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Publicity Vol. 52 (Jan. 14, 1994 - Dec. 25, 1994)
9 fi' � �rl College Station looks for perfection in search for new superintendent By KELLI LEVEY Eagle staff writer .f College Station school trustees ever Lind a superintendent who fulfills the dreams of everyone in the community, that person is going to expect some mighty special treatment. In fact, Mayor Larry Ringer has offered to build him a pond to walk across. Two days of profile sessions witr var- ious groups gave the search firm a wish list that included a strong moral charac- ter, the strength to trust subordinates, the sensitivity to talk to children a id the flexibility to dream. Expectations or the ch level of experience varied, but the main wish was that the candidate know a little about everything. "It's like I told a group of teachers to- day, if God's available we'll try to hire her," board Vice Presidents Linda Parrish said Thursday night. The trustees are trying to find a new superintendent to replace Ray Chancel- lor, who left last month for a job in Fort Worth. They plan to vote on a new super- intendent on June 2, but fi they have to find candidates for the job. Representatives from trie Texas Asso- ciation of School Boards Superintendent Search Firm listened to more than 20 hours of opinions this week. They plan to meet with any school bo rd candidates not currently on the board The TASB team will start its search on March 1 and stop taking applications on April 23. On May 12, the TASB representatives N s on ... and the trustees will review the applica- tions and narrow the field to about a doz- en. The board will interview the semifin- alists on May 18 -21 and will select three or four finalists on May 23. On May 25, 26 and 28 the finalists and their spouses will come to town for din- ner and interviews, and the board will visit the final candidate's home district on May 31 and June 1. Turn -out at several of the sessions was light — there were only four people at the session open to the community — but TASB's Hank Wheeler said he was not disappointed. "When we did this in Galveston, we had one community member show up, but it's the quality of the discussion that matters, not the numbers," he said. "You all have a level of excellence here and a reputation for quality so that the best is pretty much expected. I feel like we have a good idea of what you want." I�And the sear �fl • u In Town &Texas �t2 million in federal money up for grabs - Public service agencies in the Bryan- College Station area can benefit from more than $2 million in federal grant money. Agencies are encour- aged to apply on Wednesday for assis- tance. _ The funds are made available through the Community Development Block Grant. Fifteen percent of the $2 million must be used to provide in- creased public services to residents. Non - profit agencies may apply for the 1994 grants between Wednesday and April 4. Consideration for a grant is contingent on the agency's strides to eliminate a blighted area, benefit low - and moderate- income people and meet a community need. A pre - application workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednes- day in Room 106 of the College Station Conference Center, 1300 George Bush ISr. Agencies applying for the first time must attend. Applications will be available at the workshop. For more information, call 361 -3610 in Bryan or 764 -3778 in College Station. ua y ao /q9 0 • • B -CS municipal election filing begins Monday If you're 18 years old or older, a U.S. citizen and mentally compe- tent, you qualify to run for a seat on city council. City council filing Rackets are ready at both Bryan and College Station city halls. There is no cost for filing. Filing begins on Monday; the deadline is March 23. The positions up for election in Bryan are Place 2, now held by Kandy Rose; Place 4, Larry Catlin; and Place 6, Marc Hamlin. In College Station, the positions up are mayor, now held by Larry Ringer; Place 2, Hub Kennady; Place 4, Vernon Schneider; and Place 6, Nancy Crouch. Applicants for the Bryan City Council must be a registered voter, a Texas resident for at least one year and a Bryan resident for at least six months. An applicants cannot be a felon. For more infor- mation, call 361.3600 or pick up a council packet in the Bryan Muni. cipal Building, 300 S. Texas Avenue. Residents seeking to run for Col- lege Station City Council must also be a registered voter in Texas and a resident of College Station for at least one year. Applicants can not be delinquent on taxes owed to the city for a period of 90 days prior to the election. For more information, call 764.3512 or stop by College Station City Hall, 1101 S. Texas Ave. �.c&a ar y X2 ��19 L Starting gate opens for school board races Candidate filing begins in B -CS Monday for May 7 school trustee elections By KELLI LEVEY Eagle staff writer Filing starts Monday for the May 7 school board races in Bryan and College Station. Each board has two seats open this year: Positions 1 and 2 in College Station and Places 2 and 7 in Bryan. Anyone seeking office in Bryan may go by the administrative offices at 101 N. Texas Ave. or call 361 -5202. The office in College Station is at 1812 Welsh Ave. The number is 764 -5455. Filing ends at 5 p.m. on March 23. Early voting by mail will be March 23 -April 29 and early voting in person will be April 18 -May 3. In College Station, current Position 1 Trustee Sherman Click said he is uncer- tain if he will run again. Position 2 Trustee Clair Nixon said he will. Bryan's two positions are new ones created by the single- member district system that started last year. Only re- gistered voters who live within Place 2 may file to seek that office and only those who live in that area may vote on those candidates. Place 7 is an at -large position, which means any registered Bryan voter may run for the office or elect the person to fill it. Early voting by mail will be March 23 -April 29 and early voting in person will be April 18 -May 3. Of the current trustees up for re- election, Allan Hanson has said he will not seek office while Dr. Bill Birdwell said he will. Hanson lives in Place 2, as do board President Jim Bradford and Trustee Su- san McKneely, whose terms expire in a year. '?o positions will be open for them to seek next year, when two single - member districts will be open. District 2 boundaries for Bryan ISD F it r Bryan school board candidates must live within the indicated area to qualify for the District 2 seat. Voters must live within the same boundaries. A second position is an at -large post, where anyone who lives within BISD can quality for candidacy. * E"W pnphkJ" Patton C o X. d" Bryan c to plug in law firm By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer The Bryan City Council plans to pursue its lawsuit against College Station by officially retaining outside attorneys to pull the plug on a 16 -year electric con - tract. In July, the Bryan City Council opted to file a lawsuit against its sister city because College Station city leaders delayed making arrangements to re- negotiate the contract. The electric contract, approved by both cities in 1980, calls on Bryan to hand over its utility lines and customers to College Station as College Station expands and annexes land. The agreement is set to expire in 1996. But Bryan officials found it violated the city charter, which only allows the city to enter into 10 -year contracts. Tonight, the Bryan City Council may adopt a resolution that officially puts an out-of-town law firm on the payroll. It was not known on Monday just how much Bryan plans to pay the Austin firm, which Bryan city leaders say specializes in this type of litigation. The council also has hired local attorney Billy Payne. While Bryan does receive a fair market price in exchange for its utility lines, some Bryan officials have said the con- tract has meant electric rate increases and a diminishing customer base for Bryan Utilities. Meanwhile, the College Station City Council also has hired outside counsel Please see BRYAN, page A7 for the lawsuit. College Station Mayor Larry Ringer said the city's legal staff .has consulted with other attor. ;neys. • Ringer said he did not know ;what the outside counsel would +cost the city of College Station, ;but said the budget allows for ,consultants. Yet Ringer stressed: "The problem can be worked out between the two cities without going to a court setting." While Ringer and Bryan Mayor Marvin Tate both have said they -hope the two cities won't take the situation to court, city leaders on both sides are standing firm. College Station city leaders have said since both parties have continued to operate under the contract, the contract is valid. And on Monday, Ringer said: "But we're willing to discuss modifications." But city officials in Bryan firmly point to a provision in the electric agreement — a provision that respects the laws of both city charters. It states if the court finds the agreement to be in con- flict with either city charter, the agreement will be modified to follow the city charter. The city of Bryan has filed a lawsuit asking for a declaratory Judgment and status of legal rights. Through this procedure, the city hopes a judge will rule the agreement void. In May, Bryan voters amended khe city charter allowing for con - tracts up to 25 years. Bryan offi- cials contend that the new amendment does not affect the ;31ectric contract because the con - tract was signed in 1980. The College Station City Council has put the lawsuit issue on its agenda for Thursday's closed session meeting. X RECEIVED SEP 1 3 199�r • CITY OF COLLEGE STATION OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER \ / POST T OFFICE BOX 9960 1101 TEXAS AVENUE COLLEGE STATION, 77842 -9960 (409) 7643 -3510 Memorandum Date: September 13, 1994 To: BST + United Way Volunteers, et al. From: Bob Yancy Subject: United Way Campaign 4L- Hello, everyone. This year's United Way Campaign has officially started. Brazos County United Way has set a $725,000 goal this year, and our internal city goal is 110% of 1993, which was roughly $12,500. That puts our goal for this campaign at $13,750. We think that is a worthwhile goal, considering 80% of our contributions go directly to those in need, right here in the Brazos Valley. Our contributions are tax deductible, provided you itemize deductions. The following personnel have graciously volunteered their time for this year's effort: Parks Bridgette George Police Fire Eric Hurt Public Services Kim Rucker Public Utilities Sue Hosea Fiscal /Human Res. Ada vidson Management Services t '�oirlf�rtey Admin. /Legal ( Gretchen Beasley J Development Services -- Energy Mgmt Info Svcs Nancy Bauer Council Office Kelly Stanley We have a big campaign planned. So far, it looks as if Coach Tony Barone of the Texas A &M Basketball Team will be our featured speaker for two separate meetings, September 28 @ 1 lam and October 5 @ 11 am, both at the Conference Center on George Bush Drive. We have two great videos to show as well, so please allow your employees to make one of these meetings. Let's pull together this year and have a great effort. Thanks for your time. B.Y. PS - In the spirit of friendly competition, let's crush the city of Bryan. united.1 • ❑t F Only one speaks out 0gainst CS tax hike Only one College Station resident took issue with the city council at a public hearing Wednesday night on a proposal to increase total property tax revenues by 9 percent. Jack Perryman stood i before the ouncil and told them he' was being 'taxed to death." He said the property value of his house increased $1,600 is year but his income is the same as rest year, making it tough for him to ay his taxes. + , "It's difficult to have an increase in + ayment taxes to the city when all I ave is 'x' amount of dollars," he said. I'm not making $40,000,; $50,000 or 0,000 like everybody else. I make only out $16,000. It's hard to pay the bill When it comes due because I don't ave the cash flow to do it.'" Perryman was the only person who �po�e during the hearing. h Mayor Larry Ringer said -he hoped at only one resident showed up at rNth e meeting because Colege Station sidents believe they are satisfied the council's financiaI status. "I'm hoping they feel they're getting jalue for their money,'' he said. You've got to remember we have the third lowest tax rate of cities our size in the state of Texas." A Councilmembers are proposing teeping the property tax rate at 44.5 cents per $100 property valuation. Though the tax rate would remain the same, the city's talc base has creased so the tax rate will bring in M ore revenues. The council is expected to adopt the tax rate at its Sept. 22 meeting. — Thckr da�i S, I qq�l RECEjYED SEP 2 0 1994 � 1"Z 4 /( I el College Station lands profit on controversial deal? By BRENTZWERNEMAN Eagle stafl writer A piece of land grounded in contro- ✓ersy four months ago now stands to earn he city of College Station five times what it paid for the property in 1992, a College Station official said Monday- A -1,rmal offer was made two weeks -1go )ut four acres of the 6.3 acres oc Holleman Street near Lassie 31rets d Elrey Ash, director of the pity's Development Services Administra- tion. The remaining property would be used for a new central fine station, Ash said. Ash wouldn't say how much the offer was but did say it was for more than two Jollars a square foot The city bought the 6.3 acres of prop- erty in June of 1992. in May of this year, local businessman Patrick Siegert, a Col- lege Station mayoral candidate at the time, charged the property was mistak- enly bought by the city at a Resolution ' Trust Corp. auction. Siegert told The Eagle at that time the city "failed to perform their due diligence ... This reeks of a coverup, now that they say it should be a fire station" On Monday, Siegert said he is glad the city is making a profit on the land pur- chase, but the city should never have bought the land in the first place. "They need to be more forthcoming with the voters," he said. "They bought it for park land, they didn't buy it for a fire station. What they are trying to do now is unload the property." The city bought the land with park funds, Mayor Larry Ringer said in May. At that time, he said the tract could be used for a city building, park land or a fire station. Siegert said he knew of no study done to show the property is the best location for the new central fire sta- tion, and that the city is just trying to cover its mistakes by placing it there. College Station Fire Chief William L. Kennedy said the land is an ideal place for the new central fire station based on a computer- generated study showing dif- ferent response times for various areas. "Wolf Pen Creek was our general loca- tion when we started looking [for a new site]," Kennedy said. "The six-acre site turned out to be exactly what the city needed. I could not have had a better site and gotten it at that price." A day after College Station agreed to buy the land in 1992 for $112,500, the city realized it had bid on the wrong piece of land at the auc- tion, said Roxanne Nemcik, senior assis- tant city attorney. The land was bought erroneously mainly due to a "For Sale" sign wrongly placed on the piece of property the city intended to buy and "incomplete infor- mation" At the auction, Nemcik said. After the city found it had bid on the wrong property, RTC gave the city the opportunity to recover its down payment and kill the deal, Nemcik said. The city decided it had.gotten a good deal on the property, though, and since it was in the same area as the land they intended to buy, went ahead and purchased the land. Now, as required by law, the city is taking bids on the four acres based on the original offer, and has sent out 70 bid packages that are due by Sept. 27. The city staff plans to take a recommendation on a buyer to the Council at its Oct. 13 meeting, Nemcik said. t TO DARTMOUTH POST OAK MALL low CREST COLLEGE SiAT70N LAND PuRChASE ?.3 ACRES o cc J Z. _ J U � � ® a a o � = LASSIE POO H'S LN �— TO ALM TEXAS AVE. S. re sL»f, CAMPUS s c,q. a.w,k„m wM D ��C � L =agile �uesc�ay • CSISD board adopts new property tax rate College Station property owners will pay higher school taxes this year, even though the tax. rate dropped by two cents. School trustees adopted a 1994 tax rate of $1.61 per $100 of property value at a regular meeting of the board on Monday night. The rate is actually two cents lower than last year's rate, but Brazos County property values went up this year. The owner of a College Station home appraised at $60,000 by county officials will pay $966 in school taxes. Board members did not discuss the tax rate Monday night because details were hammered out at previous meet- ings and in public hearings. Trustee Dave Skinner cast the lone vote against the tax rate. "I think that taxes are just too high," he said after the meeting. "I feel like we pay enough taxes as it is. Besides, I feel like we can still get Cost savings within the district." Skinner declined to identify areas of possible cost savings, but said he had spoken with the school staff who were pursing the matter. In other business, the board approved a development agreement between the school district and the city by only one vote. • i u�� cry bW 'a Q v194 B -CS sales u p , state ii rep ort say p y ByBREK ZWERNEMAN Eagle st write u Gross sales for Bryan - College Sta- tion jumped 14.6 percent in the first quarter of 1994 compared to 9.6 per- cent statewide, a state report says_ "When the economy is good in the country and state, the economy is especially good in Bryan- College Station," said Robert Worley, exec- utive director of the Economic Development Corporation. The analysis from the office of the comptroller of public accounts says the gross sales for the first quarter of 1994 were more than $488 million for B-CS, compared to more than $426 million for the first quarter of 1993. Gross sales are the total amount of all sales,' leases and rentals of personal property and all labor and service charges made during the reporting period. The number of reporting outlets for Bryan-College Station also increased in the first quarter of 1994 to 2,440 from 2,424, the report says. The "stabilizing influence" of Texas A&M University, new indus- tries like the planned Blinn College consolidated campus in Bryan, and the "strong comeback" of the oil industry all contribute to the area's continued growth, Worley said. But they aren't alone, he said. "You can look at almost any business or sector in Bryan- College Station and see growth in it," Worley said. Use tax purchases for the first quarter of 1994 were about $3.5 million in B-CS. Use tax pur- chases are the costs of all taxable items removed from inventory for personal or business use and all Pi rchases on which no Texas sales tax was paid or use tax accrued. For example, items like manufac- turing and construction materials often do not have an initial sales tax because the finished product earns a sales tax, said Glenn Schroeder, executive director of finance for the city of College Station. Another report from the office of the state comptroller says Brazos County received nearly $1.1 million in September sales. tax rebates compared to about $989,000 received at this time last year, an 11 percent increase. Statewide, there was an increase of about 9.4 percent in sales tax rebates sent to counties, the report says. Bryan received $519,959.56 this September in sales tax rebates compared to $470,765.031 last year, a 10.44 percent increase. College Station got back $578,771.91 this September com- pared to $518,187.20 in September of 1993, an 11.69 percent increase. The 1994 monthly payments to date for Bryan total $4,989,312.96 compared to $4,422,728.68 at this time last year, a 12.81 percent increase. The 1994 monthly payments to date for College Station total $6,358,246.23 compared to $5,847,829.83 at this point in 1993. an 8.72 percent increase. The current state sales tax rate is 8 V4 percent. Se�.0 rcla J 0 r� 0 College Station park taking new name to honor citizens College Station Mayor Larry Ringer will officially rename Westchester Park on Tuesday in honor of two long- time residents of the city, Jack and Dorothy Miller. The dedication ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. at 501 Rock Prairie Road, the site of the park. The area will be renamed Jack and Dorothy