The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 137, No. 99, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 14, 1991 Page: 1 of 24
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VoL 137, No. 99
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper
Since March 1, 1853
501
Bastrop, Texas
Thursday, February 14,1991
Rate hike threatens county budget balance
As commissioners voted Mon-
day on amendments to bring the
Bastrop County budget into
precarious balance, rising
worker’s compensation insurance
and indigent health care costs
threatened to send it reeling
again.
Because of rate increases im-
posed after budget approval in
September, commissioners are
faced with finding an additional
$9,000 each to pay workers com-
pensation costs this year.
Smithville drops
EMS experiment
By Janies Butler
Staff Writer
Abandoning a two-year experi-
ment in city-run ambulance ser-
vice, the Smithville city council
Monday voted to contract for the
service with a private firm.
In a recent survey, 16 percent of
Smithville residents said the ci-
ty’s Emergency Medical Service
needs improvement. City council
members apparently took the
response to heart Monday.
The council voted to change the
present ambulance service,
which is city operated, to a
private contract with paramedic
Mike Owens, a former partner in
Bastrop Community EMS.
Options considered by officials
included keeping the service as it
was with city equipment and
employees, having city owned
equipment and a contract with
EMS personnel or contracting the
service out completely for a flat
rate, said Smithville Mayor Ver-
non Richards.
In the two years since the city
took over the ambulance service,
there have been many problems
with the vehicles. The city
estimates it would need to spend
$54,000 to get the ambulance back
in shape or buy another one,
Richards said.
“I sincerely think the best plan
for the citizens and the city
budget is to have a contract ser-
vice,” the mayor told the council.
The city budgeted $79,000 for
EMS this year, but is expecting
only $66,000 in revenues. A new or
revised ambulance would be add-
ed to this expense, City Secretary
On Valentine's Day
Romance remains after 50 years
By Ellen Moore
Staff Writer
It was love at first sight.
Ruth Orts had moved to
Bastrop from Paige in 1936 to take
a job with the U.S. Department of
Agricultural Stabilization & Con-
servation Service, located on
Main where Mrs. Ketha’s now
stands.
She roomed, like all respec-
table young women in those
times, with a prominent family,
Dr. and Mrs. Thomas B. ’Ktylor,
who lived where the Weiss fami-
ly now lives at 1305 Pecan.
Adren (Red) Long was already
a Bastrop old-timer. He had mov-
ed here from Yoakum the year
before, in 1935, and was living
with his brother and sister-in-law,
Cecil and Ida Lou Long, at 1501
Pecan Street while he worked for
Piggy Wiggly at the same end of
Main Street as his bride-to-be
Both on Pecan and Main, as
Adren tells it fondly, he kept see-
ing this lovely sprite of a girl and
managed to find out her name
and where she lived and worked.
Red and Ruth Long
Then he just tried to be in the
right place at the right time to of-
fer her rides and make her
acquaintance
Ruth, with more restraint, add-
ed, “I don’t really remember how
it all happened, but I was picked
up to go to lunch quite often.”
It was a proper and lengthy
courtship and the couple married
on February 8,1941.
Despite the threatening war,
Miss Orts of Bastrop and Paige
See VALENTINE, Page 2
The same coverage for law en-
forcement personnel will cost an
estimated $24,000 more than the
budget calls for.
“If I have to come up with
$9,000 more, I might as well tell
my boys to go home,” said
Precinct 4 Commissioner Lee
Dildy.
“We could have a telethon and
get Jerry Lewis down here,” jok-
ed County Judge Randy Fritz.
To make the amended budget
balance, commissioners
previously gave up a $75,000
special bridge repair and
replacement fund and imposed a
1.9 percent cut on all general fund
departments.
Precinct 2 Commissioner
Elaine Seidel said she’s also fac-
OLD STYLE HIGH FASHION
Gil Barnes said.
In Owens’ proposal, he asked
for $27,600 a year. That would save
the city $15,000 to $20,000 each
year, Richards said.
Bastrop County supplements
the three major city EMS ser-
vices with $20,400 a year. “In my
personal opinion, the county
should seriously consider a
county-wide EMS service
because the majority of pick-ups
are outside the cities,” the mayor
said.
Owens will be responsible for
his own vehicles, personnel, sup-
plies, billing and collections.
He has been with the city as a
volunteer for seven or eight
months, the mayor said. Owens
will replace Rene Simon, who has
been running the EMS for the ci-
ty during the past two years, and
Maureen Ogle, another volunteer.
Simon, who was caught off
guard by the vote, said as of 5
p.m. Friday, she and Ogle will be
out of a job.
The council approved the
change with Council Members
Joyce Klutts and Clinton Wright
abstaining.
In other business Monday the
council:
• Passed a resolution to
establish a $250,000 emergency
fund for future councils. Mayor
Richards hopes to have the fund
at $1 million in the future.
•Agreed to sell old equipment
including a 1975 truck, 1966 Ford
and a bush hog shredder for $1000.
• Considered a city-wide
animal ordinance, but tabled ac-
tion until the next regular
meeting.
m
Reeda Peel, left, donned a piece of Bastrop history over the weekend as the Old Bastrop
Opera House unveiled a new historic costume project. For more on the effort, see Page 2.
Students go to court
Fleming: No tolerance for campus violence
Since a February 1 student
brawl at Bastrop High School,
school officials have taken a
number steps to improve securi-
ty and stem future outbreaks,
said BISD Superintendent Paul
Fleming.
