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TOP STORIESJanuary 23, 1998Council hears sewer test resultsBy GREG HARMAN Staff Writer PECOS, January 23, 1998 - The council received a detailed report from the engineering office of Frank X. Spencer highlighting the results of phase two smoke test that was performed, in conjunction with the city, by Spencer and Associates on Pecos sewer lines, including recommendations for TV inspection and line cleaning. Abidur Kahn, who made the presentation to the council, was joined by Frank Spencer and Victor Thompson in fielding the questions of the council. The results of the testing of the phase two area (which includes most of Pecos south of Highway 80) revealed much need of repair, including 32 public and 199 private sector defects. Recommendations secured by the test include: the city initiating sewer line cleaning, followed by TV inspection, implementation of an abatement program, and rehabilitation and permitting of abandoned sewer ponds at the wastewater treatment plant. Spencer warned the council that if the city didn't start pursuing an amendment to the current wastewater treatment plant that would enable now-abandoned ponds to receive waste water, and if that amendment didn't get approved, then the city would be losing more and more water flow. As it currently stands, Spencer said, the sewer lines are only returning about 40 percent of city water. "We should be getting back about 85 percent," he said. The council approved the initiation of line cleaning, TV inspection, and voted to pursue an abatement program and permitting of wastewater ponds. The matter will be discussed again at the next council meeting, scheduled for 7:30 a.m., Feb. 12, 1998. While there were no private citizens present to voice concern or comment at the meeting, Department of Health Director Armando Gil used the opportunity to inform the council on progress gained in securing a reimbursement of about $19,000 the city had spent on a liquid mercury spill that occurred in late Aug., 1996. According to Gil, neither Pecos nor the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission reported the money to the EPA, which is in charge of community reimbursements. Mayor Stafford followed Gil's positive words with sober words regarding former Chief of Police Troy Moore's retirement and presented Moore with a plaque on behalf of the City in appreciation his 10 years of service. "I know that you have future plans," said Stafford, " and I hope they are successful." Moore called the council's attention to his replacement, current Chief of Police Clay McKinney, by saying, "This is the smoothest transition. Clay is doing so well that I feel completely unnecessary." The juvenile report was passed with comment on the large number of youth skipping school. According to City Attorney Scott Johnson, the numbers are misleading because up until now each individual occurrence has been filed as an individual complaint for each day missed -causing the numbers to look high -but said that the Municipal Court Judge Phyllis Salyer was beginning to file only one case per student, only raising the fines on each case as the offenses increase. Johnson said that the last year has seen great improvement in enforcement and that the first offense of skipping school is $200. The ambulance report was passed by a relieved council, with Mayor Stafford commenting that the monthly report "looked great." Steve McCormick, city finance director, said that the collection of $11,520.41 for the month of December, 1997, was more than was collected in all previous months of 1997. Johnson, who entered into contract with Bill Cole of the ambulance service as the new collecting agent, said he is still having difficulties securing delinquent accounts from the old collection agency, Management Koncepts, that are older than four months and younger than four years. The Pecos Chamber of Commerce's fourth quarter report was approved by the council, with City Manager Neal being asked to remind the chamber that the new contract between the chamber and the City, which revises the percentages used of the chamber's income for various tasks, still needs to be signed. Accounts payable was approved at $184,638.31. Councilman Gerald Tellez Jr. asked the City Manager how the situation with West Texas Waste stands. "I spoke with Ronnie [Ruiz, manager of West Texas Waste's transfer station] and he said that all the trimmed trees were keeping them busy, but he said that alley clean-up would start today," said Neal. The mayor lamented that the council had requested a representative of West Texas Waste be present at the morning's meeting, but no one had shown up. Code Enforcement Officer Emma Carrasco stood up at this point in the meeting and said that "the biggest problem we have at this point is the alleys. What became a rodent problem is now a fire hazard." Carrasco said that after pressing for the clean-up of vacant lots, a good response on the part of citizens has now filled alleys and dumpsters with refuse on the understanding that West Texas Waste would clean up the garbage. "In the three months since I started with code enforcement I haven't seen one [West Texas Waste] truck go by." Councilman Graham said that the public still needs to be educated on how to bundle their tree trimmings, and Tellez said that he had called the 1-800 number for the company and had been put on hold twice for ten minutes. Another problem with the system the council discussed is the set-up at the transfer station where citizens are required to hoist their waste into a roll-out trailer. "Old people like me have trouble throwing trash into the high trailer," said Neal. "Hopefully we can get a ramp connected." Discussion of West Texas Waste's services was placed on the agenda for the council's next meeting. Mayor Stafford took a moment to make the announcement that she had received a "very nice letter" from the mayor of Barstow, Abram Flores. He wrote to thank the city for its assistance in animal control in the past and to inform the council that Barstow had their own animal control officer in place now. Discussion with department heads led the council to secure a vehicle for City Manager Neal. "The problem is that it is not a budgeted item," said Mayor Stafford. Ricky Herrera suggested that since Fire Marshal Jack Brookshire had acquired a second vehicle after being elected Fire Chief perhaps Neal could drive one of the two. Brookshire said that he had planned on housing the truck he has been using in the new EMS building if and when it is completed. The council voted that Neal use Brookshire's car and that the Pecos Police Department pursue the new vehicles they need. The proposals the city sent out in the attempt to secure bids for the closure of Trench 1, Area B of the Pecos area landfill solicited only one response, from Raba-Kistner Consultants (SW), Inc., out of El Paso, Tx. Proposals were also mailed to Combest Geo-Science, ENPROTEC, and Environmental Labs of Texas.City Manager Neal recommended the council approve Raba-Kistner for the bid, "since it is the only bid." City Attorney Johnson said that the company had done work for the city before. "As I recall, it was done well," he said. A representative of the Raba-Kistner was at the meeting. The council unanimously approved the bid. In executive session the council agreed to increase Municipal Court Judge Phyllis Salyer's salary by three percent, from the current $779 a month to about $800. The meeting was followed with a farewell party with cake and punch for departing police chief Troy Moore.
