The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 121, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 28, 1996 Page: 1 of 14
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County asks state to abolish constable's post
14 P/u,fs IN 2 Si< iions
Voii Mf Numbfr 121 - Ni MBIK 26 PKKI '»0C
By Melinda L. Lucas
Shackelford County commis-
sioners passed a resolution to
abolish the position of County
Constable during a regular
meeting Monday, November 25.
They also authorized the
county treasurer to borrow
funds to pay the bills and voted
to take bids to sell the county-
owned "Poor Farm." •
Constable Resolution
Several Albany citizens were
present at the commissioners
court to protest whatever "sal-
ary" wjll be paid to the new
County Constable, Larry Ma-
con, who was elected November
5 as a write-in candidate for the
position. Macon is due to take
office January ].
County Judge Ross Montgom-
ery had already prepared a reso-
lution asking the state legisla-
ture thatah amendment to abol-
ish the office be included on the
next general election in Novem-
ber 1997 The law states that
elected offices have to be abol-
ished by a statewide election.
The office of Shackelford
County Constable has not been
filled since the late 1940s, and
there are no concrete guidelines
for paying such an official, ac-
cording to Montgomery. Several
other rural counties in the area
pay a percentage of legal papers
served by the constable, which
is his official duty.
There is no salary budgeted
for a constable either in the cur-
rent year or in the upcoming
1997 budget, Montgomery said.
The county doesn't have any
money and we don't need a con-
stable," stated Commissioner
R.P. Mitchell.
"Whatever you decide you
have to pay him is money that
we're already collecting at no
extra cost to the taxpayers,"
added Sheriff Larry Bonner, He
explained that deputies cur-
Taxpayers protest additional salary
rently serve legal papers, which
are assessed different fees de-
pending on the type of paper
The main concern of the citi-
zens seemed to be the additional
cost to the taxpayers for a ser-
vice they feel is not needed.
Judge Montgomery stated
that he has also received a large
number of telephone calls and
personal contacts from county
residents"concerned about pay-
ing additional taxes for a posi-
tion that we haven't had and
haven't needed in V) years."
'/"he resolution, which will be
sent to newly-elected state rep-
resentative Jim Keffer, passed
on a vote of 4-0, with James
Tabor abstaining
Loan for County Bills
County Treasurer Sherry
Enloe presented lists showing
expenditures by each commis-
sioner and the general fund, and
compared expenses and income
with that of the same period last
year.
She explained that income
from several areas is down for
various reasons, and that last
year, the county had received
$20,000 in deiinquenttaxes that
it hasn't gotten this year. She
emphasized, however, that ex-
penditures are up as well, in-
cluding expen ses con nected wi th
the current restoration of the
courthouse
It was pointed out that.
$30,000 had already been paid
to the architect handling the
renovation, and that only
$30,000 had been budgeted in
that, area, so all other restora-
tion expenses are over and above
what was budgeted.
Enloe also noted that all ex-
penditures had been approved
by the commissioners before
they were paid, includinga num-
ber of items that hadn't been in
the budget.
"We know the money 'taxes/
will come in and 1 feel that this
situation will resolve itself by
the end of the year," the trea-
surer commented, "but unless
some changes are made, we'll be
in exactly this same shape even
earlier next year.
"I have no idea what's going
to happen with the hospital, and
I don't know if we'll have to
come back in and set aside 3 0
percent for indigent care, but I
do know that we don't have it,"
she continued. "We may have to
face that if and when it hap-
pens."
The treasurer was given per-
mission to borrow $50,000 to
meet payroll and pay bills.
• Other Business
• The commissioners set a
date of Monday, December 30 to
open sealed bids for the 160-
acre "Poor Farm," land that the
county has owned since 1685
Half the mineral rights will be
sold with the land. Proceeds will
be applied to the courthouse
restoration fund ,
• Ray Watson of Hamby was
approved by the commissioners
Uj serve as a reserve deputy sher-
iff Watson, who has completed
his peace officer's certification,
will serve with no salary in a
volunteer capacity.
• James H. Cotter, Neff and
Co was approved to perform
the 1996 county audit at a cost
of $5,000.
• Commissioner Mitchell re-
ported that 12 clients from the,
minimum security prison at
Brecke.nridge had assisted
county employees with repairs
to a bridge near Fort Griffin.
INDIANS FOR A DAY
Local kindergarten Indians
Shelby LaBonte, lacey
l.owrey, Robert Hare and
Matthew Patrick (top
photo, l-r) build a "camp-
fire" as they go through the
motions of what the first
Thanksgiving may have
been like. Meanwhile, pre-
schoolers (lower photo)
don Pilgrim hats before
finding something totally
"un-Thanksgiving - like" to
snackon. Classesdismissed
for the holiday weekend
on Tuesday afternoon.
Rollback election set Jan. 18
By Melinda L. Lucas
A rollback election for the
Shackelford County Hospital
District was s<$t for Saturday,
January 18, 1997 by members
of the district's board of direc-
tors during a special meeting on
Friday, November 22.
January 18 is the first regu-
Ibr election day recognized by
the state that falls within the
parameters of the law, which
says that the election may occur
. no earlier than 30 days nor later
than 90 days after the rollback
petition becomes valid.
During a regular meeting on
November 18, the hospital di-
rectors chose not to Officially
validate the petition submitted
by county taxpayers because it
was not technically legal. They
opted instead to allow the peti-
tion, which contained twice as
many signatures as necessary,
to become valid automatically
by not taking any action at all.
This occurred on the 20th day
after the petition Wes submit-
ted.