Miller Park. The Millers founded the Beautiful Brazos County Association in 1980 to encourage citizens to clean up litter and beautify the area. Three years later the organization affiliated with Keep America Beautiful and changed its name to Brazos Beautiful. G--'O'_� ) e- RECEIVED SE° 2 3 1 . ( OF CO GE STATION Post Office Box 9960 1101 Texas Avenue College Station, Texas 77842 -9960 k Peggy CallihamBob Yancy (409 7643500 Public Relations & Marketing 764- 3768 *PLEASE NOTE CORRECTION September 21, 1994 Annexation plans For Immediate Release College Station Annexatio s Plans The College Station City Council and staff annually si to properly plan for city growth. As a part of this pray with possible areas to study for annexation feasibility Council heard a presentation resulting from this stud at the regularly scheduled City Council Meeting, the3 city staff to begin the necessary proceedings to allow annexation issues. If approved, the resolution would input and Council consideration in four main areas rE Rock Prairie/Texas Avenue area; the SH47/FM60 int( Greens Prairie Road. Staff is not recommending the Nantucket, Woodlake annexation at this time. Reasons for considering these annexations are: To manage the population growth of College Sta Growth of these rural areas puts pressure on the der rural citizens frequent city parks facilities, use the si receive utility services from different sources. udy the need for future annexations tice, city staff presented the Council This evening at 4:00 p.m., the City �. On Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. will consider a resolution directing ;ouncil to consider these important Schedule public hearings for citizen commended by staff: Pebble Creek; the rsections; and the areas around Estates and adjacent areas for and the surrounding rural areas. l for city services. For example, .ending roads, and sometimes Land use control is a major concern, as development will take place in areas adjacent to the city without the benefit of growth management in road systems, utility infrastructure, and zoning. For example, areas which develop with inadequate traffic systems can cause major difficulties in the future. Clear boundaries are another reason to consider a nexation. "Donut holes" within city limits do not allow for ease of service delivery and lower service costs. For example, detouring around these areas with utility infrastructure is expensive and unnecessary, especially if annexation occurs after the detouring. Clear and consistent city boundaries also provide for more efficient fire and police coverage of city neighborhoods. Some Extra - Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) customers receive city services outside the city limits. This poses a difficulty and drain on revenues when some citizens receive an equal portion of service while paying a disproporti low fee. *The expiration of the Compromise and Settler this 1980 agreement with Bryan, the City of College annexed areas after paying a "fair market value" for agreement expires. Consequently, we look at areas -more - t Agreement. Currently under tion takes over electrical service of ilities. In two years, 1996, that i a high development potential Home of Texas AEM1University Page 2 September 21, 1994 Annexations and/or the need for land use control so that we can, as much as is practical, avoid growing into areas where the city cannot provide full city sere ces. The proposed resolution, if passed, would direct staff to begin service plan studies for the proposed areas of annexation and establish public hearing dates so that proper notification can take place. Dates of these public hearings will be announced soon. Interested citizens may call 764 -3485. -end- X � e� C �i/ L.: alb Why do cities need to annex? By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer The city of College Station studies the deed for possible annexation every Year, era on Thursday night the City Council � ved its latest annexation recom- .ition to four areas. ne areas include 2,100 acres north of Greens Prairie Road and west of Highway 6, 455 acres in the Pebble Creek subdivision, 960 acres in an area east of Highway 6 and south of Rock Prairie Road, and 745 acres where FM 60 and the future Texas 47 will intersect. The area do not include the Nantucket and Woodlake Estates neighborhoods. The City Council will hold public hear- ings on the proposed annexations on Nov. 10 and 16, and on Dec. 8. The city cites a number of reasons why it considered these areas for annexation: ■Expiration of the Compromise and Settlement Agreement: Under this 1980 agreement with the city of Bryan, College Station takes over electrical service of annexed areas after paying a fair- market value for the services, said Peggy Cal - liham, College Station's manager of public relations and marketing. The agreement expires in 1996 and so the city will look at areas with a high development potential and the need for land use control so that the city can, as much as possible, avoid growing into areas where College Station cannot pro- vide ftill city services, Calliham said. ■Land use control• Growth manage- ment in road systems, utility infrastrua ture and zoning are needed in areas around the city, Calliham said. ■Clear boundaries are needed: Pockets of unannexed land within the city limits do not allow for ease of service delivery and lower service costs, Cal - liham said. ■Extra - Territorial Jurisdiction cus- tomers receive city services outside the city limits: A drain on revenues occurs when some residents outside the city limits receive an equal portion of city services while paying a disproportion- ately low fee, Calliham said. E 0 &�cs. 4 r I -,.N I q q CgVFU SEP 2 2 04 S O i j -__aNk - 9, C ci I i Annex worries dornminate rneetming By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer Residents who live south of College Station didn't bother to wait for the reg- ular College Station City Council meeting totgight to voice opposition to a proposed annexation. At the regular workshop meeting on Wednesday, an overflow crowd from the Nantucket �nd Woodlake Estates neigh- borhoods spilled out of the council cham- bers in opposition to a city staff study that showed their areas could be recom- m ended for annexation at tonight's meeting. The residents gathered at the meeting let out a collective sigh of relief when told the staff decided not to recommend their areas for annexation, but they didn't have time to catch their breath before hearing ffrom the city that their areas would be reconsidered next year. The areas chosen by the staff for rec- ommendation to council tonight are all generally south of College Station. The areas include 2,100 acres north of Greens Prairie Road and west of Texas Avenue, 455 acres in the Pebble Creek subdivi- sion, 960 acres in an area east of Texas Avenue and south of Rock Prairie Road, and 745 acres where FM 60 and the fhture Texas 47 will intersect. Because of the big crowd, Mayor Pro-Tern Lynn McIlhaney, filling in for out -0f - -town Mayor Larry Ringer, broke f , om policy and opened the floor to the residents to tell the council how they felt about the proposed annexation. Usually, the only ones to speak at a workshop are the council and staff. Even though the residents had been assured their subdivisions weren't a part of the staffs annexation recommenda. tions, some people went ahead and spoke up for next year's sake. After listening to several residents speak against annexation for a number of reasons, Counci member David Hickson told the group that eventual annexation was inevitable due to a city's natural growth. "Eventually these areas are going to be sucked into the city," he said. No one spoke in opposition to the areas that were chosen for recommendation by the council, and no one spoke from the Nantucket and Woodlake Estates areas spoke in favor of annexation. After the meeting. Woodlake resident Bert Kretzschmar said he was relieved at the decision, but only for now. Tv Si fo St Ai "You have ordinances, rules and regu- lations that you are going to have to abide by [if annexed], which right now we don't have. We're happy the way it is," Kret- zschmar said, " Woodlake has been promoted and developed as country- living lifestyle,' he said. "With annexation I feel that that lifestyle is not going to exist anymore." Kretzschmar said so many people showed up at the meeting because there: was a high level of anxiety due to uncer, tainty about the annexation. "Mere are too many questions that are, attached to annexation that are not being addressed prior to these [workshops]," he said. RECEIVED SE° 2 1 'i9h 140 4 M A 1423 South Oaks College Station, TX 77845 CERTIFIED To the Honorable Larry Ringer, Mayor City of College Station, Texas P. O. Box 9960 College Station, Texas 77842 V Subject: We, the majority (75 %) of property owners in the in Brazos County, Texas, by signing this petition, of South Oaks by the City of College Station. September 21, 1994 i 5EP 21 i9 By 0 LJ ry known as South Oaks, located protest the proposed annexation We, the majority of South Oaks property owners, b our signatures below, hereby petition your honorable body to refrain from annexation of South Oaks in whole or in part and, to give written permission to hold an election byte qualified voters in South Oaks to determine the issue of annexation versus alternativ s. We strongly believe that South Oaks residents sh impact of annexation versus alternatives, and the in our best interest and in that of the residential have the opportunity to evaluate the 3om to vote for that which we feel is :ory in which we have chosen to live. Respectfully yours, The Undersigned (attached) c: The Honorable Bill Fox City Councilman, Place 1 The Honorable Hub Kennady City Councilman, Place 2 The Honorable Lynn McIlhaney Mayor Pro Tern, Place 3 The Honorable David Hickson City Councilman, Place 5 Ms. Connie Hooks City Secretary/Registrar The Honorable Larry Mariott City Councilman, Place 4 The Honorable Nancy Crouch City Councilwoman, Place 6 L PIL 1 MY I i - - I C � , a e / 7 - -d . AG South Oaks Petition Page 2 ADDRESS 1-?,9 /,/�� "4� / C iL � m / M _ v 1 � �.�� • MANW-Mm . sea �. MI `14`c _ 1 C iL � L C G Nw AG South Oaks Petition Page 3 ADDRESS 26. 051 1 0ct� Gc S � 27. 2- S� a�� C- 28- 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. !,S. . r RECEIVED S-EF � 2 1994 September 21, 1994 I RISE TONIGHT IN OPPOSITION TO THE POSSIBLE ANNEXATION OF THE NANTUCKET SUBDIVISION. THERE ARE PRACTICAL REASONS AS WELL AS PHILOSOPHICAL REASONS FOR MY OPPOSITION. PRACTICAL REASONS 1 NO BENEFIT TO CITY CONTROL OF QUALITY The basic premise of annexation is to bring under the city's control land which may be developed and may therefore affect the quality of life in the city. Water & sewer provisions, streets and drainage as well as transportation planning and land use issues are under the supervision and regulation of the city's development ordinances at that point. QUALITY OF SUBDIVISION Nantuckett is a well planned, high quality subdivision. It complies with city standards including street construction, waterline construction and development regulations. This development will not compromise, in any way, the present or future quality of the City of College Station. No additional control of this development is necessary. 2 SIGNIFICANT COSTS TO THE CITY SEWER MAIN EXTENSION - Existing 's anitary sewer service currently ends near the southeast corner of Greens Prairie Road at SH 6, about a mile from 0antucket. Provision of this trunk line would require significant expenditure of city funds for the few users that would presently be able to tap into it. POLICE & FIRE PROTECTION - Whi14 the new fire station south of Rock Prairie Road would be helpful in covering the Nantucket area it may not provide the required coverages and response times. Police patrols 'would require a significant increase in travel time to provide coverage to Nantucket. The extension of development toithe south in the city will apparently provide some difficul� in providing these services. These issues would require significant study prior to annexation. SOLID WASTE - Provision for solijd waste disposal to this area would seem to require significant revision of existing routing of City trucks. Simila to the police and fire protection issues, the extensio of development to the south will provide inefficiencies for city services. t 's currently p rovided to ELECTRICAL BUYOUT - Electrici y,1 Y P Jeff Milburn September 21, 1994 City of College Station Page 2 Nantucket by Bryan Rural. It is my understanding that the City would have to buy existing facilities owned by Bryan at their appraised value. While sale of electricity has provided income to the City in t e past, it is unlikely that you will recover this investment in the near future. It is clear that this will present a significant up front cost in this annexation effort. 3 NO SIGNIFICANT BENEFIT TO RESIDE EXISTING SERVICES ADEQUATE - Nantucket currently enjoys adequate municipal type services. Everything available to City residents is available to us (except cable TV). SHERIFF & VFD OK - The Sheriff'slDepartment and Volunteer Fire Department have provided very good service to the subdivision. There is a VFD facility at Greens Prairie Road with ready access to both the front and rear of the subdivision. Most of the houses have security systems and the neighborhood atmosphere in Nantucket provides an added measure of security. STREETS & WATER OK - Water supply is provided by Wellborn Water and was designed and constructed to City standards. Water quality and fire protection is excellent. The streets were built to excellent standards with hot mix asphalt, rather than the cheaper surfaceltreatment methods used in other rural subdivisions. They'have been adequately maintained by the County, (for 4e most part). The county has been very responsive to calls on street maintenance. ELECTRIC RATES BETTER - Bryan R ral electric rates are lower than those currently in place i the City of College Station. SANITATION OK - Solid waste disposal is available through existing private companies withlrates similar to those in town. Weekly curbside services are provided at a reasonable rate. These services have proved quite reliable. SEWER - There are significant q'estions about the provision of future sewer services. Whil I cannot speak for other residents, my septic field has unctioned quite well. This feature of my property represents a significant expense, approximately 2.50 - 3% of the Value of my property. � INSURANCE & WATER RATES MIGHT GO DOWN - There may be some minor cost benefits to be realized from lower insurance Jeff Milburn September 21, 1994 City of College Station Page 3 rates in the city limits. The swings realized are relatively minor. The insurance savings on my property would be approximately $50 per y ar. 4 MAJOR COSTS TO RESIDENTS TAXES - At current tax rates, which rose again this year, taxes on my property would amount to about $900 per year. That is a significant amount of money to me. It might be different if it seemed like there were significant benefits available for the dollars expended, but this balance is not there for Nantucket. SEWER - Under current City polic , as I understand it, the residents would be required to p y the costs of the sewer collection network within the subdivision. This is normally a developer cost not paid by the City. I understand this principle, however, I have already paid this cost once in providing the septic drain field method. On top of this initial cost to provide the',sewer tie -in, we would have to pay the normal monthly chargelfor sewer. This would be like requiring the City to abandPn 3% of its current infrastructure assets and build new ones at the City's expense, and to pay an additional charge for the use of the new ones. This is not an acceptable situation. It would not be for you, and it is not for us. PHILOSOPHICAL REASONS 1 POOR DEVELOPMENT PATTERN TOO MUCH NORTH -SOUTH - Looking a a current map of Bryan - College Station reveals much about the cities. Obvious problems in transportation and other services exist due to the north -south elongation of the cities' development. I understand, very well, that ther are barriers and constraints to east -west develop �ent in the local area. Floodplains to the east, TAMU to the north and west, and lack of sewer services in other reas are real constraints. However, at some point someone m 'Zst look at the long term growth of College Station and realize that such north -south extension is unhealthy. We can' even solve our current north -south mobility problems. Why should we promote new ones. Just think about how bad traffic will be when Texas Avenue goes under construction in the near future. Think about the lack of arterial streets south of Rock Prairie Road (Longmire and Victoria don't represent good planning). Jeff Milburn September 21, 1994 City of College Station Page 4 The extension of the north -south 'spread by annexation of more southward territory prior to filling in and promoting east -west expansion is not the best for the long term growth of the City of College Station. ,This consideration is important, and no one but the Council can promote what is healthy. 2 EESIDENTS OPPOSED It is significant that the residents of Nantucket oppose this annexation possibility. Welmean no offense but we don't want to be part of the city at this point. That is why we moved out there. While it is undeniable that the pity has the power and authority to annex Nantucket, itwould be unwise to do so. It is my firm belief that the City needs and wants satisfied residents. Although not everyone is happy with every decision, the residents must be able to trust that the Council does what is truly best kor the citizens. If you annex Nantucket over our objection you will violate that trust. Similar to a hostile corporate takeover, you might win the prize and yet lose in reality. This is true because there is no compelling reason to annex Nantuck and there are several good reasons not to. