lone
Star Gas.
McCormick will begin his new
duties with the new year, to corre-
spond with the end of his term as
president of The Colony Chamber of
Commerce. McCormick will be
based in Piano and serve governmen-
tal agencies and school district in
Piano, Richardson and environs.
Barry Johnson, who will be based
in Farmers Branch, will be TU
Electric's new representative serving
The Colony.
McCormick was instrumental in
the strengthening of The Colony
Chamber, and he also will serve as
president of The Colony Rotary Club
until his transfer takes effect. First
State Bank of Texas' Randy
Robinson will assume the Chamber
presidency, and Steve Thomas will
become Rotary president.
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Sorter, Dave. The Colony Courier (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 5, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 11, 1997, newspaper, December 11, 1997; The Colony, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth403412/m1/1/?q=%22Places+-+United+States+-+Texas+-+Denton+County+-+The+Colony%22: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Colony Public Library.