“We are not going to tolerate
that kind of violence in our
schools,” he said.
One adult charged with assault
in the aftermath of the fight
pleaded guilty when he appeared
before Bastrop Municipal Judge
Judi Hoover February 6. She set
his fine at $217.50.
Two other students older than
16 were charged with disorgerly
conduct and pleaded not guilty.
They were set to appear before
Judge Hoover February 13 when
witnesses could be present, she
said.
All the students involved in the
fracas are being reviewed by
school officials as separate
discipline situations, said Flem-
ing. Some students had clubs and
several others were involved, he
added.
Despite rumors that the fight
was gang related, Judge Hoover
agreed with Bastrop Police Chief
Ronnie Duncan that the incident
was not racially motivated and no
organized gangs were involved.
“I don’t find the situation to be
racial. I think it is a small
number of individuals with many
followers and a few leaders,” said
the judge.
“We have good teachers and
administration in our schools,”
Hoover said.
“There were some bad feelings
between a few of the students that
go back along way. We can’t pre-
vent all fights, but the district is
taking a very stern approach in
this matter,” Fleming said.
As far as organized gangs are
concerned, some students are
trying to develop that kind of
association, the superintendent
believes..
“We have seen some early
signs in other cases,” he said.
“We’re not going to have this type
of behavior. It’s that simple,” he
said.
The vast majority of BISD
students are outstanding young
people, Fleming added.
“We do have potential for
gangs, but through programs like
DARE we encourage students to
think for themselves and lead
See BHS, Page 2
Bastrop debates flood problems
Urged on by Bastrop City Coun-
cil Member Willie DeLa Rosa
Tuesday, city officials said they
are at work to relieve flooding
problems north of the railroad
along Pecan, Hill, Jefferson and
Water Streets.
Design work is essentially com-
plete for a 25-acre-foot storm
water retention pond on city pro-
perty between Texas 95 and Hill
Street and the city has purchas-
ed a bulldozer to carry out the re-
quired dirt work, said city
management consultant Henry
Cunningham Jr.
“It’s been designed. We’ll move
forward on this project like we
have on others,” Cunningham
said.
The pond is designed to retard
the flow of storm water runoff in-
“The people up
there have been
real patient.”
-Mayor David Lock
to flood prone areas to the west,
he said.
A prime reason for the city buy-
ing the property was the possibili-
ty of creating the retention pond,
said Council Member June Pape.
Over the past few months the
city has twice rejected as too
costly bids for pond construction.
The latest plan calls for construc-
tion to be carried with city forces
and equipment.
“If it would help the flooding
$70,000 to $80,000 (for the pond)
would be money well spent,” said
Mayor David Lock.
Cunningham and street
superintendent Marvin Patterson
estimate the pond can be built for
about $20,000.
After a series of relatively dry
years, the north side of the city
experienced high water problems
last month as serious as many old
timers could recall. Streets and
ditches overflowed and a number
of homes were surrounded by
standing water.
“The people up there have been
real patient,” said Lock.
De La Rosa said he has also
contacted state highway depart-
ment officials about helping
reduce runoff from Texas 95 and
See FLOOD, Page 2
ed with replacing two bridges in
her area.
Dildy took office Jan. 1 to find
two thirds of his precinct budget
already spent or obligated by his
See BALANCE, Page 2
Bastrop,
WCID road
talks go on
Directors of the Tahitian
Village water district approved a
compromise plan Monday to gain
City of Bastrop and Bastrop
County backing to extend its road
authority for four years, but the
concessions may not be enough.
“We’re still worlds apart,” said
Bastrop management consultant
Henry Cunningham Jr. Tuesday.
Monday’s proposal by the
Bastrop County Water Control
and Improvement District No. 2
(WCID) calls for the district to
continue collecting £.nd spending
funds from a $5 per month per lot
road fee charged to Tbhitian
Village property owners.
The plan calls for the district to
keep 10 percent of the estimated
$285,000 a year for its ad-
ministrative costs and 40 percent
more for routine street main-
tance in the 7,000-lot subdivision’
which sprawls out of Bastrop’s
southeast corner across steep
bluffs along the Colorado River.
The remainder would go for
major road and drainage im-
provement to bring streets up to
standard for city and county
maintenance.
See WCID, Page 2
Elgin picks
Schroeder
Jan Schroeder, formerly
Elgin’s mayor pro-tem, is the
newly appointed mayor. Elgin Ci-
ty Council selected her to fill the
vacancy left by former mayor
Ken Daughtry.
Daughtry accepted a position
as manager of Sunbelt Savings'
Brady office late last year. He has
been commuting from Brady to
Elgin to make council meetings,
but resigned his title at February
5 meeting.
“Jan has accepted the position
and will be sworn in at the next
meeting February 19,” said City
Manager Jack Harzke. She will
hold that position until the May 4
municipal election, he added
With Schroeder taking the
mayor’s seat, her position
representing Ward 3 is open.
At the next meeting, the coun-
cil will decide whether or not to
fill the Ward 3 vacancy and
decide if they want to fill the
mayor pro-tem position, Harzke
said.
INDEX
Classified......................p. 14
Coming Up......................p. 6
Deaths.................... pi 3
Letters............................p. 4
People...........................pi 11
Religion.........................p. 12
Sports.......................—pi 8
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McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 137, No. 99, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 14, 1991, newspaper, February 14, 1991; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth746898/m1/1/?q=%22Texas+Press+Association%22: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.