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Jaffrey T. Milburn 1211 Mariners Cove Nantucket Subdivision College Station, Tx 77845 409- 690 -6131 &A RECEfVEUSEP"2'�'�9�§'4 a Station land s p rof Colle g it on controversial deal? packages that are due by Sept. 27. The city staff plans to take a recommendation on a buyer to the council at its Oct. 13 meeting, Nemcik said. By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle stafl writer A piece of land grounded in contro- versy four months ago now stands to earn the city of College Station five times what it paid for the property in 1992, a College Station official said Monday. An informal offer was made two weeks Igo ' ')out four acres of the 63 acres to ' Holleman Street near Lassie St, d Elrey Ash, director of the city's .velopment Services Adminisa tion. The remaining property used for a new central fire station, Ash said - Ash wouldn't say how much the offer was but did say it was for more than two dollars a square foot. The city bought the 6.3 acres of prop- erty in June of 1992. in May of this year, local businessman Patrick Siegert, a Col- lege Station mayoral candidate at the time, charged the property was mistak- enly bought by the city at a Resolution Trust Corp. auction. Siegert told The Eagle at that time the city "failed to perform their due diligence . This reeks of a coverup, now that they say it should be a fire station -" On Monday, Siegert said he is glad the city is making a profit on the land pur- chase, but the city should never have bought the land in the first place. "They need to be more forthcoming with the voters," he said. "They bought it for park land, they didn't buy it for a fire station. What they are trying to do now is unload the property. The city bought the land with park funds, Mayor Larry Ringer said in May. At that time, he said the tract could be used for a city building, park land or a fire station. Siegert said he knew of no study done to show the property is the best location for the new central Cure sta- tion, and that the city is just trying to cover its mistakes by placing it there. College Station Fire Chief William L. Kennedy said the land is an ideal place for the new central fire station based on a computer- generated study showing dif- ferent response times for various areas. "Wolf Pen Creek was our general loca- tion when we started looking [for a new site]," Kennedy said. "The six-acre site turned out to be exactly what the city needed. I could not have had a better site and gotten it at that price." A day after College Station agreed to buy the land in 1992 for $112,500, the city realized it had bid on the wrong piece of land at the auc- tion, said Roxanne Nemcik, senior assis- tant city attorney. The land was bought erroneously mainly due to a "For Sale" sign wrongly placed on, the piece of property the city intended to buy and "incomplete infor- mation" at the auction, Nemcik said. After the city found it had bid on the wrong property, RTC gave the city the opportunity to recover its down payment and kill the deal, Nemcik said. The city decided it had gotten a good deal on the property, though, and since it was in the same area as the land they intended to buy, went ahead and purchased the land. Now, as required by law, the city is taking bids on the four acres based on the original offer, and has sent out 70 bid (MALL DARTMOUTH INN COLLEGE STATION LAND PURCHASE &3 ACRES LA POOH'$ LH. 47 TEXAS AVE. S. (saei - 6) TO ALM CAMPUS 0 Tuesc�czy �) e p�e_� bar 00 1 )q Q L4 0 CSISD board adopts new property tax rate College Station property owners will pay. higher school taxes this year, even though the tax. rate dropped by two cents. School trustees adopted a 1994 tax rate of $1.61 per $100 of property value at a regular meeting of the board on Monday night. The rate is actually two cents lower than last year's rate, but Brazos County property values went up this year. The owner of a College Station home appraised at $60,000 by county officials will pay $966 in school taxes. Board members did not discuss the tax rate Monday night because details were hammered out at previous meet- ings and in public hearings. Trustee Dave Skinner cast the lone vote against the tax rate. "I think that taxes are just too high," he said after the meeting. "I feel like we pay enough taxes as it is. Besides, I feel like we can still get cost savings within the district." Skinner declined to identify areas of possible cost savings, but said he had spoken with the school staff who were pursing the matter. In other business, the board approved a development agreement between the school district and the city by only one vote. • C, s Ea l sales u p , state report says • By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff write • Gross sales for Bryan- College Sta- tion jumped 14.6 percent in the first quarter of 1994 compared to 9.6 per- cent statewide, a state report says. "When the economy is good in the country and state, the e is especially good in Bryan -College Station; said Robert Worley, exec- utive director of the Economic Development Corporation. The analysis from the office of the comptroller of public accounts says the gross sales for the first quarter of 1994 were more than $488 million for B-CS, compared to more than $426 million for the first quarter of 1993. Gross sales are the total amount of all sales, leases and rentals of s errvo ce property charges made during the reporting period. The number of reporting outlets for Bryan - College Station also increased in the first quarter of 1994 to 2,44o from 2,424, the report says. The "stabilizing influence" of Texas A&M University, new indus. tries like the planned Blinn College consolidated campus in Bryan and the "strong comeback" of the oil industry all contribute to the area's continued growth Worley said. But they aren't alone, he said. "you can look at almost any business or sector in Bryan-College Station and see growth in it," Worley said. Use tax purchases for the first quarter of 1994 were about $3.5 million in B-CS. Use tax pur- chases are the costs of all taxable items removed from inventory for personal or business use and all purchases on which no Texas sales tax was paid or use tax accrued. For example, items like manufac- turing and construction materials often do not have an initial sales tax because the finished product earns a sales tax. said Glenn Schroeder, executive director of finance for the city of College Station. Another report from the office of the state comptroller says Brazos County received nearly $1.1 million in September sales. tax rebates compared to about $989,000 received at this time last year, an 11 percent increase. Statewide, there was an increase of about 9.4 percent in sales tax rebates sent to counties, the report says. Bryan received $519,959.56 this September' in sales tax rebates compared to $470,765.031 last year, a 1o.44 percent increase. College Station got back $578,771.91 this September com- pared to $518,18720 in September of 1993, an 11.69 percent increase. The 1994 monthly payments to date for Bryan total 54,989,312.96 compared to $4,422,728.68 at this time year, a 12.81 percent increa The 1994 monthly payments to date for College Station total $6,358,246.23 compared to $5,847,829.83 at this point in 1993, an 8.72 percent increase. The current state sales tax rate is 8 y. percent. j j L_u rCla '� 0 C'A 6 on College Station park taking new name to honor citizens College Station Mayor Larry Ringer will officially rename Westchester Park on Tuesday in honor of two long- time residents of the city, Jack and Dorothy Miller. The dedication ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. at 501 Rock Prairie Road, the site of the park. The area will be renamed Jack and Dorothy Miller Park. The Millers founded the Beautiful Brazos County Association in 1980 to encourage citizens to clean up litter and beautify the area. Three years later the organization affiliated with Keep America Beautiful and changed its name to Brazos Beautiful. Lai 1e� v� vdOesc ct �t CS Council to consider landfill panel By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle stall writer It's going to be a dirty job, but some Brazos Valley residents volunteered to do it. The College Station City Council tonight will consider 12 area citizens, six each from Bryan and College Station, to help pick a spot that takes Valley waste 21st century. !xecutive director of the Brazos Solid Waste Management Agency, B Angelo, picked the 12 people after interviewing about 40 candidates for the Citizens Advisory Committee. The 12 represent a "cross- section of the community" in areas like employment, salary and race, Angelo said. Committee members are also people who are "envi- ronmentally conscious but not opposed to landfilling as a form of disposal," Angelo said. Councihnembers will consider for- Committee to help pick new landfill location mally approving the committee members during their regular meeting at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at city hall. Next week, the Bryan City Council will con- sider the same item at its regular meeting. The purpose of the committee is to give public input and help BVSWMA form the guidelines for the selection of the landfill site, Angelo said. The agency staff and outside consultants then identify sites that best meet the guidelines. The consul- tants picked by BVSWMA are HDR Engineering; K.W. Brown Environ- mental Services; Lloyd, Gosselink, Fowler, Blevins and Matthews P.C.; and E. Bruce Harrison Co. "The permitting and design of a land- fill site is very technical," Angelo said. 'it would virtually be impossible without consu mg. Afte reviewing the sites, the com mitte will recommends the specific loca- tion for the new landfill, although they will be restricted by available sites due to state guidelines, Angelo said. Fault lines, wetlands, airports and floodplains are some of the areas restricted, he said. No sites for the new landfill have been considered yet, Angelo said. BV Vn A hopes to add one or two more mmittee members, one from the Brazo, Valley and one from the local chapter of the Texas Environmental Action Coalition, Angelo said. The land- fill may be located outside of the two cities' limits, he said, therefore the entire region needs representation. Currently, waste generated by the two cities and some surrounding communi- ties goes to the Rock Prairie Road Lan( fill located on 49 acres near the interse tion of Rock Prairie and Green Prair roads. A 1993 report said that 440 tons of way were disposed of daily in the landfill ar that the site would be completely filled 2001. Since the report came out, a numb, of landfills have closed due to tough state requirements for operating a lar, fill. The Rock Prairie site now accepts 5 tons of trash a day, Angelo said. At th rate, he said, the site will fill in fl years, making a new landfill necessa sooner than thought. Early figures indicate the new site w cover about 640 acres, with 350 to 3 acres used for waste disposal. Bufl zones, oomposting and large -scale rec cling would cover the other acreat L ri u 0 Landfill From Al Angelo said. The agency staff and outside consultants then identify sites that best meet the guide- lines. The consultants picked by BVSWMA are HDR Engineering; K.W. Brown Environmental Ser- vices; Lloyd, Gosselink, Fowler, Blevins and Matthews P.C.; and E. Bruce Harrison Co. "The permitting and design of a landfill site is very technical," Angelo said. "It would virtually be impossible without con- sulting." - After reviewing the sites, the committee will recommends the specific location for the new land- fill, although they will be restricted by available sites due to state guidelines, Angelo said. Fault lines, wetlands, airports and floodplains are some of the areas restricted, he said. No sites for the new landfill have been considered yet, Angelo said. BVSWMA hopes to add one or tyvo more committee members, one from the Brazos Valley and ]one from the local chapter of the -Texas Environmental Action Coalition, Angelo said. The land- fill may be located outside of the two cities' limits, he said, there- fore the entire region needs rep - resentation. Currently, waste generated by the two cities and some sur- Ounding communities goes to the Rock Prairie Road Landfill 46cated on 49 acres near the inter - section of Rock Prairie and Green 'Prairie roads. A 1993 report said that 440 tons of waste were disposed of daily in the landfill and that the site would be completely filled in 2001. Since the report came out, a pumber of landfills have closed due to tougher state requirements for operating a landfill. The Rock Prairie site now accepts 550 tons of trash a day, Angelo said. At that rate, he said, the site will fill in five years, making a new landfill necessary sooner than thought. Early figures indicate the new site will cover about 640 acres, Smith 350 to 390 acres used for Waste disposal. Buffer zones, composting and large -scale recy- !cling would cover the other acreage, Angelo said. The mammoth site will address the area's waste disposal needs for at least 20 years after it opens, Angelo said. "We would hope to find a site with a life- expectancy of 20 to 50 years, if not longer," he said. It takes years to acquire a land- fill permit, gather geological data and design the site, Angelo said, so the new area probably won't open until just before the Rock Prairie site fills. Wherever the final site of the new landfill lies, Angelo said he realizes nearby residents may be upset by its closeness, so hiding the site Is important, Angelo said. "You want a site that is easily screened from surrounding land uses [by treelines] ," he said. And citizens "should think in terms of the modern facilities and not the old dumps, the way the facilities have dramatically changed," Angelo said. Steps taken at modern landfills include covering exposed garbage every day, containing erosion, estab- lishing vegetation around the site and monitoring the groundwater in the area, he said. "If you run them properly, you can do it without negatively impacting neighbors," Angelo said. That is going to be our intent." Consultants also will look at the city of Bryan's Pleasant Hill Landfill, which is no longer used for waste disposal although a part of the site is used for yard waste and brush composting. About 50 acres of the 100 acre site haven't been used for solid waste disposal, Angelo said. The consultants will evaluate the site for a possible reopening. The site was originally closed because of the additional life expectancy and newer technology offered by the Rock Prairie Road Landfill., Angelo said. Repre- senting the city of Bryan on the proposed Citizens Advisory Committee are Ginny Smith, Ron Schmidt, Julie Herrera, Maj. Gen. Wesley Peel, Lynn Stuart and Robert Prozco. From the city of College Station are Roy Hartman, Andrea' Dering, Suzanne Holt, Randy Michel, Allan Hanson and Doug Welsh. In other business tonight, the council will consider an ordi- nance adopting the city's annual budget from Oct. 1, through Sept- 30,1995. L Proponent of 1 train blasts Southwest By SCOTT ROTHSCHI�LD The Associated Press is AUSTIN — A proponent of high -speed rail Monday said attempts by Southwest Airlines to stop a proposed "bullet train" project in Texas are "in�idious and deceptive." Joseph Vranich, an author and high- speed rail consultant, said, "I could stand here all day and tell you how Southwest Airlines has unfairly attacked this project." Ron Ricks, a spokesman f r Southwest Airlines denied Vranich's accusations, and called him a "propagandist." Ricks said the proposed project by Texas TGV Corp. was based on outmoded and foreign technology. Vranich, of Alexandria, Va., was intro- duced by David Rece, chief operating officer of Texas TGV., a French and American group that wants to build a passenger rail system linking Texas' ma- jor cities with trains that can reach speeds of 200 mph. Vranich criticized Southwest Airlines for warning that the proposed train Please see TRAIN, page AB Train From A4 system would need tax - subsidized bonds. He said that Southwest Airlines, and the airline industry, have received numerous tax sub- sidies. "If Southwest Airlines had to pay the full tab for its government services, its dividends would cease tomorrow," he said. But Vranich maintained that Texas TGV could complete the project without any government assistance. Although Texas TG had prom- ised to build the system without public funds, company officials have said the project's success hinges on obtaining a change in federal policy to allow rail bonds to be completely tax-exempt. d VA L. vranicn also complained that Southwest Airlines has given false information to farmers and ranchers about the disruption a high -speed train would have over their land. But Ricks said rural opposition to the project is not connected to Southwest Airlines. "Rural Tex. ans have more common sense than promoters of this train." He said Southwest Airlines pays more to the government than it receives. L I'Wiq,x Brazos Transit improving service with trolleys, passenger shelters By TERI WALLEY Eagle staffwrit r- Brazos Transit System plans to replace those aging, belching gray buses next spring with trolleys fueled by natural gas. The smaller trolleys, which will seat 28 riders, will fit in better in Bryan- College Sta- tion than the 47 -seat buses, said administra- tor John McBeth. Replacing the buses fits in with the transit system's five -year plan for improvements. The first set of improvements will be in place Friday, when the transit system will open 14 passenger shelters. A ribbon - cutting ceremony will take place at the bus stop on Villa Maria Road near Osler Drive in Bryan. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. on Fri- day. Smoke from the old buses, which were built in 1979, is a problem, McBeth acknowl- edged. BTS has tried to alleviate the problem somewhat by using jet fuel. "Every model of those buses has that prob- sale once the new trolleys arrive in April or May. The Interurban Trolley System, as the local bus service is officially called, is also in negotiations for a new site for a central transfer point. McBeth said BTS will build a transit terminal which will connect with the A &M bus service, local taxis and common carriers, such as Trailways and Greyhound. The local service began in 1989 and oper- ates Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Brazos Transit System is a political subdivision of the state of Texas. The system operates seven fixed routes with 14 drivers in Bryan and College Station and several "demand response" routes, on which buses pick up elderly riders at their Y M l Please see BRAZOS, page A3 Riders get ready to board their trolleys in the Manor East Mall parking lot early Tuesday morning. Brazos From Al doors as part of a contract. BTS averages about 28,000 riders in about 20 days of service per month, or about 200 riders per day per rout Peak ridership is 6 -7:45 a.m., 5 -6 p.m. and 3 -4:15 p.m., McBeth said. "From 3 to 4:30 [p.m.], it's stand- ing room only on four routes," McBeth said. Those four routes travel past Bryan and College Sta- tion's high schools, junior high and middle schools and the La- mar ninth-grade campus. "I think we must carry every kid between 13 and 16 [years old], " McBeth said, laughing. Alot of students, even some with cars, use the city buses in- stead of the school bus service, McBeth said. Some live within a mile of their schools, which means they must pay to ride school buses, and some use the city service to catch a ride to the mall after school, he said. "When we designed the system, we geared it to go past every school in Bryan- College Station, handicap syste receive about reliability, he both public and private schools," complaints said, but the buses are on time he said. The morning and late afternoon peaks are created by workers and about 93 percent of the time, which he said is average for most students at Texas A &M, he said. services. Ridership has exceeded ''It's worse for the bus to be McBeth's expectations so far. early than for it to be late," he "As far as transit systems go, said. Sometimes, the bus will ar- we're doing better than others in rive about five minutes early. The the state," he said. "We have the driver will find no patrons wait - lowest cost- per -Mile — and t e '-- and leave. The -patron _ show- lowest cost per trip." ing up on time will find himself The bus system is about 60 per• waiting an hour and 10 minutes cent subsidized with federal, state for the next bus. and local funds, he said. Bus drivers leaving early find The cost of operating one bus themselves in trouble if patrons for one 12 -hour day is about $216, complain to BTS. he said. The taxpayers fund about Buses on Texas Avenue routes $129.60 per day per bus or about are sometimes late because of $235,872 per year for seven buses heavy traffic, he said. to operate five days per week. Riders can call the information Fares cover 30 percent of the desk 778 -0607, to find out bus cost, which is nearly twice as as the national average, he schedules. much Frequent riders with a number said. Nationwide, fare collections of destinations can call the mar - the e cost of buseservices' opera. p teri ed transit plan designed for them. The marketing depart- tions, he said. Brazos Transit charges 50 cents ment can be reached by calling and Margie Lucas at the above Mum- 2r tpassengers 5 cents for the lderly the A r City officials shocked over stud y findings By PHILLI SULAK Eagle staff writer "We're the bellowed into John Woody the phone was the common reaction Tha they College ere t to d tha they had declared their city as the sec- ond- poorest in the United States. According to the study by the non - profit Greater Washington Research Center, 38 percent of the population of College Station has income below the federal po verty level. community to live in in the na- tion?" Fish asked. 