The Colony Courier (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 50, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 21, 1998 Page: 1 of 12
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Proudly Serving The Colony, Texas
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MAKING NEWS..
OUTSTANDING
Can it be true?: Believe it or
not, it seems as if construction
of the Josey Lane extension will
finally get underway in a couple
of weeks. Mario Sinacola and
Sons of Piano signed a contract
with the Texas Department of
Transportation to do the project
for $6.9 million. Sinacola Engi-
neer Charles Adams told City
Manager Lanny Lambert that
the company will start work the
first week of November. The
project is expected to take
about a year, but Adams said
his crews will be hindred by the
Lone Star Gas pipeline at the
south end of the project until it
is lowered and moved.
OUTSTANDING II
More Cowboys: Why don't
they just move Texas Stadium
to Highway 121? From 5 to 6
p.m. today (Wednesday),
former Doomsday Defense
stalwart Randy White will be at
Brookshire's in The Colony to
sign autographs and promote
his line of food products.
COLONIAL TIMES
THE HISTORY OF THE COLONY
The city's budget history can
be divided into five distinct
periods.
Page 6A
www.thecolonycourier.com
Wednesdayy October 21, 1998
www.thecolonycourier.com
THEY'RE THE TOPS
Dee Stokes receives
Trendsetters' honor
By DAVE SORTER
Managing Editor
Dee Stokes, one of the pillars of
Trinity Presbyterian Church and a
founding officer of the Trendsetters
BPW businesswomen's organiza-
tion, was named the Trendsetters'
Woman of the Year on Tuesday
night.
She received her award during
the group's annual dinner at The
Abbey in Frisco. The Woman of the
Year is named each year in conjunc-
tion with National Businesswomen's
Week.
Stokes has held almost every po-
sition possible within the
Trendsetters. She was the charter
vice president and membership chair
when the BPW affiliate was founded
(See WOMAN, Page 5A)
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Magness is state's
athlete of the year
By DAVE SORTER
Managing Editor
Dee Stokes
The fact that 14-year-old Amber
Magness arrived late at Monday
night's City Council meeting, at
which she was to be recognized as
the Texas Amateur Athletic
Federation's state athlete of the year,
should not have been surprising. You
see, she was involved in a Lakeview
Middle School volleyball game when
the meeting started.
It's a rare day when the eighth-
grader is not busy with some sport
or another. That, and Amber's supe-
rior academic record, was why she
won the TAAF state honor, the first
time a resident of The Colony has
been state athlete of the year. She will
officially receive the award at a ban-
(See AMBER, Page 3A)
Cougars romp
The Colony is all
alone atop District 5-
5A after their 47-3
victory over Carrollton
Newman Smith.
Sports, Page 1B
We're the host
The Colony is se-
lected to play host to
two state amateur
basketball tourna-
ments in March.
Sports, Page 1B
Park proposal
Tomlin Enterprises
wants to lease
Eastvale Park.
News, Page 5A
Sorter column
Maybe the city's eco-
nomic-development
efforts should focus
on golf.
Editorial, Page 4A
INSIDE
Calendar 2A
Editorial 4A
Colonial Times 6A
Schools & Youth 7-8A
Sports 1,2,4B
Classified 3B
Accident kills one
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Photo by Brandy Moore
The driver of a small car was killed in an accident at FM 423 and Hackberry Road on Tuesday
morning. A witness said a drilling rig traveling north on 423 swerved off the two-lane road to avoid
a vehicle attempting to make a left turn onto Hackberry, then landed on top of the small car, which
was traveling south on 423, as it attempted to get back on the road. The driver and passenger of the
truck sustained minor injuries. The deceased person had not been identified as of press time. As a
result of the accident, some 75 to 100 gallons of gasoline carried by the truck leaked onto the road.
Hotel wins
$60,000 in
incentives
Budget Suites is first
recipient of 4A funds
By DAVE SORTER
and AMY SORTER
Of The Colony Courier
NINE-TIME WINNER
For the ninth consecutive year,
The Colony's Finance Department j
received the certificate of
chievement for excellence ifi fihan-
ial reporting by the Government Fi-
nance Officers Association of the
United States and Canada.
^Wejust grabbed the responsibil-
ity and took it in full swing," s|p f»-
director Tony Johnston.
impartial panel. Criteria include dem*
»pir^ciMii|sclosure
to clearly communicate the city's fi-
nancial story and to motivate people
to read the city's annual financial re-
port. The Colony was one of 148 win-
ners out of more than 1,200 entrants.
Sales-tax funds catch up
By DAVE SORTER
Managing Editor
The city received a sales-tax check of
$119,979.38 from the state comptroller's of-
fice last week, more than $4,000 of which was
tax collected from prior periods, according to
city Finance Director Tony Johnston.
Johnston and other city officials had been
distressed last month, when the first sales-tax
check to include proceeds from the 4A and
4B components was about $15,000 less than
expected. He had said that much of the short-
fall probably was because some merchants had
nOt started collecting the tax on July 1, when
they should have.