The rollback, if passed by lo-
cal voters, will "roll back" the
66.70 cent tax rate set. by the
hospital board in September to
25.09 cents per $100 valuation,
an action that directors feel will
shut the local hospital's doors
Also, should the rollback pass, •
the county's central tax office
would be required to prepare
and mail new tax bills. Any tax-
payers who had already, paid
their hospital taxes would, be
refunded the difference between
the amount under the original
rate and taxes under the roll-
back rate. '
The only other action by the
hospital board last Friday was
reviewing the accounts payable
and authorizing the finance
committee to pay the bills as
funds are available
The directors were encour-
aged by the October financial
statement, which showed a
$27,000 gain by the hospital.
Board members present for
the special meeting included Bob
Tidwell, John Ayers, Eddie Bar-
tee, and Betty Viertel, alohg
with interim administrator
Chris Robinson
Drawing, tree lighting planned Saturday
A full evening of events, in-
cluding the first of three Chri it-
mas drawings, is slated for Sat-
urday, November 30at the Bank
Park in downtown Albany.
Local residents and their holi-
day guests are invited to attend
the third annual tree lighting at
the downtown park, complete
with the arrival of Santa Claus,
strolling carolers and the excite-
ment of giving away $500 in
script money to lucky shoppers.
Many local retailers will be
stayingopen late Saturday night
to accommodate the crowds ex-
pected downtown.
The drawing and related ac'
tivities are sponsored by the Al-
bany Chamber of Commerce and
the merchants committee.
Santa, Tree Lighting
The evening events will start
with the arrival of Santa Claus
and the lighting of the commu-
nity Christmas tree at the Bank
Park.
Santa is due to arrive at 6:30
p.m. aboard one of the fire
engine's belonging to the local
vol nteer fire department. He
will be seated at his special chair
. t the park to visit With local
children
A brief tree lighting ceremony
will be held just after Santa ar-
rives. .
The merchants committee has
been working on a different look
for the bank park trees this sea-
son,
Carolers will also be on hand,
according to Chamber secretary
Kimberly Davis. Any local resi-
dents who wish to sing Christ-
mas carols are invited to join the
carolers at the Bank Park at
6:30 p.m. The singers will also
stroll alon^ Main Street after
the drawing
First Drawing Set
The first of three Christmas
Drawings will be held Saturday
at 7:00 p.m at the Bank Park
A total of $1,500 in script
will be handed out to shoppers
over the next three Saturdays.
Each drawing will feature a
top prize of $250 i n script money,
along with $100, $50, three $20
prizes and four $10 awards.
The valuable script can tx-
redeemed for merchandise at
any. of the 30 local retail busi
nesses handing out tickets. Tick
ets are handed out at the discre
tion of each participating busi-
(See Drawing, pg. 8-A]
Arctic front drops early snow
. By Bobby ilorecka
Although Christmas is about
* a month away, it began to look
an awful lot like Christmas in
the streets of Albany last Sun
day, as the first snow of the
season blanketed the area in
wintry white.
The actual cold front blew in
Saturday night, dipping tem-
peratures below the freezing
point and holding them there all
day on Sunday But the real
brunt of the storm came Sunday
morning when freezing rains and
later snows covered the entire
Big Country area
KTXS weatherman Steve
Kersh reported Sunday's high
at 37 degrees in the early morn-
ing hours. By 8:00 a.m., how-
ever, the temperatures dropped
to the upper 20's and held there
throughout the day. Area radio
broadcasts figured the windchill
of the storm to be around five
degrees below zero.
This first taste of winter fol-
lowed a week of unusually high
temperatures, with a record high
of 89 degrees recorded last Tues-
day, a good 20 degrees above
average. Not even a week later
on Monday, the temperature was
recorded at more than 20 de-
grees below average, 44 degrees
for the high
"Believeitornot "commented
Kersh, "this cold winter weather
can actually be attributed to the
weather patterns in northern
Canada and Alaska. As weath-
ermen, we continuously moni-
tor the weather in those regions
to help us predict what our
weather will be doing.
"When the temperatures drop
to 50 degrees below zero in those
far northern regions, the air be-
gins to slowly slide south. When
we see these patterns develop,
we can usually forecast a norther
either hitting our area or at least
hitting somewhere near here in
the span of about a week ."
When the front hit Saturday
night, severe weather was re-
ported all over the area. While
the most severe weather here in
Albany camethe form of mod-
erately high winds, residents in
Haskell and Rochester Counties
experienced severe hail storms.
Two tornadoes were even sighted
in San Angelo, one of which de
stroyed several radio towers out-
side oftown, but no injuries were
reported
The snow coverage on Sun-
day produced some interesting
results, with the largest snow-
fall reports coming in from ar-
eas much farther south of here.
Albany residents received
slightly over an inch of snow,
but three inches were reported
in Abilene. Further south in Rock
Springs, located in Edwards
County, reports came in tl
over 14 inches of snow had fallen.
Kersh attributed the odd
weather pattern to a blending of
fronts. As the cold air poured in
from the north, a warm, moist
front was on it. way in from the
Pacific. The meeting of the two
fronts produced both severe
weather and irregular snows.
The local sheriff s department
reported a total of 18 weather-
related accidents in Shackelford
County on Sunday. AH of the
accidents within the county were
minor and no injuries were re-
ported. 6ther areas were not as
lucky, however, with several in-
juries and even fatalities com-
ing in from some of the neigh-
boring counties.
Incidentally, it was almost a
year ago to the date that the first
snow of the season Came last
(See Weather, pg. 8-A)
Just rolling along...
Michelle and Leia Lorica, like many local chi
bundle up in order to take advantage of the early
lhat fell in the area Sunday afternoon and evening,
Tenyerajyws dropped tb Iowm 20s, coming off a
week that saw the therm
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Lucas, Donnie A. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 121, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 28, 1996, newspaper, November 28, 1996; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth414492/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.