'This tells you what both surveys are worth." The study has no credibility, he said, because it 0 obvious the student population taints the re- The federal poverty level is suits. $8,076 for a family of two or $9,885 "This is what happens when for a family of three. you have a well- intentioned use of The study was based on the 1990 raw data in an undisciplined U.S. Census. Only Brownsville, manner," he said. where almost 44 percent of popu- Jim Callaway, director of the lation lives below the poverty city's planning division, said that level, is listed as poorer than Col- his department is� accustomed to lege Station. these type of figur s. "Holy mackerel," said Woody, "The student population is the assistant city manager for often reflected as low- income," operations. City Manager Ron Callaway said. "That may or may Ragland was out of town Thurs- not be why the Gity is listed as day and couldn't be reached for poor." comment. There is real poverty in College The number of students who Station, Callaway said, but some listed College Station as home of those people reflected as poor during the 1990 census definitely in this study Porsches. has an effect on the numbers, Woody said. He had two sugges "Some of the students at Texas tions to clear up the misunder- A &M belong in t �i e lower income standing. category," he said. "And some First, he said, the study should students drive cars that are worth include the credit limits on the as much as my house." parents credit cards that some But it is impossible to weed out students carry. "[The students] probably have more available dollars than the rest of the population," Woody said. Woody's second suggestion was to do another study Thursday. "With the students gone [for spring break,] you'll probably get more accurate numbers," he said. Allon Fish, executive vice president of the Bryan- College Station Chamber of Commerce, said he doesn't put much faith in such studies. "Didn't we have something in Money magazine not too long ago that listed us as the 12th best lVCW6 Atv ac those students who belong in the low- income category from those that don't, Callaway said. The poverty rates are based on calculations that exclude people who reside in institutions, mili- tary barracks and college dor- mitories. About 11,200 of A &M's 41,000 students live on campus. The rule of thumb, established by past studies, is that about one -third of Texas A &M's students live on- campus, one -third live in College Station and one -third live in Bryan or in unincorporated parts of Brazos County, Callaway said. Councilwoman Lynn McIl- haney said her guess is that the student population affected the study. "If you look at housing starts and the price of those houses, it would not lead you to believe we are a poor city," she said. There were 21 single - family housing starts in College Station in February, Callaway said. The average construction value was more than $100,000. NC-'WS q-fZ T1 e_L..--5 C" WASHINGTON — Many me- dium -sized cities have dispropor- tionate numbers of poor people, most of whom are black or His- panic, a private study said Thursday. The report said Brownsville and College Station have the worst poverty rate in the nation, followed by three other cities with populations of fewer than 130,000. Nearly 44 percent of the Browns - ville's 98,962 residents had in- comes below federal poverty standards, according to the Greater Washington Research Center. The federal government defines the poverty level as an annual in- come of $8,076 or less for a family of two, and $9,885 or less for a fam- ily of three. The non - profit center's Com- mittee on Strategies to Reduce Chronic Poverty studied 1990 Census statistics for 488 U.S. cit- ies with populations above 50,000. It found that those cities house 13.5 million poor people, com- pared to 10 million poor in subur- ban areas and 9 million in rural areas. More than half of those cities had poverty rates exceeding the national average of 13.1 percent. "We had fully expected to find high poverty rates in the largest cities. We were appalled to find them in so many others," wrote lead researcher George Grier. "If severe levels of poverty were restricted to the urban giants, the task of overcoming them would be daunting enough. But our find- ings show they are the rule rather than the exception." Of the five poorest cities, three were in Texas: Brownsville, Col- lege Station, with 38 percent, and Laredo, with 37.3 percent. The others were Monroe, La., with 37.8 percent, and Camden, N.J., 36.6 percent. Among cities with more than 1 million residents, Detroit had the highest rate of poverty, 32.4 per- cent. Chicago was next with 21.6 percent. Even though the nation's core metropolitan areas weren't do- minan` in poverty, the study said, CS F poverty rate second W,,or By SONYA 1110; The Associated Pi E n U.S. 3 - � q, - r) Please see CITY, page A7 "for sheer concentration of hu- man misery, these places are un- matched today outside the Third World." "One -third of Americans live in these cities. A disproportionate number of them are members of racial and ethnic minorities," the study said. "The ills associated with poverty ... are already spill- ing out into the suburb . Before we write off our cities for good, we must ask ourselves if we are pre- pared to live with the consequen- ces " Among the 25 cities with the highest poverty rates: ■ 17 had populations that were more than half black, Hi panic or both. ■A:l had a limited upply of well- paying jobs. ■ Five were "Rust Be t" cities, depending on automotive or steel industries. ■Four were situated near large universities. Poverty rates were highest in the South, the Midwest and mid - Atlantic states. The lowest rates were in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific regions. • C7 �lje�{ou�on`�ost '- YHURSDAY, April 1, 1 r Lynn Ashby Poor Aggies, worse statistics HERE IS A place in Texas, my friends, where thousands of people are starving. There is mass hunger. Many eligible for food stamps don't take advantage of the program. There is poverty. There are terrible problems. The place is College Station. Now this might come as a surprise to the Aggies, who feed much of the world. It might come as a surprise to College Station, which traditionally has the t rate in T s. But study after study show a gea Cllies Station is Bangladesh - on- s. _ pro�co es from a group called the Greater Washington Research Center. Using U.S. Census figures, its nationwide study reported that College Station, Texas, has the second highest percentage of residents living in poverty of. any town in America. (Brownsville is first.) Shocking, don't you think? But according to the center's in -depth study, 38 percent of the people in that seemingly prosperous town fall below the official federal poverty level: an annual income of $6,000 for an individual, $8,076 or less for a family of two and $9,885 for a family of three. They're hungry This is in keeping with a finding in 1986 by Harvard University that Brazos County was the hungriest county in Texas and 46th hungriest in the nation. That study, conducted by the Physicians Task Force on Hunger in America, found that 22.3 percent of Brazos Countians were living below the poverty level. That study also found that many, many of those poor people were not receiving food stamps. Therefore, Harvard rnnrloded. t.hev were hunts. British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once observed, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." That's what we've got here. In Brazos County and especially in College Station you have 41,000 university students. Most college students don't have an income. Most of them live off their folks. Most of them live better than their folks. Look at the dorm parking lots. Check the closets. That ain't poverty. The census report does not count in its income category residents of military bases, institutions and college dormitories. So that should take out the college factor, right? Wrong. Of the 41,000 students at Texas A &M, only 10,000 live on campus. "I would bet that the income figure would include a lot of students who technically say they have a very low income," says Larry Ringer. He knows whereof he speaks. Ringer is not only the mayor of College Station, but is a professor of statistics at A &M. Skewing and skewering "I really think the data is badly skewed," he says. "The population of College Station is 52,000 plus. Half of the A &M students who live off campus live in College Station. So that gives you 15,000 or better who live in town. The 52,000 population figure includes all students who live either on campus or in town. So you only have between 25,000 to 30,000 non - students." No wonder College Station, at least statistically, is poverty - stricken. This most recent study by the Greater Washington Research Center points out that four of the highest - poverty towns are college towns, and that, "Most of their students are at least technically poor." But this fact isn't always passed along. Actually, I'm suspicious of a lot of studies cited by those with an agenda, whether it's second -hand smoking, poverty, AIDS or drugs. So the next time you hear from some advocacy group that "15 percent of Americans" or "half of all children," believe it 0 percent of the time. Prof. Ringer explains: "Teaching statistics, I know you can skew data to make it come out the way you want it to." j wThe, 1q* CS school board candidat s ,:press varied views at fo um By KELLI LEVEY Eagle staff writer The four candidates for Position 1 on the College Station school board agreed Tuesday night that the district needs to get out of the "reaction mode" it has been in during recent years. All four — Chris Kling, Vincent Cas- sone, Byron Tilton and Larry Johnson — said the district needs to find a superin- tendent who will communicate well with the district's employees and with com- munity members. They also want the dis- trict to take a more aggressive approach to improving the district's curriculum and planning ways to accommodate growth. The League of Women Voters and the districtwide Parent Teachers Organiza- tion Council co- hosted the forum at the College Station Junior High School on Tuesday night. Moderator Jeff Braun read questions from the 50 or so audience members. four candidates for the May 7 elec- ,Treed that the district needs to find 44" cer way to handle the students with serious discipline problems; none think condoms should be distributed in schools. Johnson even joked about the simi- larities in the candidates' answers. "I think it's probably clear to you that any one of us would serve y u well as a school board member," Jhnson said during his closing statem nt. "Right now, I think what you need is me." Incumbent Sherman Click withdrew from the race on Feb. 24. When Position 1 candidate Ann Kyle said last week she would rather not continue with her cam- paign, the deadline for officially with- drawing from the race had passed. Position 2 incumbent Clair Nixon is running unopposed. Kling, a lawyer who graduated from A &M Consolidated High School and Texas A &M, said the district is now play- ing "catch -up" by improving buildings that should have been main ined more consistently. "We've got a bigger problei n on its way with regard to overcrowdinE at the high school," he said, mentioning that the high school is adding portable buildings next fall. "I would consider an alterna- tive: perhaps a separate building for the ninth grade." In response to a question about the high school's overcrowded parking lots, Tilton proposed the high school consider charging students for the spades. Cassone and Johnson both suggested limiting the right to park there to students in certain Please see FORUM, page A9 Forum From Al grades. Tilton, pastor of College Station Baptist Church, said if a school teaches students about evolution it also needs to teach about crea- tion. Regarding disciplinary action against students who are contin- ually defiant or openly discri- minatory, Tilton said he is "for anything that is legally correct and civilly and morally right in preventing these things." Johnson, a College Station native who is a sergeant with the College Station Police Depart- ment, said he's forced to deal with students on his job that the dis- trict does not discipline effective- ly. Cassone, an assistant professor of biology at Texas A &M, said in his opening statement that his experience as an "itinerant scholar" has exposed him to several school systems. He said he considers College Station home and he wants to see the schools improve. "I don't believe we are actually challenging any of our students to their full potential," he said. "I think we are teaching to the [state- required] TAAS test, and that's the lowest common de- nominator." Theo Eagle Ap ri 1 Governor helps brin state capital to B -C Gov. Ann Richards is takin show on the road and bringing tourage of staffers with her. Richards an resentatives statewide ag will bring the tal of Tex Bryan- College tion on Thurs part of the ernor's "Capi her .n en- t rep - from ncies capi- s to Sta- ay as gov- 3,1 for RICHARDS a Day" prograrn. The program is free and open to the public. "Capital for a Day" offices will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Brazos Center, 3232 Briarcrest Drive. Citizens will have access to state agencies, such as the land commis- sion, treasurer, railroad commission, lottery commission, department of health, education agency and the em- ployment commission. More than 20 state agencies are expected to be rep- resented. Richards and other state leaders will hold a town hall meeting at 7 p m. at the Brazos Center. This is the seventh "Capital for a Day" program designed to bring state government out of Austin and cross Texas. C �e le Apr l25,� Planned growth important to By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer Jana Lee Gandy hadn't planned on running for city council until her friends said it would be an ideal place to air her opinions. The 24- year -old small- business owner, who's run- ning for College Sta- tion City Council Place 2, said one of her opinions is that the city should not suffer the conse- quences of uncon- trolled growth. "I want to see that the ..;+y grows in a p d, orderly W, .i that the fire and ambulance departments and law en- candidate's agenda forcement officers can keep up," Gandy said. "One thing I don't want to see hap- pen here is uncontrolled grow She cites the city of Houston as an ex- ample of that type of growth. Gandy operates a self- defense business, Security Institute. Her business sells self- defense products and she teaches self- defense seminars. She earned a degree in journalism from Texas A &M in 1991. She is a first -time candidate and faces incumbent Hub Kennady forte Place 2 seat. Originally, Gandy had I lanned to run for Place 1, but the seat h id two op- ponents, so she chose Place 2. " I just hate to see someone running unopp sed," she said. Gandy has lived in College Station for seven years. If elected, Gandy said, she will concen- trate on bringing more diverse busi- nesses into College Station. She said the city needs larger businesses and she suggests using tax abatements as an in- centive. But with this new industry comes the issue of rezoning. Gandy is a proponent of zoning, but she said, "I wouldn't want zoning to become a problem with home - based businesses." She would like to see lower rental rates in College Station, but said she's not sure how the city council could intervene. As far as crime, Gandy said College Station doesn't have as serious a problem as the city of Bryan. That could be be- cause the city of College Station is more reserved about airing its problems, she said. "You never hear much in College Sta- tion," Gandy said. "Things are kind of hushed. And that really bothers me." The same problem exists with Texas A &M, she said. "Things happen on cam -_ pus that you don't always here about." But even given those problems, Gandy said the city of College Station is a great place to live. "This city is most accommodating to everyone (students and residents)," said Gandy. "That's one of things I love about this town." LW Tlhc� u1aaI No one hurt as oil well spews vapor By KATY HALL Eagle staff writer A blowout at an oil well in rural Brazos County released about 100 barrels of crude oil and a flammat e cloud of vapors, keeping nearly 30 re idents from their homes Monday night. "We were responding to an emer- gency," said Bob Yancy, spokesman for the city of College Station. "But at any moment it could have been a disaster." No one was injured during the poten- tially deadly incident, Yancy said. Officials at the scene about 8 miles southeast of College Station off Sulphur Springs Road expected the well to be cap. ped and the cleanup underway Tuesday morning. Boot and Coots, oil well firefighters and blowout specialists, had the well under control by about 5 p.m., said officials at the scene. About 27 residents were sent to the Col- lege Station Hilton hotel compliments of the Chesapeake Oil Co. which owns the well, Yancy said. The well blew at about 7 a.m., as a Delta Drilling crew was setting a wellhead. It spewed a high pressure spray of crude oil, salt water, and mud into the air for about 10 hours. Dozens of emergency personnel — the Department of Public Safety, South Bra- zos County and Millican volunteer fire departments, the Brazos County Sheriffs Depa tment, emergency management off icills from Brazos County and College Station and College Station firefighters — were on hand all day and expected to stay through the night. The blowout created a flammable vapor cloud which was carried about two miles away from the site by a southeast wind, he said. "It could have gone up anytime," Yancy said of the vapor cloud. Volunteer firefighters moved quickly to evacuate area residents and turn off their gas — a potential ignition source, Yancy said. �A Y Only about four residents were home at the time. They were moved into the hotel and their family and neighbors joined them as they came home to find their homes had been evacuated. "Initially, they were frightened and a little confused," Yancy said, "but they took it well." The residents may be able to rety n home late Tuesday, he said. In the meantime, clean-up crews will be washing down the area, including several homes which were coated with in fuel and volatile chemicals as the vapor cloud passed over them, Yancy said. Hot water should clean off the chemi- cals, said a spokesman for Em -Tech En- vironmental Services, the Houston com- pany called in late Monday for the clean up. Crews plan to wash down the area around the well with water and dig a ditch to contain the runoff. A vacuum truck will haul it away, he said. � 1% • January 14, Iq*4 Large crowd expects for MLK birthday celebrg tion Hundreds of people are E xpected to turn out to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday during a celebra- tion Saturday at the Lincoln Center in College Station. The festivities begin at 7 Several local choirs are expecte m. perform and the Rev. y s - for of Lee Chapel Methodist Church in Bryan and First United Methodist Church in College Station, will give the keynote address. The theme of this year's celebration is "Keep Hope Alive." Refreshments will be served follow- ing the activities, which are expected to last about two hours. Admission is free. The Lincoln Center is at 1000 Eleanor St. 11v EAj I& Jouary 14, W94 CS to ask A&M Brazos County for more money in Bush project By YVONNE SALCE Eaale staff writer Brazos County and Texas A &M can ex- pect a call from College Station staffers soliciting more money to help fund de- sign plans for George Bush Drive. College Station City Council members approved a motion Thursday night allow- ing the city to spend up to $125,000 on planning and engineering costs for the 'ening of George Bush Drive. College .ion will act as manager of the project. -•rrcy staffers will ask Brazos County and Texas A &M to commit up to $125,000 rather than the previously agreed $95,000. The new motion comes as result of a Bryan City Council vote not to help fund design plans for George Bush Drive. El- rey Ash, director of economic and de- velopment services for College Station, said a commitment of $125,000 from the three entities guarantees coverage of unexpected costs. "We'd like to go into the project with the fees covered and some contingency," Ash said. He said the city is considering three engineering firms, with WSBC Inc. of Houston ranking top on the list. Construction costs for expanding George Bush Drive into a boulevard are estimated at $4.5 million. It is a state highway, and the Texas Department of Transportation is expected to fund con- "I'm very disappointed in the city of Bryan for viewing this as a road issue and not an economic development program." HUB KENNADY College Station councilman Adamson pool, and an increase in dis- counts passes from $40 to $50 for Adam- son and $25 to $30 for Southwooc: and Thomas pools. Steve Beachy, emergency management coordinator for the parks and recreation department, said the new rates will fund additional lifeguards. The council also approved a budget amendment to fund