The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 27, 1993 Page: 1 of 38
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The
J
any News
jest Journalistic Venture West of the Brazos"
THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1993, ALBANY, TF
12 PAGES IN 1 SECTION
VOLUME NUMBER 117 NUMBER 51 PRICE 500 PER COPY
BFI to begin city trash collection June 1
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Albany city council voted
unanimously during a special
meeting last Wednesday to accept
a contract agreement with
Browning Ferris Industries for the
collection and disposal of garbage
effective June 1.
Meetingon Wednesday, May 19,
the council reviewed 11 draft copy of
the agreement, with City Manager
Bobby Russell noting several minor
changes that, had been made to
accommodate the city.
The council also set July ] as the
last day for the local landfill to be
open to the public or earlier if the
current trash pit is filled before
that date.
Thte need to contract for local
trash collection and close the local
landfill was caused by stringent
new federal and state regulations
that will go into effect in October.
City officials had hoped that the
local landfill would receive an ex-
emption from some of the costly
requirements such as monitoring
wells and lining trash pits. How-
ever, Albany's request for a "West
Texas Exemption" was turned
down.
Part of the agreemen t with BP]
includes the establishing of a
"convenience center" at the old
landfill site on the Baird Highway.
Since the city's landfill is closing,
BFI has agreed to provide large
containers at the convenience
site to be closed by July 1
center where the public can bring
pickup or trailer loads of trash. A
fee will be charged for the service
similar to that charged at the
landfill for the same' service.
It was noted that the current
landfill will still continue to accept
trash from the public until the July
closing date, or until the pit is filled.
BFI owns its own large regional
landfilljustnorthofAhiienethatis
used by most area towns, including
the City of Abilene.
"There is a lot of expense and
liability in opening another pit,"
said Mart Halbert. "We can't open
another pit this close to our closing
deadline."
Council Sets Prices
The council also agreed to add
$1 to all accounts of city Resident s
and $2 to customers outside the
city limits to cover the cost of bill
ing and mailing for th<* trash .ser-
vice,
The city will'bill for the services
provided by BFI on their monthly
water bills. The city will pay BFI
one lump sum each month for the
service they provide for city resi-
dents.
On a motion by A1 Meredith, the
council approved leaving the trash
rates at their current levels until
August 1. The rates will be adjusted
to BFI's rate schedule starting in
August.
Local residents will receive a
substantial decrease in their trash
fees after August 1. The city cur-
rently charges residential custom-
ers who live inside the city limits
$15 per month. That fee will be
reduced to BFI's charge of $8.90,
plus the $1 for billing expenses, for
a total of $9.90 per month. Cus-
tomers outside the city limits pay
an even higher rate currently.
The cost for commercial cus-
tomers is expected to remain about
the same or increase somewhat
under the BFI bid. Rates for com-
mercial accounts are set according
to volume and frequency of collec-
tion, and range in price from $10 90
to $'220 per month.
The council opted to keep the
current higher .local trash rates
"for a co up If >f months (■> g<t
enough monej to cover th( closure
costs at; the landfill." according io
Dan NefT.
It was noted that all city cus*
tomers receiving water service will
automatically be billed for trash
service, which was in the city's
agreement with BFI. Residents
outside the city limits will have
the option ofusingthe trash service
or disposing of their trash them-
selves. However, it was'noted that
the only legal dump site for out-of-
town residents will be BFI's land-
fill over 40 miles away.
Russell stated that he was going
to meet with the County Commis-
sioners and suggest that a fine
system be established for litter or
dumping trash on county roads.
The state highway system has a
fine system in place.
Local Service Should Not
Change
According to BFI officials and
Russell, local residential service
will change very little, if any at all.
"BFI will pick up at the curb just
like we have been doing. They just
ask that all trash be in plastic bags
or in containers of some sort such
as boxes or trash cans," explained
Russell.
