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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Friday, September 12, 2003
Council puts off sewer, street work to balance budget
By BRENDEN BRIGGS
Staff Writer
PECOS, Fri., Sept. 12, 2003 -- The Town of Pecos City Council has come up
with a balanced budget, totaling $8.8million for 2004 without an increase
in property taxes through carefully placed budget cuts and postponement
of some city projects, officials said today.
City officials were able to give workers a pay raise and maintain the
current .6967 cent tax rate, despite a drop in Pecos' property values. Council
members were told before their Thursday vote that the tax rate would have
to be increased to over .75 cents per $100 in valuations in order to bring
in the same revenue as in the 2003 Fiscal budget.
The budget, while taking care of emergency services, hit the city's Utilities
Department pretty hard. The fire, police and ambulance services received
some of what they were asking for, but a proposed lift station for the city's
sewer system, and the street seal coating project were both left on the
back burner for the year.
The proposed work on the current lift station would update a 50 year-old
facility struggling with the added waste coming from Reeves County Detention
Center. The new lift station would provide the needed pressure to push the
effluent through the sewerage pipes and out to the treatment plant.
"The city had allocated $100,000 for the project, however, were soon
told by Engineer Frank Spencer that the project would cost close to half
a million" said Councilman Gerald Tellez. Spencer has offered his help
to the city by trying to find any sewerage repair grants available to the
Town of Pecos City.
While this project has been completely postponed, other city water and
sewer projects still on the to-do list have been scaled back to conserve
funds for other projects.
Last week the city's department heads met with the council to offer up
their wish lists. While these requests were looked at as completely necessary,
some of the less crucial items had to be passed on for the time being.
What the council saw as very important were the requests for raises for
city employees. Almost every department head asked for some kind of raise,
all varying in amounts; however, the city went ahead and approved a 3 percent
raise for all city employees across the board.
The two top items on the police and fire departments wish list did make
it through. The Fire department received funding for the new codebooks to
replace the nine-year old books currently in use, and the police department
received funding for new patrol cars.
The streets and alleys budget did receive $35,000, though this amount
probably means that the seal-coating project will have to be put off for
another year.
Originally city Parks and Utilities Director Octavio Garcia projected
the minimum budget for streets and alleys to be $70,000 if the road-coating
project was to be done. With the funds allocated so low, and though the
cost may go up, the coating will have to wait.
The city has not conducted any street seal coating for the past several
years, though some streets maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation
have been resurfaced during that time.
Mayor Dot Stafford said, "we try and take care of as many departments
as we can, but when one gets shorted, we try and make it up next year."
Opening events tonight for annual Fiestas
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Fri., Sept. 12, 2003 -- Games, food, music and more will all be a
part of the festivities for this year's 16th of September Fiesta, which
opens this evening in front of Santa Rosa Catholic Church in Pecos.
The celebrations will begin with Father Ben Flores officially welcoming
participants, vendors and all the special guests to this year's Fiestas.
This year the church will have eight food booths located in the parking
lot in front of the church. They will offer foods ranging from gorditas
to burritos. The church will also have a booth selling cokes and water (agua
frescas) as well as a game booth.
Additional games such as the loteria and the cakewalk will be held inside
the Santa Rosa Hall, while the church has brought in a jumping balloon that
will be set up outside on the festival grounds.
In total, 17 vendors will be showing off their goods, which will range
from a display of Hummers to booths devoted to toys and others to games.
Welcome and invocation will be at 6 p.m., with the presentation of the
colors following. Booths will officially open at 7 p.m., and the Santa Rosa
Folklorico Dancers will perform at 7:30 p.m.
Mariachi Perla will be on hand at 9 p.m., with DJ music following and
the fiestas concluding at midnight.
On Saturday, parade line-up will be held at 8 a.m., at the West of the
Pecos Rodeo Grounds, with the parade following beginning at 10 a.m. through
downtown Pecos.
At noon, the Matachines will open the fiestas at the Fiesta site in the
Santa Rosa Catholic Church parking lot. The Biker Poker run will be held
at this time as well.
Parade winners will be announced at 1 p.m., bike events at 2 p.m., and
Jose Luis Fuentes will perform at 3 p.m.
The bike show will take place at 4 p.m., with the Matichines performing
at 5 p.m., and the Santa Rosa Ballet Folklorico at 6 p.m.
Crowning of the Queens will be at 8 p.m., Saturday and the announcement
of the raffle winners. Prizes for the annual raffle event include: first
prize - 2003 Yamaha Motorcycle; 2nd prize, Outdoor Swing; 3rd prize, meat
freezer; 4th prize, 25'' color television; 5th prize, complete golf set
and 6th prize, $150 gift certificate.
Everyone is invited to come out and dance under the stars with Al Gusto
band, which will play beginning at 9 p.m.
Board keeps First Choice as PBT power provider
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Fri., Sept. 12, 2003 -- Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD board members opted
to renew their contract with First Choice Electric Co., during their regular
meeting Thursday, and approved guidelines for identification badges that
will be issued to all school personnel and students.