the addition of a DARE officer at the junior high level and a high school liaison officer. Council members denied Mayfield Trucking, a debris hauling company, a request for a franchise. Both Bryan and College Station use Texas Commercial Waste for hauling construction and de- molition debris. Owner Barry Mayfield said he will con- tinue to seek a franchise with the city of College Station. College Station has a two -year contract with TCW. And council members will consider an application for an oil and gas well permit at the intersection of Bird Pond Road and Rock Prairie Road despite disapproval from citizens. Two citizens expressed concerns over the noise, the risk of explosions with horizontal drilling and whether Rock Prairie Road could accommodate oil well traffic. As one resident said, "I certainly wouldn't want to be evacuated from my house." struction costs. College Station City Council members were disappointed at Bryan's decision. Some suggested a joint commitment from all four entities would have persuaded the department to push the project up, making it a high priority. As Councilman Hub Ken ady put it: "I am very disappointed in th city of Bryan for viewing this as a road issue and not an economic development I rogram." Bryan City Council members received scores of calls from citizens asking the council to repair Bryan ro s and not cut College Station a check. In other business, the council passed a rate increase for parks and recreation fees. Some of the changes include an in- crease from $2 to $2.50 for admission to The Ea 10 Amar 18 CS female f ire killer promoted By KATY HALL Eagle staff writer Maggie McGraw would rather study the history books than be a part of them. But the 37- year -old firefighter made history Monday when she was sworn in as the first -ever female officer in the Col- Station Fire Department — the ar veteran was promoted from ap- -,,. atus operator to lieutenant. Fellow firefighter Jeff Kuykendall also was promoted Monday. Kuykendall, with the department since 1985, moved from firefighter into McGraw's position. It was actually the second time McGraw's name was etched into history. Her debut was in 1979 — she became Col- lege Station's first female firefighter when she joined the force. Since then, two others have been accepted. "I don't really want to draw that kind of attention, `Look at me, I'm a woman, said McGraw, who fellow- firefighters de- scribe as a team player. Regardless, her historic promotion has thrust McGraw into the spotlight. "This is a momentous occasion for the College Station Fire Department as well as for all women pursuing positions of leadership in historically male - dominated careers such as firefighter," said Chief Bill Kennedy. "I am proud to have Maggie as one of our new officers and look forward to her leadership." McGraw, enticed by the schedule — 24 -hour shift followed by 48 hours off, joined the department after completing an Emergency Medical Technician rse offered at the fire station; she ap- d and was accepted. *40w,3he admitted it wasn't a childhood dream. As a young girl thinking of being a firefighter ?" she said. "No way." Eagle photo/ Michael Mulvey College Station Fire Lieutenant Ml ggie McGraw and Jeff Kuykendall, apparatus operator, cut a cake con- gratulating t*m on their new positions on Monday. McGraw is the first woman ever to be installed as an officer in the College Station Fire Department; Kuykendall will replace McGraw in her former capacity. Rather, she spent the first few years associate degree in fire science this after graduating from A&M Consolidated spring. She also plans to start working High School working for a doctor and at- history and bachelor's maybe on a master's in tending college. In those nearly 20 years, 3he has earned gree in business. about 130 hours of college credits taking "You never know," she said. "everything and anythi g," McGraw One thing is for certain, McGraw said said. she plans to stay with the department un- "I'm in no hurry," she id of her con til she retires. tinuing education. "Who knows ?" she said with a laugh, "I McGraw said she hope to receive an may pick up one or two degrees by then." too FamA i 11 V 7A_, 4 1 A newspaper is a fl eting thing. No- where near as flee ing as radio and television. But so times we report on a subject and a ew weeks later someone writes or ca as to ask when we are going to say sonnet ing about it. Such is the case with the new elemen- tary sc of planned to]' Pebble Creek. D ber we repo ed the actions of the board of the Colle a Station Indepen- dent School District Pew elementary oting to build a ision even though o fewchi in that sub c u rre ntly live there. ld Reporter Kelli Leve school board officials a e assuming that dren will have to be bused to the new school from other schools in areas deemed overcrowded. Parents are concern involved in children be about dangers bused hither and yon. Residents of a reas neighborhood schools are worried about O property values. Letters and phone calls to this news- paper make that clear. And while The Eagle has reported the facts of the plan for a Pebble Creek school, there is clearly more there. Re- porter Levey, who capabl v covers school education and children's issues for Eagle, is investigating a The the r for T a- tions of the story. We hope to let you know more soon. ■■■ c c CS officials urged to join Bryan, A &M By YVONNE SALGE Eagle sta writer Texas A &M has one. The city of Bryan has one. And it won't be long before the city of College Station gets one. City leaders urged College Station City Council members Wednesday night to give their approval to a business park development off Texas 6. Elrey B. Ash, director of economic and development services, presented the plan for Phase One of the College Station Business Park. The cost of the first phase is estimated at $2.3 million. Ash said financing for the park's infra- structure would come from the city. It's estimated the business park would create more than 1,500 jobs, bringing in com- mercial, private business and small manufacturing companies. Robert Worley, executive director of the Bryan - College Station Economic De- velopment Corp., told council members Phase One of the park could be full in 12 months. "If you don't build it, they won't come," said Worley, adding that 46 companies have expressed interest in moving to the area. "It (the economy) is not sluggish. here. We lead the nation in low numbers of unemployment." The College Station Business Park, at the intersection of Greens Prairie Road and Texas 6, includes two phases totaling. about 190 acres. Design plans include a jogging path, trails and extensive lands- caping. - The Ea91e January U1140 Worley said p ospective businesses are looking fora igh- quality area. With: council approv , he predicts new busi nesses in the area within three months. The develop nt's fate will be decided; at tonight's city council meeting at 7 p.m. in College Station's City Hall. Councilman Hub Kennady questioned . whether an additional business park would be overkill with Bryan's Business Park and A &M's Research Park compet- ing for business prospects. Worley said the three parks differ be- cause College E tation's Business Park would attract a particular niche. "When You're dealing with a high - quality park lie this, you're going to eliminate prospects," he said. But a few people at the workshop meet- ing remained unconvinced. Dick Birdwell a College Station resi- dent and former councilman, said he favored the id e ' but encouraged the council to proceei slowly. "You're taking too big of a hunk at one time," Birdwell said of the $2.3 million project. "You to e this project to any bank in the word and they won't lend you a dime." li Eel � jowl Valley outreach progra $100,000 to help kids By JOE TOLAND Eagle staff wri The Texas A &M /Bryan- College Sta- tion Council voted unanimously Wed- nesday morning to create an outreach program that will help local minority and at -risk youths get into college. The "Brazos Valley Outreach Pro- gram" will operate annually on a $100,000 fund and be administered by Texas A &M, said Fred Brown, council chairman. The council has committed itself to the program for the next five years. To reach those youth in need, Texas A &M will operate the program through the Bryan and College Station school districts, Brown said. The outreach program — which provides financial assistance, counsel- ing and educational support — was adopted from the "University Ou- treach" program which began in the state in 1988 and is being operated in five ot: ~er Texas cities. About 80 per- cent of all youth who have gone through the university outreach pro- gram are now in college, Brown said. 1 r I ,I4Ki4 n puts up nto college "You take these kids ... a lot oft em come out of homes that have been on welfare for years. This pro- gram gives them the vision of wha they can do for the ms Ives." FRED BROWN Community council chairman "You to e these kids ... a lot of them come out of homes that have been on welfare for years. This program gives them the vision of what they can do for themsely s," Brown said. About 60 members of council voted their ap roval for the outreach pro- gram. C-0 D R" �.a. community Development Office moves into new ome The Community Develop ent Of- 0 fice in College Station is movi g to 903 1, Texas Avenue as of today. Due to construction, offices will re- main closed for a week and will reopen Feb. 7. Anyone needing to contact staff members should call 764- 778 or 764 -3570. It1114 L E 1 E e� i ta l tAd ry C.S. business park pion approved By YVONNE SALCE ago, city leaders have put off developing Eagle staff writer the land for some time. Charles Cryan, assistant director of College Station City Council members finance f r the city, estimates both approved plans for the first phase of a $2.7 phases will cost $9 million. Plans for the million business park despite two former second phase won't be considered until 50 councilmen suggesting that the project percent of the park is filled with busi- be scaled down. nesses, he said. Dick Birdwell and Jim Gardner, both Though Birdwell said that the business who were council members last year, told park would result in a future tax in- city leaders they supported the project crease, Cryan said part of the $2.7 million but didn't approve of the high dollar already has been budgeted. College Sta- amount being spent at once. tion's recent 3V4 -cent tax rate increase "It can be done in a much smaller covers part of the debt, he said way," Birdwell said referring to the city's plans to begin basic construction. "I "We're not looking to go into a bond is- would suggest that you carve out 20 acres sue for this property," Cryan said. and develop that first. Leave the side- Cryan did say College Station citizens walks and landscape till later." may see a 3 -cent tax increase next year, The College Station Business Park, lo- but not because of the business park. "It cated at the intersection of Greens (the taxi crease) would come because of Prairie Road and Texas 6, includes two increasin expenditures avid growth," phases totaling 190 acres. Bought 10 years Cryan sail. 10 El le F y ebruar Ct IcA4 Parking or biking? C.S. council must decide By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer to approve the College Maii tion Design Project that woi street, add sidewalks and ii bike lanes. Students already hunt for Northgate area where the lots are for those willing i those shopping at nearby bu The city staff is recommer council approve a plan wY: parking spaces eliminatec north of Church Street to th tion city limits; most of spaces used now are sout Street to University Drive. A less favorable plan i, would remove 23 street park front of businesses; it woL Reconstruc- parking on all of College Main and desig- .d repair the nate bike lanes from the city limit to plement the University Drive. The other alternative includes a com- paces in the bination of street parking and a bikeway my parking lane, and the possibility of constructing a" pay or for community parking area to alleviate th messes. already tight parking situation in North ling that the gate. re the only The cost of constructing a parking lot are a few in Northgate is estimated between $50,000 College Sta- to $100,000. City staff members are rec- he parking ommending that it not be done. of Church Brett McCully, an engineering project manager for College Station, said repair one which and construction to College Main is ig spaces in scheduled to begin in the summer. It's I eliminate unknown how long the project will take. A $400,000 project to improve a major street in Northgate might wind up elim- inating about 20 "precious" parking spaces used by Texas A &M students in order to accommodate a bikeway lane. The College Station City Council will consider three different options to make for cyclists on College Main Street at �gular 7 p.m. meeting Thursday in nall, 1101 S. Texas Avenue. Council members approved a Master Bikeway Plan in October that includes a number of bike paths, routes and lanes in College Station. City engineers are asking the council 2M le City council elections draw 7 into the ring r� k. Seven residents entered their names .-in the run for city council on Monday — the first day to file for the Bryan d College Station city council elections "In Bryan, incumbent Mayor Pro ,Tem Kandy Rose filed for Place 2. "Rose, 48, works at St. Joseph Hospital , ds a computer training specialist. She 35 finishing her fourth year on the council. Rose has been a resident of Bryan for 23 Ih years. She has three -sons, Rob, 25; Michael, 24; and Jason, 15. Her husband, Pete, is a professor f tlnance at Texas A &M University. .."Dan Galvin, project director wi computing information services a Texas A &M, announced his candidacy ,for Place 6 on the Bryan City Council, which is being left vacant by Marc - Hamlin. Galvin, 52, and his wife, - :Sharyn, have lived in Bryan for more than 20 years. Their son, Stephen, at- tends Bryan High School; a foster son attends Henderson Elementary. Running for Place 4 on the Bryan City Council is C. Patrick Meece, 30. Meece is a partner in the law firm of Hampton, Meece & Kohn, where he practices in business and construction litigation, lender liability and insur- ance defense cases. He has been a resi- dent of Bryan for four years, and served on the Bryan Charter Review Advisory Committee for eight months. Councilman Larry Catlin holds the Place 4 seat now; he didn't file Mon- day. In College Station, former council- man Jim Gardner filed for Place 4. Gardner, 73, is retired and has been a resident of College Station for 27 years. He served on the council for a total of 10: years. Both his son and daughter live in College Station. Vernon Schneider is the Place 4 in- cumbent; he didn't file Monday. Mayor Larry Ringer filed for a fifth term as mayor of College Station. Ringer, 56, has served four consecu- tive terms as mayor. He and his wife, Jean, have lived in College Station since 1966. Ringer is a professor of sta- tistics at Texas A &M and also the as- sistant department head. Incumbent Hub Kennady an- nounced he will run again for Place 2. Kennady was elected in 1992. He is an attorney for the law firm of Kennady & Talbert. Another incumbent Nancy Crouch filed for Place 6. Crouch is completing her second term on the council. She is self-employed. Ken - nady and Crouch couldn't be reached Monday. Citizens can file for the council posi- . tions up to March 23. t r 0 7h E le March 4 1*4 CS residents outraged about possible land sale By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer Residents in the Edelweiss Estates Subdivision hit the ceiling when they heard a plant designed to clean radioac- tive and toxic wastes could be built within 200 feet of their College Station homes. The Houston -based Begonia Corp. may sell the 9 -acre tract of land to the Texas A &M Research Foundation, if a rezoning request is approved. A &M's Research Foundation, repre- senting the Geochemical Environmental Research Group, wants the property re- zoned from apartment use to heavy - industrial use. Homeowners of Williams Court, Williams Estates and Edelweiss Subdivision said when they bought their homes, they didn't know there was a chance a chemical plant would move in. The College Station Planning and Zon- ing Commission will hold a public hear- ing on the request 7 tonight in city hall. "We just hit the ceiling when we found out that the university wanted to put a percolator plant out here when they have all that land near the airport," said one resident, who asked his name not be used. "A percolator cleans toxic chemi- cals from waste waters. "They try to sneak this stuff by the res- idents of Bryan and College Station," the reside rit said. "And then we have to clean up all he problems." Jim Crowell, president of Begonia Corp., said A &M has wanted to buy the land for some time. It wasn't until re- cently that researchers made a firm offer, he said. Crowell did not know what exact plans the university had for the land. James Brooks with Geochemical Envi- ronmental Research Group could not be reached Wednesday. College Station city planners are rec- ommending a denial of the heavy in- dustr' al request. Hov rever, City Planner Sabine Kuenzel said hey would approve a rezoning reque t for a light industrial plant. The alterr ative would put restrictions on architectural design and allow a non- pollut ing business. Kel y Ringham, a director for the home wner's association, said residents are split on whether they would even be happ with the alternative. Many wish for i to remain as the future site of mzel said the present zoning would for 24 dwelling units per acre. ■ o F go_ f F- 46 ie Ur ► I I, �c1G4 13 Eagle photo/ Dave MCDerman( Detective John Orozco pumps out guitar and vocals as the College Station ium1for a crowd of students who completed the D.A.R.E. program. Several hun Police Department band "Blue Heat" performs in the Oakwood School auditor- dreq students were present, enjoying the light show and variety of music. Daring to be different: Band plays for kids By CHUCK SQUATRIGLIA Eagle staff writer The scene inside the Oakwood Elemen- tary School auditorium on Thursday afternoon was a bit surreal. It wasn't just another boring assembly. Red and blue spotlights cut through the haze created by a smoke machine. A trio of strobe lights punctuated the scene with staccato bursts of bright, white light. C Onstage, five musicians were playing ieir hearts out for scores of screaming, heering sixth - graders. The middle -aged men didn't look much like musicians, what with their receding hairlines, crisp blue uniforms and glittering badges. Badges? Yes, badges, for it was the premier per- formance of College St tion Blue Heat, the College Station po ice rock band. They were on hand fort the school's Drug Abuse Resistance Edu ation program graduation. The children didn't m nd that the mu- sicians were cops firs and rock -and- rollers second. Judging from their wild applause and cheers, you might have thought Nirvana or Janet Jackson was onstage. "Whoever set this up, I want to meet them," one boy exclaimed. "This is cool"' The officers, too, thought it was cool. "We were pumped up about it," said Maj. Mason Newton, the group's bass player. The Blue Heat — Newton, guita- rist /singer John Olrozco, guita- rist /keyboardist Volie Schultea, drum- mer Bubba Sayers and singer Gary Bishop — played an hour's worth of rock n' roll, country, reggae and even rap. They started with, naturally, "The Heat is On" by Glenn Frey and followed through with tunes by everyone from James Brown to Garth Brooks to Metalli- ca and even threw in a few numbers they'd written themselves. And although the concert was all in fun, the officers had a message to share — stay away from drugs and gangs. Using music to spread the message is just an- other way the police can strengthen their relationship with children, Newton said. "You can make quite an impression on these kids, and hopefully they'll carry it with them," he said. "The kids can real- ize we're human too — we're not just out there writing tickets and making arrests." J Eaq 1 e* �Iw 1� • Morch IS I q1111+ Bryan city staff rneiT ber wins award; CS hires new director The cities of Bryan and 3ollege Sta- tion both have a reason to t oast. Patsy Dunn, utility analyst for the city of Bryan, has been named Cus- tomer