He believes the information he has re-
ceived from the comptroller's office confirms
his belief. That office, he said, "notified us
that the October receipts included $4,188.83
of taxes collected from prior periods. Most of
these collections were for what we should have
received last month and which caused us to
be lower than our projected figures." He said
comptroller's office staff told him that "there
were adjustments and corrections" because of
the 4A/4B tax.
Even with the adjustments, the September
receipts still were $11,000 less than antici-
pated. However, Johnston said comptroller's
staff said adjustments would be made through
(See SALES TAX, Page 3A)
The city gave its first incentive to a business through
the 4A economic-development process on Monday night,
when it approved a $60,000 participation in the construc-
tion of the planned 300-plus-unit Budget Suites hotel.
The money will be paid in annual $20,000 install-
ments. The first installment will be paid upon comple-
tion of the hotel at the intersection of Highway 121 and
Paige Road. One of the Council's conditions of partici-
pation was that construction be completed in 18 months.
Other conditions were that work begin in six months and
that Budget Suites remains in town for five years.
Brian Higie of Bigelow Development Corporation,
which is building the hotel, said he plans to begin con-
struction within 30 days. He hopes to have at least part
of the facility open in March. A ground-breaking cer-
emony is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. next Tuesday.
The incentive was unanimously approved by the Eco-
nomic Development Corporation (4A) board last Tues-
day after working with Bigelow since August. Council
approved the recommendation by a 5-2 vote, with coun-
cilmen John Dillard and A1 Garcia voting against the
funding.
"Why should we use taxpayer money for something
that was already going to be built?" Dillard said. Higie
had said that rejection of the incentive would not have
jeopardized the project.
Because Bigelow and the 4A board had been talking
for so long, however, Councilman Biill Longo said, "This
is not the time to play poker."
In another development issue, Council on Monday
approved creation of a development zone to extend 1,000
feet on either side of 121, South Colony Boulevard, North
Colony Boulevard, Main Street, Paige Road/Piano Park-
way, Windhaven Parkway and Memorial Drive. That
action allows the city to award incentives to retail estab-
lishments that wish to build in the zone. City Manager
Lanny Lambert had said the action was needed before
the city could pay its share of the traffic signal to be in-
(See HOTEL, Page 3A)
Bonds would help 423, Wynne wood
$85.3 million county election tentatively set for January 16
By DAVE SORTER
Managing Editor
Advance planning for the expan-
sion of FM 423 (Main Street) and
construction of infrastructure to serve
Wynnewood Peninsula and The
Tribute golf course would be the pri-
mary benefits to The Colony if
Denton County's road-bond program
is approved by voters on January 16.
The proposal submitted last week
by the bond committee - on which
The Colony was represented by Plan-
ning Director Harry Persaud and resi-
dents Laurie Manning and Don
Blackwood, who is the panel's vice
chairman - calls for $85.32 million
in borrowing evenly distributed
among the four county commission-
ers and County Judge Jeff Moseley.
Moseley was the one who came up
with the idea for the bond package,
which is called the "Denton County
Better, Safer Roads Program."
The original figure that had been
bandied about was $50 million.
Now that the committee has sub-
mitted its plan, taken from priorities
stated by Moseley and the commis-
sioners, a series of public meetings
will take place to elicit citizen input.
(See BOND, Page 3A)
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City housing construction booming
By DAVE SORTER
Managing Editor
1
Housing construction in The
Colony is growing by leaps and
bounds, according to the latest
growth report issued by city Planning
Director Harry Persaud.
Non-residential construction, on
the other hand, declined over the past
six months, primarily because the
previous period included the builjd
ing permit for the new Wal-Mart
SuperCenter.
"The outlook is good," Persaud
said. "Even if there is a slowdown in
the national economy, we should
keep up a modest rate of growth in
The Colony."
From April to September, build-
ing permits were issued for 158 new
homes, mostly in the Stewart Penin-
sula and Ridgepointe developments,
Persaud said. That was a 30 percent
increase from the 122 issued in the
prior six-month period.
However, the first part of the lat-
est period was the most active, with
99 permits issued in April, May and
June, and 59 awarded in July, Au-
gust and September.
The homes are worth more, too.
The average construction value of the
homes permitted in the April-Sep-
tember period was $131,135, a 22
(See BUILDING, Page 3A)
New meaning to "low prices." This sign, much like the employees at the
soon-to-be-open Colony Wal-Mart Supercenter, will be prepared and
ready for the store's grand opening next Wednesday.
New TC Wal-Mart still
gearing up for opening
By AMY SORTER
Business/Entertainment Editor
The woman in the parking lot
with the 4-month old baby seemed
bewildered.
"Excuse me," she said. "Is this
store open yet?"
"Not yet," came the reply. "Not
for a couple of weeks."
According to Gary Caplinger,
store director for The Colony Wal-
Mart SuperCenter on Main Street and
Highway 121, this question hasn't
been unusual.
"There isn't a day that doesn't go
by when people aren't calling to find
out if we're open," he said. "One
morning, we all came here and found
(See WAL-MART, Page 3A)
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Sorter, Dave. The Colony Courier (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 50, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 21, 1998, newspaper, October 21, 1998; The Colony, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth403414/m1/1/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Colony Public Library.