Today Cedar Hill (Duncanville, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 18, 1999 Page: 1 of 16
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VOL. 33 NO. 48
60 PAGES IN FIVE SECTIONS
AND SUPPLEMENTS
Cedar Hill's oldest newspaper,
yet new each week
DIGEST
TODAY
Jamaican
storytelling
Saturday
Storyteller Sharraine Phipps
will share stories and songs from
Jamaica Saturday at the Zula B.
Wylie Library, 225 Cedar St.,
from 3-4 p.m.
For more information on this
event and any other activities, call
Carol Hanson, children’s librarian,
at 972-291-7323.
Ramada open
house Saturday
The Ramada Limited will host
an open house Saturday from 10
a.m.-6 p.m.
The public will have an oppor-
tunity to tour the hotel’s spacious
rooms and check out the heated
pool and spa. Guests will also reg-
ister to win a weekend getaway
for two.
‘Crappie’
tourney is set
for Saturday
It is time once again for the
annual “Joe Pool Lake Crappie
Marathon.”
It is a tagged crappie fishing
tournament and promotion. The
1999 63-day tournament is sched-
uled to begin Feb. 27 and will
continue through April 30.
The one-day tagging tourna-
ment is Feb. 20. Entry tickets are
$ 10 each and are good for the
entire 63-day event.
Tickets may be purchased at
Lynn Creek Marina cm Joe Pool
Lake or at D&D Tackle, 4010 S.
Great Southwest Parkway in
Grand Prairie.
Public hearing
reviews books
The Cedar Hill ISD Textbook
Committee will display all text-
books that are up for adoption at
the Administration Building, 270
S. Highway 67, in February dur-
ing regular school hours.
A public hearing for the com-
munity will be held Monday from
4-5 p.m. in the board room at the
Administration Building. All
interested persons are invited to
attend.
Public hearing
Wednesday
The Cedar Hill City Council
and the Planning and Zoning
Commission will hold a combined
meeting to discuss the newly
updated Comprehensive Plan
Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Belt Line
Intermediate, 504 E. Belt Line
Road.
The Comprehensive Plan will
be used to guide future land use
decisions and help the city plan its
infrastructure. Consultant Dan
Sefko will give a brief overview
on the plan.
The public hearing will afford
residents with an opportunity to
view the plans and offer sugges-
tions and comments.
For more information, call the
City Planning Department at 972-
291-5190.
INSIDE
CEDAR HILL
TODAY /
Opinion..................................2f
Sports............................i.9-10
Religion.................................6
Lifestyle........................People
Education..............................7
SUPPLEMENTS
PflopIflTodav (including SW
Address), Market Place Today
(including Autoworld)_
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NEWSPAPER
MCVCIIS
JACKSONS SIGN FOR SCHOLARSHIPS, SEE PAGE 9
TODAY
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01999
dar Hill Today
500
Horse tangle
.
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Divided council cuts
cost of water, sewer
lines for company
By TONYA L. JOHNSON
News Editor
Today photos by JAIME CARRERO
King’s Creek Gardens’ prize
Clydesdales jumped at a
parked car at Saturday’s Rose
Day festivities at the Cedar
Hill nursery. The horses had
been giving rides to visitors
when they became tangled
and charged the car. Owner
Rosie Flnsley was driving the
buggy and was slightly
injured.
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The Cedar Hill City Council’s
Feb. 9 meeting was perhaps one of
the most animated sessions in recent
memory, highlighted by the debate
on whether the city should spend tax-
payer funds on a “for-profit” compa-
ny.
The oft-heated debate centered on
whether Cedar Hill should assist the
Fort Worth-based Covenant Group, a
company that operates retirement
communities, with the installation of
water and sewer lines at its property
on Highway 67 and Pleasant Run.
David Evans, spokesman for the
Covenant Group, told the council
that his company’s original plans
sought to run the sewer line parallel
to the railroad tracks along the west
side of the property.
However, it would have cost near-
ly $35,000. The new plans call for
the builders to place the line under
the tracks.
After a rather lengthy discussion
involving each council member, the
request was approved by a 4-3 vote,
with Mayor Pro Tern Makia Epie and
council members Amanda Hall,
Clifford Shaw and Jerry Burns
choosing “to reduce the cost of con-
struction of the sewer line utilizing
water and sewer funds to the value of
sewer - $25,700.”
Mayor Rob Franke and council
members Jerry White and David
Vedral voted “no.”
Bums requested that the council
look for alternative funding (possi-
bly, impact fees) for the Covenant
Group. Because of guideline restric-
tions, the company was ineligible for
tax incentives from the Economic
Development Corporation.
“Would we be setting the prece-
dent that whenever a property owner
comes in, the city will have to pay
for their sewer line?” White asked.
It was a question that basically
went unanswered, but White dogged-
ly pressed for answers as he asked
Evans whether the retirement com-
plex would eventually become
church (Covenant is affiliated with
Hillcrest Baptist Church) property,
rendering it as a non-taxable entity.
Evans believed that once the facil-
ity had established itself as a taxable
entity, it would remain so.
Epie said that the Covenant Group
was not part of the church and the
council should look at the overall
picture for Cedar Hill.