Service Professional of the Year. The award comes from the Texas Water Utilities Association Customer Service Section. Dunn, an Employee of Bryan for seven years, received the honor at TWUA's awards banquet. Dunn serves as treasurer for the TWUA Customer Service Section, Heart of Texas Chapter. The city of College Station has hired a public service director — Mark Smith. He started with the city in 1980 as an assistant city engineer. He was pro- moted to assistant public services di- rector in 1990. Smith earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a master's de- gree in public administration from Texas A &M. Mysterious advertiser irks B -CS off By CHUCK SQUATRIGLIA Fnnla ctaff writar o fine -is -sure who he is or where be came from, but city officials know one program that we're pushing." thing for sure — he's not one of them. Someone — no one seems to know ex- actly who — has been plastering houses throughout the area with pink fliers ad- vertising "Citywide curb services" and offering — for $10 — to paint residents' "This company is not affiliated with addresses on their curbs to improve 911 the city in any way," said Bob Yancy, a service by "help[ing] police, fire de- College Station spokesman. "We feel partment and ambulance services find this ad is misleading." your home after dark." College Station officials have received City officials said the curbside num- 50 complaints about the _fl iers: he said bers are unnecessary and of little or no Bryan officials also are concerned about use to police and emergency crews. Al- the misleading nature of the fliers. though the fliers do not mention Bryan "It insinuates that it is a city pro- or College Station by name, they imply gram, but it's not," said Joe Brown, city crews would be doing the painting. Bryan spokesman. "We've dealt with Not so. this in the past. It happens almost JOE BROWN City of Bryan spokesman yearly." "Our main concern is that they could be misleading people by implying that it is a city - sponsored program. They're misleading the public into thinking that is a nroer we're nu_s_hine -" Residents are not required to have their addresses painted on the curbs, and police and emergency crews do not look to the curbs for addresses because they are usually obscured by debris or parked cars. "We don't even look there," Yancy said. "This does not help 911 service in any way. It doesn't hinder 911 service, but it doesn't help it either. It is a false claim that it helps." College Station police on March 4 is- sued a citation to a man from Tyler, charging him with soliciting without a permit. He received a permit later the same day, but Yancy said no one knows if he's responsible for the latest string of fliers. Likewise, Bryan officials issued a similar permit to a Palestine resident, allowing him to solicit curbside paint- ing business, but thev do not kn if he's responsible for the fliers. His per- mit application lists the Tyler man as an employee. Calls to a telephone num- ber listed on his application were not answered; Brown said city officials have been unable to reach him. "They're misleading the publi into th tha this is a :I The Gayle Marc 23, IQR�I B -CS Chamber appoints new executive vice president The Bryan- College Station Chamber of Commerce appointed onnie Morr- ison as its permanent executive vice president Tuesday. Morrison has served as interim exe- cutive vice president for the past four months. He was director of economic development programs for the cham- ber from March 1993 to November 1993. Prior to moving to ryan- College Station, Morrison seri ed with the Longview Economic Development Center. He also has s rved on the Longview city council. • B -CS once again leads state with low unemployment rate Bryan- College Station posted its 61st straight month in Febru for having the lowest unemployme it rate among the major metropolitar areas in the state, according to recently released statistics from the Tex Employment Commission. Brazos County repo d a 3.5 ,jobless) rate last month, up sli tly from the 3.1 percent unemplo ent rate real Corded in January. i Austin followed Bry - College Sta- tion with a 4.2 percent rate. Amarillo was third with a 4.2 percent rate. — Complied) from staff reports ," u Y BoCS ear recognit' from HW By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer The cities of Bryan and College Station have been recognized nationally for their joint effort to better the community, but council members in each city believe more could be done. The Community Development Division in Bryan celebrated on Tuesday more than 20 years of success with utilizing federal grants. Supporters and users of the federal funding program gathered for a reception where the department was recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Both cities were commended for their efforts to work jointly and efficiently in serving. low- to moderate - income indi- viduals and eliminating blighted areas of town. The award congratulated the sister cities for serving more than 57,000 resi- dents last year with $266,553 federal dol- lars — an average of $4.65 per person. Since the program began in 1974, the city of Bryan has received about $14 mil- lion in Community Development Block Grants. Robert Thielemann of the development staff said 35 to 40 percent CDBGs go to housing, 15 percent to nonprofit services, and the remaining to special projects and salaries. Following the reception, the Bryan City Council met for its regular meeting. It was there that a 30- minute discussion began as to whether the city of Bryan should join the city of College Station in hiring an outside firm to study the com- munity's needs. The College Station City Council is asking Bryan for $13,000 to fund the joint relief study. After the first motion to deny the request died 5 -2, the council voted 5 -2 in favor of postponing the item. Bryan Mayor Fro Tem Kandy Rose, who asked that the request be denied, said an outside consultant isn't needed given the city's recent award. Rose said city staffers would better know the nee '.s of the community than an outsider. Furthermore, she said the city of Col- lege Station had not consulted Bryan city staffers on the issue early on, but rather waited until the "12th hour." Councilman Marc Hamlin was also in opposition. Those council members in favor of the idea said a fact - finding committee would mean further improvements with the community development program. T �, Maroh 23 � Igq4 e �I arGh 3 , 14 College station taking pplications for community develop lent grants By YVONNE SALCE given tot e city of College Station Eagle star writer will go to public services, said administrator Jo Carroll. The As of Tuesday, the city of Col- remainder goes to housing assis lege Station's Community De- tance. velopment office had yet to Through the Community De- receive any requests for federal velopment office, qualified home - funding from local nonprofit owners n receive financial as- agencies. sistance or renovations or a new Nonprofit service agencies home. Rental property owners wanting a piece of the $1.1 million may alsc qualify for some rehabi- for the 1994 -95 year should apply litation I rograms. by Monday at the office's new lo- "We'r helping the family that cation, 903 S. Texas Ave. the mon y is intended to assist," The eight- member staff recog- Carroll said. "We have a goal of nized Community Development revital' zing neighborhoods. • Block Grant Week on Tuesday in When yo go in and renovate a its new headquarters. Grants Co- house, you're benefitting the fam- ordinator Paula Ralls said she ily as we I as the street." had not received any grant appli- Since 1975, the city of College cations yet, but expected the bulk Station I Las benefited from HUD's of them to arrive next week. progran by assisting such agen- Community Development cies as the Mental Health - Mental Block Grants are federal grants Retarda ion Authority of Brazos provided by the U.S. Department Valley, unction Five-0-Five and of Housing and Urban De- the Braz s Food Bank. velopment. To qualify, an agency Recen ly, both the city of Col - must be a nonprofit agency and 51 lege Sta ion and Bryan were rec- percent of its clients must be low- ognized by HUD for their joint to moderate - income persons. efforts assisting community Fifteen percent of the funding agencie . Cpl Eagle photo/ Dave McDermand Bill Kennady, chief of the College Station Fire Department, ad- serve about 12 square miles between Pebble Creek and Texas dresses a crowd at Tuesday's groundbreaking of a new station to Avenue at the East Bypass. CS breaks ground or fire station Chief says stationhou:;e will enable firefighters to halve response time to southern part of city By CHUCK SQUATRIGLIA Eagle staff writer Fire Chief Bill Kennedy broke ground Tuesday on a new fire sta- tion that he said will allow fire- fighters to respond to fires in southern College Station in half the time it takes now. Kennedy, along with Mayor Larry Ringer and City Manager Ron Ragland, turned the first shovels of dirt, starting construc- tion of the new stationhouse on the East Bypass frontage road near Barron Road in southern College Station. Construction is slated to begin immediately, and firefighters hope to move into the new station by September. Kennedy said the city needs the third station to cut response times to fires in Pebble Creek and other housing subdivisions south of town. It takes firef ghters be- tween 9 and 11 minut s to reach the area, he said. "That's just too long," he said. "With this station, we'll be under five minutes away . hat's the recommended standar ." The new station, which will cost about $568,000 to build, will serve about 12 square' miles be- tween Pebble Creek 2md Texas Avenue at the East Byp ss. Six firefighters will staff the station, which will include an ambulance and pumper truck. The department will not need to hire additional firefighters or buy new equipment to outfit the new station, Kennedy said. At 4,300 square feet the new station is about half tae size of Central Station on Texa 3 Avenue. "We call this a bedroom station because it fits right in with the houses around it," Kennedy said. The new station is just one part of a plan to improve service with- out increasing costs to the tax- payers. Officials plan to move Central Station to a new site near Wolf Pen Creek and move Station No. 2, now on Rio Grande Street, to Easterwood Airport within the next year. "Without moving the stations, we would have to build a fourth station," Kennedy said. Moving is cheaper than build- ing because adding another sta- tion would require hiring addi- tional firefighters. Ninety percent of the department's $4 million an- nual budget goes to salaries and employee benefits, he said. Moving Central Station will cost about $885,000. City officials are working with A &M to move Station No. 2 to the airport and have not determined how much the move will cost, Kennedy said. e Faq le V lu rGk, 4, I "074 Friday, April Looking for the almighty funding Local group lobbies state to pay for improving Bush Drive By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer I Four years ago, residents on Jersey ( Street in College Station woke up one a morning and found themselves living on George Bush Drive. I; The new street name helped pave the 3 way to bringing their newest neighbor — the Bush Presidential Library. A' Some said they remembered Jersey j� Street as a two -lane dirt road without any curbs, gutters or sidewalks. City leaders hope it won't be long be- fore George Bush Drive is known throughout Texas as the stately boule- vard leading tourists to the George Bush Presidential Library. I And for what city leaders have in mind, E the project could cost more than $5 mil- 1 lion for the road's 1.3 miles. E Members of the George Bush Library Infrastructure Committee and local leaders met with the Texas Transporta- tion Commission in Austin on Thursday to solicit $5.2 million for engineering, de- ' sign and constructions costs for the road. Ed Wagoner, chairman of the commit- tee, said commissioners seemed to sup- port the project. Estimated costs of the project are $4.93 million for construction, and $346,000 for engineering and design plans. An answer could come within the next few weeks. I, 1994 l r� • A &M regents hope to name new president By MEL'INDA RICE Eagle staff writer Just before Texas A &M Universi- ty System regents are scheduled to select Texas A &M's new president, one candidate for the job has with- drawn his name from consideration for a post at another college. Ray Bowen, interim president for Oklahoma State University, was a candidate for senior vice president and provost at the University of Houston, but w ithdrew his name from consideration for that job last week. "He said that he was in strong contention for another position and did not want to jeopardize it," said Geri Konigsburg, a spokeswoman for the University of Houston. Bowen also won't be staying in the top job at OSU. A regent for Ok- lahoma State University said Tues- day that Bowen has not submitted a letter of resignation, but had told regents there that he will not be a candidate for the job of president at OSU. Regents for the A &M System will meet in closed session Thursday in Austin to discuss the three finalists for the A &M presidency. "I am hopeful that we can reach a selection of a �erson to fill that position," said (Regents Chairman Ross Margraves He said it is in the best interest o the university to choose a new president as soon as possible. Regent Billy layton said he was impressed with three candidates and has not ade a definite de- cision, but is leaning toward Bowen. Other regents said either that they have not alade a decision or that they preferfed not to discuss it until the whole board meets. Re- gents have not met to discuss the candidates since the three finalists were interviewed last week. Another A &M finalist — Luis Proenza, acting vice president for academic affairs and research for the University of Alaska System — remains in the race for the Houston job as well as the presidency at the University of Texas at Dallas. The F�gla April 13 Pq4 C7 c andidate Re tape ha pens bu iiness Construction manager wants to claim CS City Council seat By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer If elected to the city council, construc tion manager Lisa Cantrell plans t streamline the process within c' government for fu- ture developers and new businesses. C andidate Cantrel , 31, is running f r College Profile Station Ci Council Place 1 one - year College St a tio n term unexpired City Council seat. The 'associate of James. Lancas- Place 1 ter & Associates Inc. said the present system to get new businesses started is "extremely diffi- cult" for prospective companies; "The staff is great and helpful," said Cantrell of the city's employees. "But the CANTRELL volumes of work they're getting has Today: Lisa Cantre slowed the down. I think som of these ESaturday: Bill Fox policies can be streamline iecided ." Cantrell to run for city council because she's familiar with the city's processes and council issues. "Sixty to 70 percent of council d ci::ions have to do with development, frastructurp and planning," she sai . "The rest [of their time is dealt wi budgeting.' The Houston native moved to College Station 11 years ago. She attended Texas; A &M University, where she earned a bachelor's !of science in building con- struction and a master's of science in land development. Her husband, Todd, works as � real estate management su- pervisor. The, EA It *i 113, IA" Place 1 on the council is now occupied by Mayor Pro Tern Fred Brown. Brown is stepping down from the council a year earlier than planned. Cantrell said she chose the one -year seat because it was a good place to start in city government; she faces Bill Fox for the seat. If elected, she hopes to bring to the council a better understanding of what investors and developers need, to work on long -range plans for the city and to improve relations between the council and the school board. Cantrell's company does work with several College Station intermediate schools. But she said her duties as a councilwoman and construction man- ager will not conflict. For College Station to diversify, Can- trell said the city will need to attract, commercial businesses. • "Right now we're primarily a resi dential tax base, rather than a commer -: cial tax base." One way to attract new businesses and- industry, Cantrell said, is to use trade: publications and advertisements. With new business comes zoning is- sues, and Cantrell said the city has been careflil in developing areas near property owners. Although she said: "There's never a case where you should abide by the plan — period. However, she said that zoning laws and landscape ordinances are restrictive in nature because they are for the better- ment of the community. T he Eog�e Aor I I 2D lqq+ Wh at happened to I oil recycling projec • I was delighted to read "Re filter and used oil" in The Eagl( 6. he College Station City Coul approved $50,000 on Feb. 14,199 match state funding for an oil r project. On Sept. 25, 1992, I was appoii for for Project Recycled Oil SaN Energy; however, the $50,000 h spent. So ... cancel the project director and get on with bigger things. In your editorial you suggest 1- X00 -64 -TEXAS for informatio tions to dispose of oil and oil fi suggestion is to call your coun bers or the city manager at 769 a$k why your energy rebate of and your $50,000 in tax revenu p ovide a profit making, clean r nment, oil recycling facility ui yai i Pity's t? ;ycle` that on April cil had ., to cycling .ted direc- �s .d been fire the and better calling on loca- ters. My dl mem- 3510 and $38,875 did not x envi- here at the J.P. IRVING olleae Station 1� �F� -rn� F,ag l AV 3.Igq'� CS mayor: WhY waste �%w It was Texas A &M's move to deny Col. I lege Station residents access to versity officepool that incited the r to run for I I'3' Ringer to experienc . Larry Ringer says he Would use another term as mayor to expand CS economic base By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer Ringer ran for city council on the plat. form that College Station needed its own parks and rec. reation system. And he won. That was in 1976 and Ringer was starting what would quickly become a second career. Almost two dec. ades later, the A &M professor is seeking re- election for mayor. His opponent, Patrick Siegert, said Ringer has served Candidate Profile College Station Mayor RINGER on the council too long. ■Today: Larry ( Inger Ringer disagrees. asomeone does a .Thursday: Petrick good why Sie 9 shouldn't they be able to contin Ringer, assistant department head ue ' o`'staa tistics at A & M. "There was a lot of dE bate talcs a more time than I is time. It would." thoug:it it Since 1976, Ringer said he has seen the council improve relations with the iF.uli. versity and the city of Bryan, build a lity amphitheater and combine economic de- velopment councils with Bryan. st "We've come a long way in term, of aff and the council working togethEr," Ringer said. "I have the experience E the knowledge to continue." nd With another term, Ringer said 7e would encourage high - tech" and "sE,r- vice" industries to move to College Sta- `ion. He would promote , lopment of the Wolf Pen C Creek , aa ar( (- -nd support a College Station library in that area. MAy 3, IUaq In order for businesses to grow in the Wolf Pen Creek area, Ringer said, the city I should lend a hand in infrastructure ments. costs — but not in the form of tax abate- He said a similar plan should be used to Promote the College Park. Station Business "I wish we could all sign a gentlemen's agreement that none of us would do it " said Ringer of tax abatements. "If w have to do it, I'm going to insist that we ?lace restrictions." Those restric include that the business maintain a certain number of wage, Ringer said. employes and pay more than minimum But the possibility of giving a tax abatement is not the only issue facing the city. Ringer said he's concerned that A &M will build its proposed hotel. conference center complex, depriving the city of another tax base. If the university builds the complex, see th Private investors will be more leery of the competition, Ringer said. "I hate to em [A and private investors] got�Y prwhe the com munity is ade. Ringer, 56, mov d to College Station in 1966. He and his wife, Jean, have three children. By 1983, he had served seven Years on. the co cil. He re- entered poll. tics when or and won the ma seat in 1986. He mpletin consecutive term g his fourth yor. Candidate �,uestions land deal By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer The city of College Station mistakenly bought the wrong tract of land in 1992 at a taxpayer expense of $112,500, but the land has since grown to almost five times its original value. Patrick Siegert, a College Station busi- nessman and contender in the mayor's race, brought the erroneous land pur- chase to the forefront of his campaign more than two weeks ago. He has pointed out several times over the last few weeks that city staffers in- tended to buy a 6 -acre tract of land in the Wolf Pen Creek area on the corner of Hol- leman Street and Dartmouth Drive. But instead the city bought a different 6 -acre piece of land on the same block. College Station Mayor Larry Ringer, is vying for a fifth term, said the er- j city staffers has actually benefited •ity because the land value has grown to $550,000. And the land could be the fu- ture site of a fire station, he said. The intended piece of land, owned by private investors now, sits between prop- erty that the city already owned before the erroneous purchase and the 6 -acre piece that the city bought. Staffers were instructed by the council to buy the land at a Resolution Trust Corp. auction, despite voters' disapproval in the Wolf Pen Creek Bond election. But rather than purchasing the land at Holleman and Dartmouth, staffers pur- chased land more than a tenth of a mile away. According to Siegert's campaign litera- ture: $112,500 of your tax dollars were spent to purchase park land that will never be used as a park. Today, that land also remains vacant and unused." Siegert, president and owner of Uni- versity Development Co., said this is an example of the city's inexperience in land ' Z. r� a W V c� O .2 a O YO F! } O b oo ° a� > U.Y. o I'DN Q. mgrs ya�a- n °° U > N w Y ;� y �"� V7 O OU `���.yO� v�i� u°'iaan `n >an�Y O Y s 0 . 