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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Hospital board OKs first payments on new clinic
The Reeves County Hospital District board made its first payments on the district’s new $4.5 million Rural Health Clinic last week, during the board’s regular monthly meeting at the hospital’s classroom.
Hospital CEO Al LaRochelle said members approved the first $126,000 in payments for preliminary work on the facility during their July 27 meeting. Ground for the 20,000 square foot clinic was broken last week and construction is scheduled to be completed next summer.
The board also delayed action on approving a negotiated line of credit, LaRochelle said. “The banks are still looking at it,” he said on Wednesday.
The district was scheduled to look at the new 2010 valuations during the July 27 meeting, but they had not arrived via Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD tax collector Lydia Preito’s office by meeting time. Prieto was again retained to calculate the effective and rollback tax rates for the hospital district, and was set the valuation totals by Reeves County Tax Appraiser John Huddleston on Monday.
LaRochelle said the district would wait for the numbers before figuring out their 2011 fiscal year budget and whether the district will have to raise taxes to handle losses due to non-payment of bills.
LaRochelle said a jump in the number of non-payments has hurt the hospital’s balance sheet this year, with almost $3.6 million owed to the district. “General revenues are up. If you look at the income statement, I’m in the black, $369,784, but I can’t get paid,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if I’m $1 million in the black if I can’t get paid.”
He said since the Rural Health Clinic, along with a new computer system and CT scanner were funded through the $5.6 million bond issue voters approved in May of 2009, all those projects have full funding, and the district has about $500,000 in the bank.
“We’ve turned some (bills) over to the debt collector, but even the debt collectors don’t collect much,” he said. “If people want to help the hospital district, they need to attempt to pay their bills, or get with someone in the (hospital’s) front office about paying their bills.”
Board members on Tuesday also approved all but one of the tax sale property bids submitted. Those include a bid of $275 by Vickie Garcia on property at 1214 S. Pecan St.; a $1,000 bid by Artemio Munoz on property at 411 E. 14th St.; a $2,500 bid by Monica Mier on property at 1009 S. Walnut St.; a $1,500 bid by Hector Garcia on property at 2013 Scott St.; a $3,000 bid by Daniel Rodriguez on property at 1319 S. Elm St.; a $4,000 bid on property at 710 S. Cypress St. by Nancy Camero; a $400 bid by Rebecca Mendoza on property at 1315 E. Fourth Street and a $400 bid by Mendoza for a lot next to that site; and bids of $600 and $300 by Herman Tarin on five-acre and a half-acre site on Highway 17 near Ramona’s Grocery, about nine miles south of Pecos.
Local valuations show rise over ’09 in final appraisal
Reeves County, the Reeves County Hospital District and the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD district gained back all of the millions dollars they lost in the 2010 preliminary property valuations and will end up about 1½ percent ahead of last year’s figures, when the final numbers were sent out last week, while the Town of Pecos City also saw a small increase in their final 2010 numbers.
The Reeves County Tax Appraisal Board was given copies of the final numbers on Wednesday by Chief Appraiser John Huddleston, during their meeting at the district’s Cypress Street office. The numbers are the basis local governing bodies use to set their budgets and property tax rates for the upcoming year.
Reeves County and the Reeves County Hospital District, which initially were looking at losses of about $46 million in real estate, personal property and mineral valuations from their 2010 tax rolls from 2009’s figures, instead will gain about $12 million this year. Valuations for both the county and hospital were put at $721,393,560, an increase of $11,930,870 over the 2009 totals. Preliminary valuations for both, released at the beginning of May, were only $663,218,040.
Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD, which covers the northern three-quarters of Reeves County, saw its final valuations put at $670,885,887, up from last year’s $657,335,250, and from the preliminary 2010 number of $616,165,197. The school district also receives valuations from the Barstow area of western Ward County. Those totals were put at $283,008,200, up about $30 million from 2009’s total of $253,506,070 and from the preliminary 2010 valuation of $275,313,490.