"They will also be able to set
dumpstersin areas where we have
alleys if the residents Of that
neighborhood prefer, but they don't
want to offer both curbside service
and put dumpsters behind the same
houses, that would mean t^ey
would have to cover the same area
twice."
Russell stated that dumpsters
would not be placed on streets in
front of houses.
Service will start at 8:00 a.m. on
Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.
The city hasbeen divided into three
routes.
The Monday route is basically
the area north and eastof Railroad
Street and north of Main and Hill
Streets.
The Wednesday route is south of
Main Street, eastof downtown and
north of the Moran Highway.
The Friday route is the largest
in area, covering the rest of the
(See Trash collection, pg. 12)
City officials are asking that
local residents be particularly
cautious of any animals — pets
or wild animals — that are be-
having in an odd manner.
on the north side of town last
Saturday that is suspected of
having rabies. No definite con-
clusion was expected until
Wednesday.
The dog was taken directly
to Dr. Gaiy Farobro's clinic in
Brecknnriage for observation on
Saturday because ofits unusual
behavior. The dog died that
night .and Fambro's initial ex-
amination indicated a strong
possibility that death was
caused by rabies.
City manager Bobby Russell
asked that residents be careful
around pets that act unusually
aggressive, or wild animals that
do not show fear of humans and
are aggressive.
"Please call City Hall,if you
see any animal acting strange,"
said Russell "If we get a posi-
tive test result back from Aus-
tin on the dog, we will use the
area media to notify the public
immediately.".
Russell reported that Fambro
thinks the dog had a rabies vac-
cination last June, but there was
no absolute confirmation of that
at press time.
Contact City Hall at 762-
3133, or the local sheriff s office
after hours, to report suspicious-
acting animals.
A little adjustment...
M
John Farmer (r) straightens Juan Rodriguez' cap just before the local seniprs entered the AHS
auditorium for the Baccalaureate service last Sunday night. The 33 Albany graduates will receive
their diplomas during commencement exercises this Friday evening. {Staff Photo]
33 seniors to
Thirty-three Albany High School
seniors are preparing to walk across
the stage at the AHS auditorium
on Friday night, May 28 to receive
their graduation diplomas.
Commencement exercises are
setfor 8:00 p.m. at the auditorium,
with a reception planned after-
wards at the Old Jail Art Center.
Oyer $32,000 in scholarship
monies will be awarded during the
evening t6 graduating seniors or
other recipients, and although the
number of scholarships is down by
five, the total amount is up by
several hundred dollars from last
year.
The ceremony will begin with
the invocation by Heather Parsons,
then a special presentation by Clint
Chapman, followed by a special
slide show featuring baby pictures
of the seniors, as well as photo-
graphs of their activities through
the years.
High School Principal David
Penn will introduce the class
valedictorian and salutatorian,
Blake Picquet and Faith Posey,
who will then give their addresses.
Following the speeches, Penn
will announce the recipients of 37
local scholarships.
Graduates will be given their
diplomas by Superintendent Ron-
nie Kincaid, along with Albany 1SD
board members Prissy Harvick and
Betsy Parsons and outgoing board
member Jimmie Wheeler, all par-
ents of graduating seniors.
After the benediction by Holly
Harvick, the school's Alma Mater
will be sung by the seniors, led by
Heather Parsons, Holly Harvick,
and Jenny Wheeler.
Doyleen Terrell will be the pia-
nist for both the processional and
recessional.
The public is invited to attend
the reception at the Old Jail fol-
lowing the graduation ceremony.
Head usher and usherette will
be Ceci Hudson and Henry Green.
Others are Shanon Cooke, John
Tom Heatly, Amy Ruff, Shane
Terrell and alternates Amy Mont-
gomery and Kenny Todd.
The 1993 class motto is "The
memories stay as we move on."
Class colors are red and white, and
the class flowers are white gladir
olus.
*The River," the class song, will
be played during the evening.
Class sponsors are Carolyn
Waller, ClifFRose and Kyle Viertel.