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El U ■■ S ,crest Ddve, Bryan, Teo r, n, Cz U Cz 0 °3 Co E" ro i �•�L U y 0� Cz •o U _ Y E J a),��� to w� � � � `', w s rT '0 > M W 0 v >a 3 U Cz 0 a - p, o �� 0 Cq s. o ra m a� o {oC � ':SYai�mcUa�:s s,� 0r"4¢ as 0 s, > a) Y ° C U O ° `� .mUSPs -k = _ W CIS U > o x o to 0 � �� r. ,p LTD. Part. P. El U ■■ S ,crest Ddve, Bryan, Teo r, n, �7 C7 • I he p , v Engineer says goodbye to CS; Hello, Longview By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer College Station's city engineer re- signed Monday and is completing his last official day of work today. David Pullen, who has been the city's chief engineer for 11 years, gave the city of College Station his 30-day notice of res- ignation on Monday; he has several weeks vacation stored up. Pullen, 48, said he has accepted the same position with the city of Longview. Since joining the city staff in 1982, Pullen has managed the city's engineering divi- sion and supervised a staff of eight Cite Manager Ron Ragland said Thursday that the city had not yet ap- pointed an interim employee for the posi- tion. Of 1he city engineer position, Ragland said: "It's a very respectable position in most cities." Ragland said he was not at liberty to discus Pullen's performance, but that he had known of Pullen's plans of a possible resignation for the last three months. With development on the rise lin Col- lege ;nation, Pullen said he recognized the importance of his position in the coming years. But., Pullen said: "There are 'greater opportunities for growth in Longview for me. I'm leaving to take a position of greater potential." When asked if he and the city manager and assistant city manager, Tom Brymer, had encountered any conflict, Pullen an- swered: "Certainly, we've had conflict, but there was no conflict that we didn't resolve." A few seconds later, Pullen added: "To answer your question, no." " i7. lqql • r Parents air concerns about racial tensions amo 9 CS students By KELLI LEUEY Eagie staff writer Almost 20 parents calling themselves "not angry but concerned," told College Station school trustees Monday that they fear racial tensions are hurting the dis- trict's youth. Sterling Whitley Sr. said A &M Consol- idated High School administrators "kind of laid back" when they learned in March that a black student had been threatened. "A letter was put ' to one young man's locker at school by tie (Ku Klux] Klan," Whitley said. "It sa d he was going to be lynched and a picture described that also." Whitley and Wanda Allen, a parent in- volvement coordinator for the district, said two days passed before the student accused of leaving'the note was disci- plined. And Allen said more than one student was harassed. "I think if a chit 's life is threatened, no matter how minor it may be, people in the district need to take action on it and notify the parents of what's going on," Whitley said. Allen said the same student distributed similar paraphernalia after a Klan rally in College Station one year ago. No administrators from the high school were at Monday's meeting. Int rim Superintendent Dick Burnett said a white student was suspended for threE days and, after a hearing, he was expelled for the remainder of the school year. While the student was in junior high, Burnett said, he was also suspend- e fo three days for similar circumstan ces. Th board's executive committee has set a entative date of May 23 to meet with a mediator and members of the group. The parents who requested Monday's meet g were disappointed when told their discussions would not take place in a closed session. The Texas Open Meet- ings haw stipulates that only those people directly involved in a student or adminis- trative grievance may meet with the boar behind closed doors. Bo rd President Dan MacGilvray said beca se the meeting was not a hearing about a specific incident, he urged those at the table to "take that incident as a Please see PARENTS, page A2 Parents From Al symptom and acknowledge there's a problem." MacGilvray said the problem isn't new; Whitley and Larry Thompson, who both graduated from Consol about 20 years ago, agreed. Both asked why more minority teachers aren't hired, why black students are punished more har- shly than white students in simi- lar situations and wh the district doesn't help black students in danger of dropping out. Officials said the district has made strides in those areas. More than a year ago, 'two trustees met with a group of mi- norities and listed 42 of their con. cerns. Monday, Houston resident Efrain V. Martinez offered to act as a mediator between the group of parents and the board to try and help them ease concerns. Martinez, a regional conciliator for the U.S. Department of Jus- tice's community relations ser- vice, said he learned of the ten- sion in College Station through the Texas Education Agency. He said he has met with Mac - Gilvray, Burnett and several members of the parent group, and he has urged members of the group to draft a list of things they perceive as problems. "In essence, this is a work plan for all the parties involved," Mar- tinez said. "Then I suggest a monitoring committee meet one time a week or one time a month. This process would afford an op- portunity to try to resolve these issues." 1) `c � it 199y • • • F EA 0_)Z_1 Possible grade scale switch has some CS parents angry The switch for second - graders from numerical grades to "S," "N" and "U" is far from a OK, according to some concerned parents in College Station. School officials assured those par- ents Monday night that the switch was far from a done deal. Janet Asbill was the first of five par- ents who spoke on the topic, though others had requested to speak and de- cided against it when what they had to say had been addressed. "I want to motivate my kids to do i good and I want to motivate them to make A's and B's," Asbill said. "If I'm saying, `Try to make a satisfactory,' it just doesn't have the same effect." T.H. Kwa gave the board a letter in j which he and his wife — who have children at Rock Prairie Elementary School — said the new grading system would kill students' incentive, fail to prepare students for the', "real world" of middle school and afterward and "deal a death blow to an'already unfo- cused gifted and talented program" at the elementary level. i Kwa wrote that the proposed grad - ing system would count an 80- percen- tile grade the same as a 100 - percentile grade because both would register as "satisfactory" on the report cards. The trustees would have the final say in the decision to change the grades and John Rouse, the district's assistant superintendent for curricu- lum and instruction, assured the par- ents that the decision has not yet been made. Loan could `bus' in new CS company' By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer The College Station City Council may position the town as a co- signer for $500,000, enabling a relatively new com- pany to get off the ground and securely planted in College Station. North American Transit Inc., a bits manufacturing company, will approach the council in a specially - called meeting Thursday asking the city to sign a letter of guaranty for half a million dollars. Council members plan to consider the economic development incentive at dur- ing a 5:30 p.m. meeting in the College Sta- tion City Hall, 1101 S. Texas Ave. Earlier this year, both Bryan and Col- lege Station city councils each approved co- signing a loan for the new company in the amount of $250,000. The city of Bryan opted to not execute the agreement. So ow representatives of North American 'ransit need more of a commitment from the town the plan to be based in — Col- lege Station. Glenn Schroeder, director of finance in College Station, said the city will not ex- pend any funds for this deal. The city is merely lending its name and no debt will appear on the city's books, he said. However, the city would be obligated to "make good" on the loan if North Ameri- can Transit fails to pay the loan. The bus manufacturing company needs $2 million for research and de- velopment of its first bus. Once the proto- type bus is developed and tested, city officials said the loan will be paid. First American Bank is the local lender and has planned to cover the remaining $1.5 million. Schroeder said the bus company plans to clear the note in six months. But should it fail, Schroeder said, the city would pay the loan from the general and utility funds without increasing tax or utility rates. While some experts in economic de- velopment are calling this an almc;3t no -risk deal, College Station City Ma1a- ager Ron Ragland said there's no doubt it r� GU Bus From Al puts taxpayer dollars at a risk. "Is it cotrlrfortable? Probably not. Is it necessary? Probably so," said Ragland But Ragland said the city bene- fits in several ways. He said North American Transit would provide jobs i as well as diversify the city's economy. Under they deal, the company would has to commit to staying within the city limits and the Col- lege Station Independent School District for 10 years. "We are not loaning North American Transit any money," said Ragland. "We are not going to write a check." For Ragland, the current deal being suggested is less risky than the one proposed several weeks ago. He said the company had asked for 5 acres of land and a new building. While the city of College Station looks for ways to invite manufac- turing -type businesses, it still must consider its current busi- nesses. The city of Bryan recently rejected lending a local busi- nessman $500,000 for expansion of his company due to a variety of factors — one of them public con- cern that the city is in the busi. ness of lending money. Please see BUS, cage ii,7 Planner wants far - sighted twin cities By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer in i,;n asking for much — just that a couple thousand peo- ple come to her party on Saturday. The hostess said she'll provide the en- tertainment, the music and even a glim- pse of the future for all her guests. On one condition, though. The guests must bring an idea. An idea of where they'd like to see the Bryan. College Station community by the year 2020. Griffin, the executive director of Bra- zos 2020 Vision Inc., invites all residents to 2Ws kickoff celebration from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday at 3113 Texas Avenue, the former Wal -Mart building in Bryan. "This is ours. Nobody else has done this," said Griffin of the community's first visionary party. "2020 is an effort to get the entire community involved and think of where we can and should be by the year 2020." Brazos 2020 Vision Inc., founded in Oc- tober of 1993, is an umbrella organization formed by nine local entities committed Please see CITIES, page A7 C ities From Al to creating a common vision. The nine include Bryan - College Sta- tion Economic Development Corp., Texas A &M University, Brazos County, the cities of Bryan and E)ollege Sta tion, Brazos Y--aL ley Development Council, Bryan and College Station school dis- tricts and the chamber of com- lems, it's easier to get people in- volved," said Carver. "We don't have any major problems." Griffin, a former senior city planner for Bryan, said she hopes it stays that way. "My goal is to have an open door to citizens and let them know and understand how important their input is to this community," she said. "This is our way of reaching those peo- ple." Griffin said the joint partner- ship of the two cities is in no way a movement to merge the two. "My experience is that both cities merce. Along with other 2020 support- ers, Griffin wants residents to bring their input, concerns and future plans for the community to the party. Residents get a sneak preview into the future through films, slides and computer - generated images demonstrating what Bryan- College Station can be by the year 2020. Jackie Craver, special event co- ordinator fo_r_the kickoff, said six different vigne es, w such as infrastructure, education and environment, will be on view have taken the attitude that we're going to do whatever it takes to work," she said. "This is not a rival type deal. Our intent is not for anyone to merge or lose their identity." Following Saturday's celebra- tion, Brazos 2020 Vision Inc. will hold three community -wide • in the "time tunnel." Children can take a step back into the future through games and drawings. The tours, games and entertainment are free. Food will be sold. Craver said preparation for the party took about two weeks. Many of the props and services were donated by local businesses. It's unknown just how much the party will cost, but both Carver and Griffin hope residents will investment into the future. "When you have major prob- vision tforums or the public: Monday at the College Station Junior High cafeteria from 7 -9 p.m.; Tuesday at the Brazos Center from 7 -9 p.m.; and Sunday at Santa Teresa's Catholic Church from 2 -4 p.m. Follow -up forums will be scheduled in June and July. 7Ylt fi zo, iqy r� cs council takes By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer F North American Transit Inc. is rid- ing on a $500,000 bus it hasn't even built, but supporting it is the College Station City Council — in line to help buy the first bus pass. The council opted to ride the risks and co- signed on a $500,000 loan that will benefit the new bus manufacturing company. ^ , lr more than a year, North Ameri rransit Inc., a start-up company . ,,.aut any buses under its belt, has been pursuing the Bryan- College Sta- tion area to give it a chance. The council did that in a 5 -2 vote Thursday night. The letter of guaranty gives North American Transit Inc. money to build its first prototype of a compressed nat- ural gas fueled bus. For almost three hours, the council heard the benefits and risks facing the city from the deal. The deal comes through the Bryan- College Station Economic Development Corp. com- mitment to recruit businesses to the area. Because North American Transit Inc. has no collateral or assets, council members said they did feel a certain amount of discomfort but were willing to take the risks. But council members said the bene- fits outweigh the risks. Benefits to the F (�_, 4 a i- E f nancial dri er's c' y include: 75 new jobs, a $11, million p 'yroll, manufacturing jobs, $ 000 in yearly property t xes and $ 000 in school district taxes. wo former councilmen, J m Gard. n r and Dick Birdwell, asked the coun- t to vote down the proposition, be- t use of the risks and because the com- p tny has never produced a bus. Glenn Schroeder, financed rector of llege Station, said if the company f 'ils to pay the loan, the c' would c ver it through the general d utility finds. First American Bank i the local opponents expressed con ern that irth American Transit Inc. will be ck asking for more money. But esident of North American Transit c., Wayne Cook, said thal isn't so. iok said once the first bus is com- Aed and tested, the money will start lling in. Cook plans to begin production of the ises in September; each carry a 80,000 price tag. Under the agree - ent, his company must stay in College ation for 10 years, pay a guaranty fee 2 percent or $10,000 and each top )mpany official must take out a life ksurance policy of $500,000. Brazos Transit System, the local in -rurban transportation system that [so serves 13 counties, has ordered 100 ew buses from the company'. "We really want to be here," said ook. "We looked at the work force. We seat on bus firm looked at the background. It really feels good." Three residents voiced favor over the city's taking a strong role in economic incentives. As one resident said: "Anyone who accomplishes anything takes risks." Robert Worley, executive director of the Economic Development Corp., would have to agree. He told the city council to look at this deal as an "investment" and not an in- centive or giveaway. Worley reminded the council that the city needs a broader manufacturing base. City Manager Ron Ragland said he hopes the EDC will be able to fund these type of economic incentives one day. The city of College Station does contribute money to the EDC — about $150,000 a year, Worley said. Councilman Hub Kennady, who voted against the deal, said he favors economic development but not for start-up companies. Councilman Larry Mariott also voted against the motion. He said: "It scares me whenever the private sector doesn't fund it, especial- ly if it's such a good deal." Earlier this year, the cities of Bryan and College Station each approved co- signing for North American Transit Inc. in the amount of $250,000. The city of Bryan didn't go through on the deal after its citizens voiced opposition to a similar plan. atf / I f F inalist l inds CS exciting District's reputation pushed San Antonio administrator to apply for superintendent job By KELLI LEVEY Eagle staff writer David F. Splitek had never sought a superintendent's position, but he said th College Station school district's reputa tion prompted him to apply for the open ing here. "The whole environment of Colleg ition really appealed to me, Splite „ of three finalists for the job, said in news conference at the Plaza Club o Wednesday night before a dinner mee ing with the school board. "The idea ha always appealed to me, having a schoo district right near a university. The po sibilities are definitely exciting." Splitek, 46, said he has been impresse by the district's academic achievement its facilities and its board members. The other two superintendent finalist Terry Bishop and Jimmy Scales, wi meet with the board tonight and Satu day, respectively. The board hopes t select a superintendent next Wednesday Splitek said he has worked extensivel on some of the same issues the Colle Station district is facing — dealing equ tably with cultural and ethnic diffe ences, recovering drop -outs or studen near suspension and improving vo tional programs. Splitek is currently associate superi tendent for instructional services in t San Antonio school district, where abo 80 percent of its nearly 60,000 studen are minorities. "We stress that we need to really to at people and value those differences," , id. "We encourage respect of diversit 'And I'm in tatuch with a lot of oth ';hool districts, so I know our staff pro ably has more diversity than a lot school districts