The combined total puts P-B-T ISD’s valuations for 2010 at $954,391,957, compared with $910,841,320 in 2009.
Town of Pecos City, with no mineral valuations, still saw it’s final number rise to $142,135,990 up a little over $2 million from last year’s $139,734,440 in total taxable valuations. The city’s preliminary 2010 number was virtually unchanged from the 2009 figure.
The city of Balmorhea was the only local taxing entity to see a drop in its final valuations number compared with the preliminary total, but that total represented an increase over the 2009 figure and the final total is also higher than the city’s 2009 valuations.
Balmorhea valuations were put at $4,984,970 up from $4,810,220 last year. The preliminary number for the city had been put at $5,026,016.
Balmorhea ISD’s final total for 2010 came in at $29,173,440, which was almost 13 percent higher than the preliminary $25,842,590 figure released in May. However, the total is still down from the $30,265,260 in valuations the school district had last year.
Toyah’s final valuation number of $2,184,460 was up from $1,998,528, in 2009, which is roughly the same valuation number for the city two years ago.
The county’s other taxing entity the Reeves County Water Improvement District No. 2 in the Balmorhea area, has $9,412,570 in valuations, according to the final 2010 numbers. That’s up from the preliminary $8,602,061 but still below 2009’s total of $10,362,750, when valuations within the district doubled from 2008’s numbers.
Huddleston also told the board that there were 70 protests at last month’s Appraisal Review Board hearings, which resulted in about $800,000 in lower real estate valuations.
In other action, the board approved the financial statements for the appraisal district, and told Huddleston to advertise for bids for a new carport to be built along the south side wall of the district’s building. He said the carport would allow office workers to have covered parking and have room for visitors to the office also to park. The board also tabled action on an evaluation of the chief appraiser until their next meeting, so that all board members could be in attendance.
Taylor celebrates 10th birthday with swimming party
Kellie Kristine Taylor celebrated her 10th birthday Saturday, with a swimming party held in her honor at the Pecos Valley Country Club.
Theme for the event was “Safari” and her favorite gift was a silk screener T-Shirt given to her by her uncle Doak and wife Angela Painter.
Various friends and family were on hand to help celebrate the special event, including her brother, Michael and sister, McKenzie.
She is the daughter of Kyle and Myra Taylor of Pecos.
Paternal grandparents are Steve and Dawn Taylor of Midland and Dan and Kathy Painter of El Paso.
Maternal grandmother is Christina Bitolas of Pecos.
Junell removes Texas cities from Open Meetings lawsuit
PECOS (AP) – Four Texas cities cannot join more than a dozen elected officials in a lawsuit aimed at overturning the Texas Open Meetings Act, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Robert Junell said the cities of Alpine, Pfulgerville, Rockport and Wichita Falls cannot sue Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and the state over the act because the issue involved revolves around individual rights.
The open meetings act bars a quorum of elected members of a governmental body from deliberating in secret. Violators can face up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.
The cities and elected officials argued in a lawsuit filed last year that the act violates the First Amendment's free speech protections by barring elected officials from speaking in public or private about public issues. The plaintiffs argued some communication by a quorum of elected officials, including e-mail and social media websites, should be allowed outside of a publicly posted meeting.
The state had argued cities are created by the state and therefore cannot sue their creator for constitutional violations.
Junell concluded that while the state's argument was overly broad, the open meetings law is about individual rights.
Rod Ponton, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said Wednesday that the ruling would not impact the case.
``All the judge did was say the persons who should sue are the individuals rather than cities,'' Ponton said. ``Each city voted to join (the suit) because each city felt that individual council members ... were unable to speak out. Each of the cities have council members that believe their First Amendment rights are being violated and they will just be added as individuals.''
A spokesman for Abbott's office did not immediately comment on the ruling.
PEDC board names Keese to interim job
The Pecos Economic Development Corp. board selected Town of Pecos City Councilman Joe Keese to serve as interim president of the 4B corporation, during a special meeting on Friday, after running into problems with their original plan to name Keese and City Manager Joseph Torres co-interim executive directors, following last week’s firing of Rob Tobias.
