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By BOBBI LANG
Staff Writer
Pecos, Wednesday, August 28, 1996 - Town of Pecos City Finance Officer
Steve McCormick presented the proposed 1996-97 city budget to the
council members at Wednesday evening's special meeting at City Hall.
The proposed budget is not balanced, with a $900,000 deficit to be made
up out of the city's existing cash balance. The budget lists revenues of
$6,683,000 and expenditures of $7,570,000.
Under the proposal, the city will begin the 1997 fiscal year on Oct. 1
with a cash balance of $2,451,000, and will finish with $1,564,000 in
cash on hand on Sept. 30 of next year.
The budget shows about half of the expenditures will go into the general
fund. A total of $3.6 million is budget for expenditures there, about
$170,000 less than the city expects to take in through revenues during
the upcoming fiscal year. The next highest expenditure will be in the
Water and Sewer Department, where McCormick lists $2.02 million in costs
for fiscal 1997 and a projected $30,000 deficit.
Expenditures are expected to exceed revenues in the employee trust and
for firemen's pensions, while the Pecos Ambulance Service has a
projected $14,000 surplus for fiscal 1997, even with the planned
purchase of a $20,000 four-wheel drive Jeep for use by the department.
The final budget for the city will not be approved until next month, and
council members named councilman Randy Graham to work closely with
McCormick, to seek ways to balance the proposed budget before a final
vote is taken.
Ricky Herrera and Gerald Tellez Jr. opposed the move to privatize the
city's garbage business, favoring instead a proposal by sanitarian
Armando Gil to have city employees do the same work at less cost.
Randy Graham, who spearheaded the disposal study, said he doubts the
costs estimated by Gil are accurate.
After the vote was taken, sanitation workers who had crowded the council
chambers left immediately. Gil followed to talk with them, then returned
for the remainder of the meeting, which included a budget workshop.
City Attorney Scott Johnson explained several changes negotiated in the
contract that the council considered last week. But the bottom line
remained the same.
WT Waste will purchase about 160 dumpsters costing $48,000 and build a
transfer station if the 90-day trial period proves satisfactory.
City employees will work for WT Waste on a lease basis during the trial
period. They would have first priority for five truck driving jobs with
the company should the five-year contract be ratified.
Johnson objected to an automatic renewal of the contract at the end of
five years, saying that would, in effect, be a 10-year contract.
"Let's call it what it is," he said. "If it is a 10-year contract, let's
call it a 10-year contract."
Ed Rhodes, with Charter Waste Management, the regional landfill in
Penwell where the trash will be dumped, said he would rather have a
10-year contract, "but we are comfortable with it."
Graham said that WT Waste offers one service the city cannot match, and
that is monthly alley cleanup of items too large or unsuited for the
dumpster.
Although WT Waste will cut the number of dumpster pickups from two per
week to one, they will place enough dumpsters so that none will overflow.
City employees will continue to collect sanitation charges along with
the water bill, and the city will pay WT Waste a set monthly fee.
Transported by Pecos Ambulance Service were three-year-old Cyrstal
Mendoza, Norma Mendoza, 30, and Adela Mendoza, age unknown, who was
driving a small-frame Ford, with the aforementioned passengers, when she
collided with an early model Chevrolet pickup.
In the truck were driver, Irma Ortega and passenger, Ruben Ortega, 21,
who were also taken to RCH.
Investigating Department of Public Safety Trooper John Henley was
unavailable for comment prior to press time for complete details on the
accident.
Reeves County deputies at the scene, Cesar Urias, Tony Aguilar and
Armando Granado, said the Mendozas' car was northbound in the 5400 block
of Sierra and the truck was westbound in the 2200 block of Sandia when
they entered the intersection and crashed just after 10 a.m., today.
Ambulance workers and others at the scene treated one of the women for a
leg injury, another for a cut to the head and others for sore limbs as a
result of the accident.
Hospital representatives authorized to give out information on the
condition of the five victims were unavailable for comment prior to
press time.
Tejano Music Award winners Mazz and Delia Gonzales y Culturas will
highlight the Labor Day weekend concert, while a Pecos-based band is
also scheduled to perform, as Marfa marks the 10th anniversary of their
festival celebrating those magical, mystical, mysterious lights which
appear along the hills of U.S. 67 south of town.
For those who prefer another type of music, Big Bend-based Craig Carter
will perform at the street dance, and Kelly Black will be the opening
act at the concert. Both are favorite country-western music bands.
The Tejano sounds of Miradas, a sextet of rising young musicians from
Pecos and Monahans, will close out this year's event, at the festival
finale dance Sunday night at the MAC building.
The three-day festival is sponsored by the Marfa Chamber of Commerce,
and concert and finale dance tickets are now on sale at the chamber
office. Concert tickets are $15 per person in advance and $20 at the
gate. Children 12 years old and younger will be admitted free.
The street dance will kick off this year's festival at 8 p.m. Friday, on
the pavement between the historic Presidio County Courthouse and the old
and new jails. The concert begins at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Vizcaino
Park stage east of town and the finale dance is set for 8 p.m., Sunday.
Street dance tickets are $5 per person and will be available at the
dance. A limited supply of finale dance tickets - 475 - are $10 per
person and will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. The limit is
10 tickets per person.
Visa and MasterCard are accepted for all three events.
A fun run kicks off other events on Saturday. It begins at 8 a.m. at the
courthouse, where all day long there will be fun, games, food, art and
crafts booths and entertainment throughout the day. A parade through
downtown Marfa begins at 11 a.m.
The world champion Punch 84 lowrider pickup - with its gold-plated
engine and a superior sound system - will be exhibited at the new jail
sallyport. Tickets are $5 per person.
The fun continues on the courthouse lawn from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday
and the Marfa Lights roundtable discussion is set for 2 p.m. at the
First Christian Church Fellowship Hall, located just west of the
courthouse.
For more information contact the Marfa Chamber of Commerce at
1-800-650-6996 or 915-729-4942.
EL PASO, Wednesday, August 28, 1996 (AP) - City officials have cut a
municipal benefit plan criticized because it sometimes paid injured
employees more to stay home than they were getting on the job.
The El Paso City Council voted 8-0 Tuesday to reduce the absent-with-pay
maximum from six months to 30 days and also change some other provisions
of the program.
The program bridged the seven days it takes for workers compensation to
kick in after an employee is hurt on the job.
Starting next month, the city will do away with those paid days off,
after it was pointed out that between workers comp - non-taxed and equal
to about 70 percent of normal pay - and the city's supplemental money,
some city employees have found that their paycheck is larger if they
stay home, rather than returning to work.
Pecos, Wednesday, August 28, 1996 - High Tuesday 82, low last night 68.
Rainfall .10 inch. August rainfall 2.32 inches. Year-to-date 7.70
inches. Tonight, mostly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of showers or
thunderstorms. Low 65-70. Light wind. Thursday, mostly cloudy. A 30
percent chance of showers or thunderstorms. High 85-90. Southeast wind
5-15 mph.
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Copyright 1996 by Pecos Enterprise
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