"Our contract renewal with First Choice is coming up and we need to decide
if we want to renew it or purchase electricity through the State Power General
Land Office," said P-B-T Superintendent Don Love.
Love said that the group could also opt to go out for requests for proposals
from other electric providers.
After discussing the options, the board decided to renew their contract
with First Choice, which is the local provider for Texas-New Mexico Power
Co., the longtime area utility.
"Even if we went with General Land, would the local employees still take
care of the maintenance," said board member Crissy Martinez.
Love told the group that the First Choice would take care of the maintenance.
"None of those employees would be affected, we would just be getting electricity
from somewhere else," said Love.
Love said that the district has saved some money with First Choice and
deregulation. "But it will be as expensive as it was two years ago, maybe
a little bit higher," said Love.
The board also approved identification badge guidelines as presented
and will be handed out to all the students to take home and sign.
"We wanted these guidelines approved by the board before we hand out
the badges to all the students," said career and technology director Jodi
Exum.
She told board members that these guidelines would be sent home with
the students and they would have to be signed by the parent/guardian and
returned to the teachers.
"We only need 16 more to do in the district and are currently doing makeovers,"
said Exum.
The badges will be passed out to all Pecos High School students first,
then junior high. "Then we'll go on down the line and give all the students
a badge," said Exum.
One of the rules in the guidelines for junior high and high school students
state that ID badges will be worn by all students and visible at all times
during school hours, with the exception of physical education classes, athletic
classes and shop classes. Badges will be removed during P.E., athletics
and shop. Student local ID numbers will be bar-coded on their bade. No numbers
will be visible, only the barcode. Student badges must be worn on a breakaway
lanyard or a clip. ID badges will be scanned for all library checkout, and
eventually, the cafeteria and textbook checkout.
"Before when we discussed it, you had said that students could carry
them in their wallets," said Martinez.
"The junior high and high school personnel decided that they wanted
the badges visible at all times," said Exum.
Pecos High School Principal Danny Rodriguez told board members that this
decision was made for security purposes. "There are some students that we
don't know yet and this is a good way to keep track of all of them," said
Rodriguez. "It was a decision based on security issues," he said.
Replacement fee for lost or new badges is $2.
Visitors and volunteers will also receive and ID badge during their visits
to the schools. All campus visitors (who are not wearing a staff ID badge)
will stop by the office and sign in to receive a numbered visitor ID card.
These cards will be worn at all times by campus visitors. As they leave
the campus, the visitor will sign-out and return the ID badge to the office.
If a card is not returned, the office will call the visitor/volunteer and
ask for the card's return.
Substitutes will be issued ID badges and must visibly display the card
at all times during duty hours.
More students were enrolled in the P-B-T ISD on the day after Labor Day
bringing that count up to 2,335. "We're actually about 15 children above
what we had budgeted on," said Love. "That's 95 down from last year, but
at least it's not 200 like some other school districts," he said.
Voters going to polls on constitutional amendments
From Staff and Wire Reports
PECOS, Fri., Sept. 12, 2003 -- Reeves County residents and others across
Texas will be going to the polls on Saturday to vote on 22 amendments to
the Texas Constitution. However, officials expect the outcome of the election
to be decided by only a small percentage of the state's registered voters.
Texas Secretary of State Geoffrey Connor is projecting voter turnout of
9 percent in Saturday's constitutional amendments election, which is higher
than earlier estimates.
The estimate, released Thursday, is based in part on increased early voting,
which ended Tuesday.
"It is wonderful to see that more Texans voted early this election cycle
than in 2001. Traditionally, this indicates we will see a higher turnout
on Election Day as well, so I am projecting a higher voter turnout than
in the 2001 election," Connor said.
In Reeves County, a total of 220 voters cast ballots early, according
to County Clerk Dianne O. Florez, 207 by personal appearance at the Reeves
County Courthouse and another 13 returned mail ballots.
Florez said polls will be open on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and
all voters in Pecos will be casting ballots at the Reeves County Civic Center.
Voters in Balmorhea, Saragosa and Toyah "will be voting at their regular
locations," she said.
Those sites are at Toyah City Hall, the Balmorhea Fire Hall and the Saragosa
Multi-purpose Center. Barstow voters, meanwhile, will be casting their ballots
on Saturday at the Barstow Community Center.
Connor said even though he is projecting that more than 1 million Texans
will vote in this election, the figure is still low as a percentage of registered
voters.
There are 22 proposed constitutional amendments on Saturday's ballot.
The election has been dominated by campaigns for and against Proposition
12, which would allow the Legislature to limit non-economic damages in medical
malpractice and other civil lawsuits.
Carden Circus holds Monday show in Pecos
PECOS, Fri., Sept. 12, 2003 -- The George Carden El Maida Shrine Circus
will in Pecos for one show Monday evening, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Buck
Jackson Rodeo Arena.
Tickets are $8 for children and $10 for adults for the show, which will
feature elephant and tiger acts, along with dogs, a crossbow act and a motorcycle
act in the circus' steel globe.
This is the second year in a row the Carden Circus has paid a September
visit to Pecos. The event is sponsored by the El Maida Shriners.
Obituary
Elizabeth Schaefer
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
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