The board also agreed to begin seeking a replacement as executive director, while voting to tighten up residency requirements for whoever is selected for the post.
Tobias was fired by the board during a special meeting on July 26, and on Friday, the board met in executive session twice, with the second one coming after Torres declined to accept the interim position due to a conflict of interest.
“I’m asking not to be interim, because my daughter (Esparanza Garcia) is (PEDC) secretary,” he told the board, following a motion by Venetta Seals to spilt the duties between Torres and Keese. “I refuse the position of executive director.”
The board then met with Torres behind closed doors briefly before coming out and naming Keese as sole interim executive director. Keese, who was not at the meeting, currently serves as Pecos Chamber of Commerce and the West of the Pecos Rodeo Committee and was elected to the city council in May. He previously served as president of the PEDC 4A Board of Directors. Under the appointment, he will receive no compensation for his time as interim executive director.
Torres served as interim executive director for four months in 2007-08, just after the 4B PEDC was created, replacing the 4A corporation. He took over for Mike Burkholder, who had served as the 4A executive director, and served in the post until Tobias was hired in February 2008, after serving in a similar role in the city of Live Oak, northeast of San Antonio.
Along with Keese’s appointment, the board also officially approved Tobias’ termination, after city attorney Scott Johnson said no formal vote had been taken at the July 26 meeting. Board member Wally Moon, who was not at that meeting, abstained.
Johnson was also told by the board to post the opening, while suggesting tightening up the language on having the PEDC executive director maintain residency in Pecos. Tobias and his wife maintained a home in the San Antonio area, and board members said frequent travel between there and Pecos was one of the concerns they had with his work as executive director.
The new wording on the job opening will call for the new PEDC executive director to become a full-time resident of Pecos immediately after their hiring.
School board approves new hires
New teachers will be joining the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD, just in time for the new school year after the group met in executive session to discuss the new hires and to also discuss the duties, discipline and performance of individual board members.
The board met Thursday evening at the Technology Center to discuss those issues and also held a budget meeting.
“We have enough revenue to have a balanced budget,” said Interim Superintendent Maxie Watts. “The finance department does an excellent job, as do all the employees in the district,” he said.
He also said the briefly discussed the absence of two board members from the summer meetings, during their executive session.
“We discussed that briefly during the session, along with a letter to the editor that one of the board members submitted to the newspaper,” said Watts.
Board members Lila Cerna, who serves as vice-president and Paul Deishler, secretary for the board have missed four consecutive meetings.
John Granado was unable to make the previous board meeting, but was present for Thursday’s special meeting, along with Gail Box, Randy Graham, Louis Matta and board president Luis Juarez.
“I did talk to TEA, there are no provisions to make the people leave, they would need to do so of their own free will,” said Watts. “Things are going well and before we hire a new superintendent, we would like for them to come back and join us,” he added.
Watts said that the board plans to eventually do a resolution for the board about what is expected of board members.
Watts said that the letter to the editor, which did not run in the Enterprise due to excessive length, was discussed briefly and that things went well.
“Before anyone on the board submits a letter, they should first discuss it with other board members,” said Watts. “All in all, it was a good meeting.”
Police Report
EDITOR’S NOTE: Information contained in the Police Report is obtained from reports filed by the Pecos Police Department, Reeves County Sheriff’s Office, or other officers of those agencies. The serving of warrants by an officer for outstanding fines of either traffic citations, animal control violations or other court costs are considered arrests and will be printed as such unless indicated that the fines were paid. In such instances we will indicate payment and release.