PBT searching for PHS head coach
Federal officers leave big city for PecosBY PEGGY McCRACKEN Staff Writer PECOS, January 23, 1998 - San Antonio might seem a step up from Pecos, but two federal probation officers recently chose to leave the big city for positions in the Pecos Division. Jamison F. Reed is officer-in-charge of the Pecos probation office, and Diana Tijerina has recently joined him. Both had worked in the home office in San Antonio. Reed had worked in Midland before moving to San Antonio, and he liked working with Senior Judge Lucius Bunton. "Judge Bunton is a great guy to work for," Reed said. "One of the reasons I took this job is because he is still coming here to do criminal work." District Judge Royal Furgeson and Magistrate Judge Stuart Platt are "real nice people" also, he said. "That makes my job a lot easier. All the judges in our whole district are real good judges too. They are approachable." Probation officers travel a wide territory in the Pecos Division, covering all but two of the 10 counties that make up the division. At the moment, they are supervising 23 convicted felons who have served their prison time and are serving an additional term of supervised release. Most of the violators convicted in the Pecos Division live elsewhere, accounting for the relatively low number of supervisions out of the hundreds convicted each year. "We try to see them where they are," he said of the "clients." "If there are problems, we call them in here." Most of the probation department's work is investigating the background, criminal history and severity of the offense charged before defendants are sentenced. They also summarize application of the law and the offense as it applies to the federal sentencing guidelines. "The guidelines are very controversial," Reed said. "They are full of legalese. We have a lot of contact with attorneys, both for the government and defense, about application of the guidelines." Judges rely on the probation officer as a "sentencing expert," so he must consider the interests of the defendant as well as the government. "We are prt of the court system," Reed said. "We try to look at the different sides and facts of the case." Some judges will call a sentencing hearing in complicated cases, allowing witnesses to testify about different aspects of the law, the offense and the defendant. "The judge is the ultimate decider," Reed said. His decision may be appealed by either the government or the defendant. Gathering a criminal history can be time consuming, because the officer has to go to different county clerks, sheriff's offices, police departments and other locations where records are available. "Most of these people aren't from here. We have to ask officers (in their home division) to do the investigation," Reed said. Another probation officer is due to come on board in the Pecos office in August. Working with them are two clerks. Irma Benavides recently was promoted to clerk-in-charge when the second clerk was added to the staff. Reed, who is a bachelor, enjoys "typical guy stuff," hunting, fishing and camping. He is from a tiny town named Venus and has worked in Decatur and Archer City during the 10 years he has been in county and federal probation work. He became interested in the legal system when he was a freshman in college. "I knew I like social sciences," he said. "I took a criminal justice class and that ended up being my major. Those areas are entertwined." "I like what I do," he said. "Sometimes there are too many things to do at the same time, but I still enjoy my job 10 years later." WEATHERPECOS, January 23, 1998 - High Thursday, 58, low this morning, 28. It will be clear to partly cloudy and cool across all of Texas for the first half of the weekend. It will be clear to partly cloudy across West Texas with some morning fog possible in the Permian Basin, Concho Valley and Edwards Plateau. North Texas will have clear skies tonight and mostly sunny conditions on Saturday. Clear to partly cloudy skies are forecast for South Texas where the end of recent rains will be welcomed, particularly in Southeast Texas. Lows tonight will be in the 20s and 30s except in South Texas where readings will be mostly in the 30s and 40s, ranging from the upper 20s in the Hill Country to the 50s in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Highs Saturday will be in the 50s and 60s except in South Texas where readings will be in the 60s.
Pecos Enterprise
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