In addition to Picquet and Posey,
other honor students of the Class
of 1993 include Jim McComas,
Wendy Harrison, Tammy Hender-
son, Keith Thompson, Holly Har-
vick, and Heather Parsons.
Other members of the class are
Carlos Alcaraz, Garrett Bowman,
Wayne Box, Tina Brooker, Clint
Chapman, Amber Cliff, and Joe
Coronado.
Also John Farmer, Joe Farmer,
Drayton Gillit, Suzanne Hund-
hausen, Lesley Jones, Cody Leech,
Jeff Lenamon, Felix Liebrecht,
Tommy Mitchell, Melissa Moon and
Cole Price
(See Graduation, pg. 12)
Cancer cases appear unrelated to water supply
By Donnie A. Lucas
Rumors linking recent cases of
cancer among local residents with
the city water system have had city
officials scramblingto separate fact
from fiction during the past two
weeks.
According to City Mariager
Bobby Russell, callsfrom concerned
citizens started coming in after an
alleged news article in the Dallas
Morning News a couple of weeks
ago reported that Shackelford
County has the second highest
cancer rate in the state.
How that unconfirmed report
was linked to the city's water sys-
tem was what caught Russell's at-
tention.
The connection made between
the water system and cancer was
the apparent use of translucite
water pipes during the 1950s and
60s. The pipe was popular at the
time for its durability, and being
lightweight because it was a mix-
ture of concrete and asbestos.
Russell acknowledged that some
ofthe pipe is still in the ground and
being used in the water distribu-
tion system, but he has no idea how
much.
But if the information Russell is
receiving from the Texas Water
Commission is correct, it may not
matter how much of the pipe is in
use.
"I have talked to the Water
Commission and they don't have
any research that indicates a
problem with the ingestion of as-
bestos in water and Cancer. The
problem is with inhaling asbestos
fibers," said Russell.
The Water Commission sent Bob
Harrison, a field investigator from
Lvibbock, to Albany on Monday to
take samples for testing.
The local water plant i s in spected
annually by the state, including
tests for heavy metals and miner-
als. Tests fpr bacteria are done on a
weekly basis and collected from
various points across town.
Harrison stated that he is not
aware of a specific test for asbestos
and he has never heard of anyone
testing for the substance in water.
Russell asked Harrison to try
find someone for the city to contact
about testing for asbestos in the
water system.
"With what I have learned from
the Water Commission, and Mr.
Harrison, and the Health Depart-
ment — I don't think that we have
anything wrong, but I will do ev-
erything I can to get an answerand
put peoples' minds to rest."
Harrison agreed that he does
not know of any information link-
ing the ingestion of asbestos to
cancer.
"Since I have inspected this plant
for the last 18years, I don't know of
anything in all the testing or
monitoring that is out of the ordi-
nary at all."
■ While the translucite pipe is no
longer allowed to be installed be-
cause it contains asbestos, it is
presumed to be in use in many
cities.
"I would guessthatalotofTexas
cities used it and I know of no
connection with the use of it and
cancer," said Harrison.
Russell added that he has asked
the Department of Health to pre-
pare data on Shackelford County's
cancer incident rate, along with
state and area comparisons.
"I have talked to the Dallas
Morning News and they can't find
a story that stated Shackelford
County has the second highest
cancer rate," said Russell. "And no
one has been able to find a copy for
me to read."
Harrison noted during his "out
of cycle" inspection on Monday at
Russell's request, that the local
water plant looked better and the
water Was clearer than during past
inspections.
"I don't know why people always
jump On the water supply when
they don't havp an easy explana-
tion," said Harrison. "Being a rural
county, I would think thatyou could
potentially have more problems
with pesticides and cattle dips than
anything that could happen at this
Water plant."
(See City water, pg. 12)
Bob Harrison of the Texas Water Commission collects and marks
several local water samples during speciaI testing Monday morning.
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Lucas, Donnie A. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 27, 1993, newspaper, May 27, 1993; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth414490/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.