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Rosie Lee Alvarez, 52, and Hugh Dean Mandrell, 46, both of 808 E. 12th St., were arrested by police on July 15 on charges of possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) and possession of drug paraphernalia. Police said the arrests were made after officers executed a search warrant at their home at 8:54 a.m. Police said a substance believed to be cocaine was found in the master bedroom along with a glass pipe used for smoking narcotics. In addition, Mandrell was charged with possession of dangerous drugs, after a medication bottle with the label removed was also found inside the house. Both suspects were then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Mingo Jimenez, 32, 2227 Madera Rd., was arrested by police on July 17 on a warrant for an unnamed offense. Police said the arrest was made in the 1900 block of Bickley Avenue, and Jimenez was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Eddie Bustamante Gomez, 24, 1515 S. Alamo St., was arrested by police on July 18 on charges of driving while intoxicated, a Class B misdemeanor, and evading arrest or detention, a state jail felony. Police said the arrest was made in the 300 block of South Cedar Street, and Gomez was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Nelson Lee McGrew, 46, 811 E. 11th St., was arrested by police on July 17 on a charge of burglary of a habitation, a second-degree felony. Police said the arrest was made at 8:46 p.m. after police were called to 2324 Sage St., Apt. A, on a report of a incident, and McGrew was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Oscar Barrera, 46, 1512 Johnson St., was arrested by police on July 18 on a charge of public intoxication, a Class B misdemeanor. Police said the arrest was made in the 600 block of South Peach Street, and Barrera was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Defino Jose Lujan, 58, 1401 S. Cypress St., was arrested by police on July 17 on a warrant for failure to pay a previous fine on a charge of no rabies vaccination for an animal, a Class C misdemeanor. Police said the arrest was made in the 900 block of South Cedar Street, and Lujan was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Mary J. Garcia, 53, 1209 S. Pecan St., was arrested by police on July 16 on a warrant for theft, a Class A misdemeanor. Police said the arrest was made at 8:46 p.m. in the 100 block of East ‘C’ St., and Garcia was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Kenneth Christopher Salas, 29, 112 S. Sycamore St., was arrested by police on July 16 on a warrant for sale of alcohol to minors, a Class A misdemeanor. Police said the arrest was made at 501 S. Sycamore St., and Salas was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Jerry Orona, 27, 212 S. Locust St., was arrested by police on July 16 on a warrant for failure to pay a fine of a previous charge of speeding, a Class C misdemeanor. Police said the arrest was made at 7:01 p.m. following a traffic stop in the 1200 block of East Fifth Street, and Orona was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Joann R. Lira, 39, 413 S. Alberta St., was arrested by police on July 16 on a warrant for possession of a dangerous drug, a Class A misdemeanor. Police said the arrest took place at Lira’s home at 8:47 p.m., and she was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Fred Lara, 53, of Carlsbad, N.M., was arrested by police on July 14 on a charge of criminal trespass, a Class B misdemeanor. Police said the arrest was made at Allsup’s, 708 S. Cedar St., and Lara was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Oscar Barrera, 46, 1512 Johnson St., was arrested by police on July 14 on a warrant for a previous charge of public intoxication. Police said the arrest was made at 9:50 p.m. in the 300 block of North Cedar Street, and Barrera was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Emilio Acosta, 29, 113 E. Ninth St., was arrested by police on July 15 on warrants for failure to pay fines on two previous charges of no driver’s license, and one of child under 2-years-old unrestrained by seatbelt. Police said the arrest was made at Acosta’s home, and he was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Landverde Yeisson Palacios, 19, 1909 Nebraska St., Salvado Urias Carrera, 19, 1002 E. Ninth St., and Yasmine Urias, 18, 411 Bois D’arc St., were arrested by police on July 13 on charges of possession of alcohol by a minor, a Class C misdemeanor. Police said the arrests were made in the 100 block of East Third Street, and Palacios, Carrera and Urias were then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Dominic Levario, 32, 1320 S. Oak St., was arrested by police on July 14 on a charge of public intoxication, a Class C misdemeanor. Police said the arrest was made at Reeves County Hospital, and Levario was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Joe Manuel Barrera, 23, 1521 Missouri St., was arrested by police on July 13 on a warrant for motion to revoke