“We have to look at the benefits
of bringing in $13 million, as
opposed to $25,700 for the sewer
lines,” he said. “We Should look into
ways to benefit the Covenant
Group.” ‘
White questioned whether it was
appropriate for the council to use tax-
See BIRTHDAY, Page 5
Recruiting scholars
Dancin’ wnndaddy
Community leaders introduce Permenter
eighth-graders to Best Southwest Scholars
By TONYA L. JOHNSON
News Editor
Representatives from the Cedar
Hill business community, city gov-
ernment, the Cedar Hill Police
Department and Cedar Hill School
District visited Permenter Middle
School classrooms to talk to students
about their future.
The reason for the academic pep
talk was to encourage the eighth
grade students to consider becoming
a Best Southwest Scholar. Every
spring community members visit the
middle schoolers to speak about
striving to do better academically.
Created in 1989 by the Best
Southwest Coalition for Education,
the program encourages high school
students in the communities of Cedar
Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville and
Lancaster to follow a curriculum that
is designed to better prepare them for
life after high school.
Inside one classroom Linda
Patton and Mance Zachary teamed
up to introduce the concepts of
“Great Expectation - Great Rewards:
Competing in a Global World,” a
presentation geared toward educating
students about how much a good
education will benefit them in the
long run.
After a brief synopsis about their
individual lives and education,
Patton and Zachary got down to
business. While Zachary ran the
transparency, Patton told the class of
more than 25 students that in the next
few weeks they will decide which
classes to take in their freshman year
of high school.
Taking the tougher courses could
mean the difference between a good
See SCHOLARS, Page 5
Dualite to
construct
new facility
The city of Cedar Hill and the
Cedar Hill Economic Development
Corporation have approved a devel-
opment incentive offer to Dualite,
Inc., to acquire an eight-acre site in
the Cedar Hill Business Park.
Dualite will construct a company-
owned 100,000-square foot manufac-
turing facility on the site.
The new facility and machinery
will add $3 million in new property
tax value to the Cedar Hill tax base.
See DUALITE, Page 5
Today photo by DIANA WILSON
Daddies and daughters danced at Saturday’s Valentine’s Day
dance sponsored by the Cedar Hill Parks and Recreation
Department.
Two-fold purpose
Ervin serves as school district’s liaison, minority recruiter
*6
as*
By TONYA L. JOHNSON
News Editor
Lawyer by trade, ombudsman by
choice may very well be Cedar Hill
School District Ombudsman Kenneth
Ervin’s motto.
While Ervin has a doctorate in
jurisprudence from the University of
Houston, he says he doesn’t regret
his decision not to practice law,
although his children may wish oth-
erwise.
“I’ve never regretted my decision
not to practice law, although my chil-
dren tell me all the time that I blew
their inheritance,” he said jokingly.
All kidding aside, Ervin believes
his role in public education has given
him more satisfaction than any career
he would have pursued in the legal
profession. Ervin has been with the
CHISD for four years - one as a
diversity training consultant, one year
as a personnel development specialist
and the past two years as district
ombudsman. It is a role that involves
being part facilitator and part coun-
selor to those parents who have ques-
tions about their child’s treatment.
“My job as district ombudsman is
to serve as a liaison to the community
naad
Linda Patton talks to atudants about becoming Bast Southwast
to, their concerns about the education
of their children. The mistreatment of
their child by a teacher or student
with the overall goal of resolving the
conflict.”
In addition to working with par-
ents to resolve their concerns, Ervin
also works with the administration
and teachers on building better work-
ing relationships among themselves
and parents.
“I conduct rap sessions, diversity
training and workshops with teachers
and administration with the aim of
helping people become more com-
fortable and to learn more about
other cultures," he said.
To get the word out about himself
and his role in the district, Ervin vis-
its area businesses and churches to
acquaint himself with parents and
explain about his job as the district
ombudsman.
“There are still a lot of people
that don’t know I’m here,” he said.
While his role is primarily that of
“district watchdog,” Ervin’s duties
have expanded to include recruiting
minority teachers to the district but
not just minorities for the sake of
minorities, Ervin insists, but qualified
individuals who are looking to start
their career in a growing school dis-
trict.
—“Our goal is not juai to have
minority teachers, but qualified
teachers,” he said. “In no fashion
would I say go out and recruit minor-
ity teachers - they have to be quali-
fied." Through his role as minority
recruiter, Ervin’s primary search
includes visiting historically black
universities throughout Texas and
Louisiana in the hopes of attracting
young talent to the area.
Because a huge majority of candi-
dates who attend the career fairs have
never heard of Cedar Hill, Ervin
spends a great deal of his time edu-
cating them about the city as well as
the school district.
“I tell them it’s a growing district,
close to Dallas, Fort Worth, Arling-
ton,” he said of his recruitment pitch.
“When you tell them Dallas is nearby
that sort of perks their ears up.”
While Dallas may spark some inter-
est, Ervin realizes that it is usually
the Dallas’ and Fort Worth’s that
eventually win them over.
“That is part of the difficulty of
competing with bigger, better paying
districts," he said. “We’re in a very
competitive market and it’s hard to
sell people on a place they’ve never
heard of.”
While some candidates may be
interested in the big lights and big
city of Dallas, Ervin said he empha-
town living.
S— IRVIN, Page 5
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Gooch, Robin. Today Cedar Hill (Duncanville, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 18, 1999, newspaper, February 18, 1999; Duncanville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth575407/m1/1/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Zula B. Wylie Memorial Library.