probation on a charge of smuggling contraband into prison. Police said the warrant was issued out of the Pecos County Sheriff’s Department in Fort Stockton, and Barrera was arrested at 7:22 p.m. in the 200 block of South Cedar Street, and was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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George Ortega, 3,5 714 Martinez St., was arrested by police on July 24 on a charge of assault by contact, a Class C misdemeanor. Police said the arrest took place at Ortega’s home, and he was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Alberto Rodriguez, 25, 300 W. County Rd., Apt. 1502, was arrested by police on July 23 on a warrant charging him with theft, a Class A misdemeanor. Police said the arrest was made when Rodriguez turned himself into police at the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Martin Miranda, 37, of Eagle Pass, was arrested by police on July 24 on a charge of public intoxication, a Class C misdemeanor. Police said the arrest was made in the 600 block of West ‘F’ Street, and Miranda was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Cesar Gonzales Ita, 43, of Santa Fe., N.M., was arrested by police on July 24 on charges of criminal mischief, a Class C misdemeanor; evading arrest or detention, a state jail felony, and escape, a third degree felony. Police said the arrest made originally on a traffic stop in the 600 block of West ‘F’ Street after Ita had failed to stop for several blocks, and after he fled from officers and was located a short time later. He was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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A male juvenile was arrested by Pecos police on July 20 on a charge of criminal mischief, after he was seen throwing a rock at the window of Beall’s, in the 900 block of South Eddy. Police said the juvenile admitted breaking a window at Rediger’s Pharmacy at Eighth and Eddy streets a short time earlier, and he was then taken to the Reeves County Juvenile Detention Center and turned over to the staff on duty.
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Isaiah Juarez, 24, 2203 Country Club Dr., was arrested by police on July 22 on warrants for failure to pay fines on previous charges of disorderly conduct (fighting) and no driver’s license, both Class C misdemeanors. Police said the arrest was made at 9:23 p.m. at Walmart, 1903 S. Cedar St., and Juarez was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Martin Miranda, 37, 916 S. Orange St., was arrested by police on July 26 on a warrant charging him with failure to pay a fine on a previous charge of public intoxication, a Class C misdemeanor. Police said the arrest was made at Miranda’s home at 2:50 p.m., and he was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Jonell Archuleta Garcia, 22, 311 N. Cypress St.; Mark Anthony Granado, 22, 1018 E. Eighth St.; Derek Archuleta, 17, 311 N. Cypress St.; and Earnest Matthew Herrera, 1507 Johnson St., were arrested by police on July 28, Garcia and Granado on charges of furnishing alcohol to minors, a Class A misdemeanor, and Archuleta and Herrera on charges of minor in possession of alcohol, a Class C misdemeanor. Police said the arrests were made at 12:44 a.m. following an incident at the Cotton Club on West Third Street, when a car the four were in was stopped at Second and Bois D’arc streets. They were then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Corina T. Orona, 23, 212 S. Locust St., was arrested by police on July 28 on a warrant for failure to pay a previous fine on a charge of public intoxication, a Class C misdemeanor. Police said the arrest was made at the Cotton Club, 2207 W. Third Street, and Orona was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Irma T. Orona, 37, 212 S. Locust St., was arrested by police on July 28 on warrants for failure to pay previous fines on charges of no driver’s license and no liability insurance, both Class C misdemeanors. Police said the arrest was made at the Cotton Club, 2207 W. Third St., and Orona was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Mingo Jimenez, 32, 2227 Madera Rd., was arrested by police on July 17 on warrants for possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to display proof of financial responsibility and no driver’s license, all Class C misdemeanors. Police said the arrest occurred in the 1900 block of Bickley Avenue and Jimenez was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
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Imelda Ramirez, 36, 2408 Country Club Dr., was arrested by police on July 29 on a charge of public intoxication. Police said the arrest was made at 4:58 a.m. at Ramirez’s home, and she was then transported to the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 432-445-5475, FAX 432-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
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Copyright 2003-04 by Pecos Enterprise
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