do. I think that goes F l ��g-LE_ long way in teaching th se things. If we say we're going to deal v - ith cultural and ethnic diversity, we real need to model that before we can teach t." And he said he agrees ith the San An- tonio school district's olicies to expel students who bring weapons to school and to consider suspending or expelling students who strike a teacher. "Any time kids bring weapons to school, we don't want them in our schools," he said. "In my mind you have to deal with that kind of thing very firmly. Splitek summed his philosophy on how open school districts should be with the public as "the more information the bet- ter." "I think that's the only way we're going to be able to look at problems honestly and find a solution," he said. "And it's important to not just release numbers and incidents, but why they're happen- ing and what impact they're having on the schools." • • N CS council considering analysis of city systems The College Station City Council is considering launch a massive study of the city's sewer, electrical; and water systems. The study is estimated to cost "somewhere in the six figures," offi- cials said. The council is expected to vote at 7 tonight in its regular meeting at City Hall. Jane Kee, a College S tion city planner, said the last con rehensive study and infrastructure plan was done in 1980 at a cost of $70,000. Kee said the proposed plan would also examine future use of the city's thoroughfares and land. Tonight, Kee said she hopes the council will give city staff the OK to start #egotiating with consultants. The council heard from several con- sultants at their Wednesday work- shop. Kee said the city needs to hire an outside consultant because the job is so comprehensive and time - consuming. "We've got the capabiliti s to do it in- house, but we don't have near the time with all the development [in Col- lege Station,]" Kee said. The council will not hold the sched- uled public hearing on park land pur chases for Wolf Pen Creek. Because the city failed to publish the public Baring notice within a required time, e item is delayed until the next until meeting. rn a� 2�),199� • �� 911 6" / Agency hoping to cleanup landfill image By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer For some, the idea of a landfill conjui up the picture of used tires and piles reeking refuse. And for nearby residents, a land, translates into low property values, tr fic congestion and contaminated land. Bill Angelo, executive director of B zos Valley Solid Waste Manageme Agency, said those images are not nec irily true. Angelo said he and a team of cons nts plan to clean up the image of lai fills, especially since BVSWMA plans pick a site for its future 600 -acre landl right here in Bryan- College Station. "Most people think of landfills dumps — the old concept of dumps," sE Angelo. "And they've come a long w from there." The agency, a joint venture of both c ies, plans to use $254,000 for consulti fees, site selection and public educatic Design and permitting costs of the p; posed landfill would cost about $750,0 Funding would com through the agency's budget. Tonight, Angelo will seek the approval of the College Station City Council for the venture. Both Bryan an College Station would use the landfill. VSWMA would bill the cities and othe users for using the landfill. The College Station C' y Council meets at 7 p.m. in City Hall,110 S. Texas Ave. Angelo said the cities need a new site because the current landfill on Rock Prairie Road will be at 100 percent capa- city in five .years. Angelo said whatever consulting firm they choose to use, it wi4 be important to get feedback from resid ts. He said a cit- izens advisory committee would be formed and they'll be responsible for list- ing what criteria a landfill should meet. Those citizens would come from all over Brazos County, since i would be a re- gional landfill. The study will show here to put the landfill, said Angelo, nd how to use Bryan's Pleasant Hill 1 ndfill and its 80 acres to the maximum. Mark Smith, director of public services in College Station, said no definite loca- tion had been determined for the future landfill. Smith agreed with Angelo in that pub- lic education is vital for the project. "Site selection is a very sensitive thing, because you're responsible to the public for the decisions you make," said Smith. "We want to get some input. We want to minimize that fear. "Part of the process is educating the community that we do need a landfill." Without a new landfill, both cities would need to depend on a remote land- fill, such as the Conroe landfill. That, said Smith, brings a waste disposal rate increase to residents. Angelo predicts the new landfill will be complete in five to seven years. BVSWMA is a cooperative effort of the two cities to provide for disposal ser- vices. The issue will not go before the Bryan City Council because College Sta- tion employees operate the joint landfill. L x'1'1 a Zje,19�' 4 G Retreat offers opportunity to meet Bryan City Council • • Want to know more about your Bryan council members? The Bryan City Council will hold a orientation retreat fob new members on Friday and Saturday; the entire council will be presen The council plans to welcome its t o new members and outline upcomi g issues facing the city of Bryan. The retreat is open to the public. On Friday, the cou will meet in Room 300 of the Bryan Municipal Building, 300 S. Texas Ave. Council members will learn ore about each other through person 'ty profile sur- veys. Later, they'll hear what legal obligations a counci member must adhere to. They'll meet Saturd iy from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Council members will meet in the basement training room of the Bryan Municipal Building. Upcoming issues and council concerns will be addressed in the morning. After lunch, the council will discuss economic de- velopment incentives and the city's role in such ventures. 27 IY�� 7 F EACr� Council's proposed use of hotel tax funds questioned By YVONNE Eagle staff r� can be used for." The College Stab City Council hadn't planned on d ussing land pur- chases for the Wolf en Creek area Thursday night, but president of the local hotel -motel association had some- thing to say anyway. Ron Fulton, preside #t of the associa- tion, told the council t4ey could not use $189,000 from the city' hotel -motel fund to purchase park land in Wolf Pen Creek. He presented each council member with a copy of the Te 71 H otel Occupancy "I think you nee to be very clear on how you re spending this money. The te specifi- cally states what money RON FULTON Hotel association president Tax law, which states ".'..municipal ho- tel occupancy tax may be used to promote tourism and the convention and hotel in- dustry. ." "Land for Wolf Pen eek park land does not fall under the Fulton told the council. "I think yo need to be very clear on how you're spen ing this money. The law specifically E tates what the money can be used for." The city of College I tation has pro- posed buying 18 lots near the Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater to use the land as a parkin lot. The public hearing for the is- sue, w . ch was scheduled for Thursday night, as pulled from the council's agenda :)ecause the city failed to publish the item within a required amount of time. The c uncil thanked Fulton, remind- ing him that the public hearing was re- schedul d for June 9. In oth r business, the city council ap- pointed ouncilwoman Lynn McIlhaney to serve as Mayor Pro Tem. Mcllhaney replaces former Mayor Pro Tem Fred Brown, ho stepped down a year early from his position. . And the city of College Station should have a omplete study of sewer, water and elec ical services within 18 months. The co cil will pay a consulting firm a six -figur salary to study the city's infra - structur and master land use plan. The exact sal wy hasn't been finalized. A dill rent study not funded directly by the ci , estimated at $254,000, will get on its w y with the Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency. The council gave the agency approval to begin site selection of a new landfill. Both cities use the curre it landfill on Rock Prairie Road. Fundi for the site selection, study and pla ning will come from the agency's udget; both cities pay user fees to the lan Ifill. And some mobile and cellular car phone us ers should reap some benefit from Thirsday night's meeting. The council approved allowing several tele- communi tion companies to expand services by building additional towers, enabling companies to increase services and better serve the needs of customers. The council passed the ordinance with some restrictions. • r By KELLI LEVEY Eagle staff writer J�' ' )Gy J`- � 1 J ollege Station school trustees plan to j n e a new superintendent Wednesday ni t. ut first they are visiting the home dis- CS truste tri t of at least one and possibly all three of their top choices. The visits were Mc nday and today. D uring the visits, trustees talked to ■ wrapping up school officials and community leaders ab ut the applicants. W ednesday's meeting will begin at 6:30 t o pl p p the administration building bo ro d room, 1812 Welsh Ave. Call 764 -5400 for ' ormation. e trustees narrowed the list of appli- a new l c s to three and conducted final inter - vie s after dinner meetings last Wed- nesday, Thursday and Saturday. D vid Splitek, associate superinten- dent for instructional services in the San School officials pay visits Antonio school district, came on Wed - to districts of candidat nesday. Terry Bishop, interim superin- tendent in Austin, came on Thursday. before making final ch ice g Jimmy Scales, an area superintendent in Tulsa, Okla., came on Saturday. The first two meetings were at the Plaza Club in Bryan and the third was at Ferreri's Italian Cuisine in College Sta- tion Bishop, 51, has 29 years experience in education. He was program director and t n Town &Te as associate superintendent in Austin be- fore becoming interim superintendent. He and his wife, Barbara, have 22- and Late registration dates 25- year -old sons who attend Abilene Christian College. set for students i CS He received his bachelor's of secondary education and master's of education from Abilene Christian University and a doc- Late registration for summer school torate of philosophy in educational ad- in College Station is under way this ministration from the University of week. Texas at Austin. Parents of students in grades pre- kindergarten through the fourth grade Scales has 28 years experience in edu- can register their children beginning catiOrL. He began teaching in Okmu l Okla. in 1966 and was interim su at 9 a.m. today at Southwood Valley Elementary School, 2700 Brothers perinm - tende t in the Oklahoma City schools Blvd. and a high school principal in Tulsa pub- Elementary registration is 9 a.m. to lic scl ools before being named to his cur - rent p Daition. noon through Friday. For more infor. mation, call 764 -5488 during the morn- He 4md his wife, Cynthia, have a fifth - ing hours. grade n named Jimmy Jr. Late registration for the junior high Sc s received his bachelor's of program, which includes wades 5 -8, scienc and master's of science from East begins Friday and continues through Central Oklahoma in Ada, Okla.; his ad- Monday at College Station Junior ministaative certification from Okla - High School, 900 Rock Prairie Road. homa Vniversity at Norman; and his doc- Registration hours are 9 a.m. to noon. torate from Tulsa University at Tulsa. For more information, call 7645545. Split k, 46, has 22 years experience in Registration for the first session of public education and has classroom ex- the high school program, which in- perien a in Albuquerque, N.M. and in El cludes grades 9 to 12, is from 8 a.m. to 1 Paso. ' a was principal in the Comal P.M. today through Friday at A &M school district and he moved in 1981 to 'Consolidated High School, 701 W. FM the Sai Antonio school district. He be- 2818. came Issociate superintendent for in- For more information, cal" 7645500, structi nal services in 1988. Classes start Monday fcr all pro- He a id his wife, Janet, have a 14 -year- grams. The elementary aad junior old soi 1, Jeremy, and 10- year -old twin high programs end July 1 and the first sons Adam and Steven. session of the high schoo:. program He received his bachelor of science de- ends June 28. gree from the University of Wisconsin The second high school session is at Madison. He received his master of edu- scheduled to start June 29. cation degree and doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. A�s 1 • �S council draws more fire overland purchase Mayor Larry Ringer found himself in a verbal boxing match Thursday night when the College Station City Council approved a land purchase that they be- lieve will promote tourism for the city. The dilemma wasn't over the councils unanimous decision to support Texas A&M's special events center, but rather the purchase of land in Wolf Pen Creek. Ringer faced off with Ron Fulton, president of the hotel -motel tax associa- tion, in a public hearing that gave resi- dents the opportunity to speak on the city amending its budget by $189,000 to buy 3.3 acres along Colgate Avenue in the Wolf Pen Creek area. The money would come from the hotel -motel fund. A handful of citizens attended the meeting. The additional land would allow the city to build a parking lot for the Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater. City leaders say this purchase fits into Phase One of developing the Wolf Pen Creek Corridor. Fulton, who has approached the coun- cil and Ringer about this issue before, told the council not only was the public -hearing illegal but the council's decision to use those funds were inappropriate. "The statute," said Fulton referring to the state's laws on use of the tax, "states this hearing must be published in three newspapers. You published it in one paper. This public meeting is in violation of this law." City officials said they acted within the law. Fulton said that the statute stipulates that funds could be used for a convention center but doesn't mention an amphith- eater. Ringer and Fulton bantered back and forth over the definition of "tourist" and whether construction of a parking would boost tourism. "I'd like to see some proof that the am- phitheater draws tourism," said Fulton. This was after Ringer had said earlier: We believe (buying more land) will, be- cause the amphitheater does attract tou- rists and people outside the city." — Fuilfon tfien qu�ioned the mayor's de- finition of a tourist. Pointing to the sta- tute, Ringer said that a tourist is someone who leaves his residence and visits an- other city, Fulton argued that a tourist is someone who stays overnight in another city. Ringer asked Fulton if he had ever visited the amphitheater. Fulton, a Bryan resident, answered "yes," adding that he was not opposed to the construction, just the funds support- ing it. "Does the city not have other places to take the money ?" asked Fulton. "Certainly," said Ringer. Fulton then asked: "Well then, why don't you take it from there ?" "Because we think this is appropriate use of these funds," Ringer answered. An assistant city attorney for the city said the land purchase and use of hotel - motel funds is entirely legal. Attorney Mary-Margaret Sexton said the statute states the city may use those funds to acquire, improve or maintain facilities. The city is expected to close on the land deal as soon as possible. Ringer would not rule out any future purchases of land in the Wolf Pen Creek area. He said if the city of College Station can buy land at a reasonable price it will. During Thursday's meeting, the Col- lege Station City Council also threw sup- port behind A&M's $3o million special events center. The resolution, which passed unani- mously, would not commit the city to do- nating funds or any other services, said Ringer. By YVONNE SALCE A &M events center resolution passes unanimously Eagle staff writer L Consol earns ni entor status By KELLI LEVEY to ming, block scheduling and profes- Eagle staff writer si�nal development project with Texas A k,M A &M Consolidated High School was among 22 state high schools chosen by the Texas High School Network as men- tor schools. The newly - selected schools, along with the existing 18 campuses, will be in- volved in restructuring efforts at high schools and direct systemic change at all levels. Principals will attend staff de- velopment and planning sessions to co- ordinate activities for other schools in the network. "This is basically recognition for what we're doing and it obligates us to share what we're doing with other schools," said John Rouse, the district's assistant superintendent for curriculum and in- struction. "Of course we would anyway, but this puts us on a list and the agency will give it to anyone who asks for model schools and programs." Rouse predicted that administrators from other school districts would be in- terested in observing Consol's academic lections were based on applications schools submitted to demonstrate r commitment to state policy recom- .dations on high school education, r experience in staff development and r successfhl implementation of inno- ve strategies. ie high school network, established year, is similar to existing networks the state's elementary and middle The network was one of the recom- endations in "One Students at a Time," a report the State Board of Education's Task Force on High School Education i two candidates College Station voters will select a new Polls will be open 7 a.m. school trustee today. The following is a list of pi Chris Kling and Larry Johnson, both precinct number and local lifelong College Station residents, ■Precincts 2, 29, 62, 64,1 received more votes on May 7 for Posi- Community Center. tion 1 than the other two candidates for ■Precinct 8: South Kni the three -year term. 1220 Boswell St. But neither one received the one vote ■Precincts 9, 20, 21, 61: more than 50 percent required to be de- Conference Center, 1300 G clared the winner. Kling received 1,125 ■Precinct 10: College', votes (48.89 percent); Johnson received pal Courtroom, 2611 S. Tea 559 votes (22.49 percent). ■Precinct 24: College Incumbent Sherman Click initially tary,1101 Williams St. filed for re- election to the seat, but with- ■Precincts 28, 59, 83: H drew early in the race. eran Church, 1200 Foxf ire During the past two weeks, 414 people ■Precinct 31: A &M Col cast early votes in person and by mail. School, 700 W. FM 2818 District officials will canvass the elec- EPrecinct 32: College tion results and swear in the new board Baptist Church, 2300 Wels member at 4 p.m. Monday in the adminis- ■Precincts 33, 35: Lind tration building, 1812 Welsh Ave. Eleanor St. The task force's policy statement said e traditional high school is no longer efficient and that, in many instances, .gh schools will have to redesign their trriculum and organization. During at process, mentor schools and the �twork can play a crucial role. battle it out today .o 7 p.m. today. ■Precinct 34: College Station City Hall, fling places by 1101 Texas Ave. on: ■Precinct 39: Rock Prairie Elemen- 9, 82: Wellborn tary, 3400 Welsh Ave. ■Precincts 40, 58, 71, 73: Aldersgate 11 Elementary, Methodist Church, 6501 Texas 6 Kling, 42, is a partner in the law firm of ,ollege Station Thornton, Payne, Watson and Kling, P.C. orge Bush Dr. He was treasurer of board President Dan Cation Munici- MacGilvray's re- election campaign last is Ave. year. Hills Elemen- Kling grew up in College Station and later graduated from Texas A &M and ply Cross Luth- Baylor Law School. He and his wife, fir. Janet, have two sons in College Station solidated High schools, Justin and Travis. Johnson, 37, is a sergeant with the Col - Station First lege Station Police Department. He and i Ave. his wife, Mary, have four children: In Center, 1300 Yvonne, 18, Landon, 13, Nickolas, 12 and Larhesa, 8. I* Tai proposal outrages cm tizens By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer If Tuesday night's council meeting was any indication of public opinion, the Bryan City Council will have to take a long look before raising property taxes. Residents attending the regular meeting asked the council not to raise taxes, but rather find ways to cut spending. As one Bryan resident put it: "I'm against that," she said of the three - percent increase. "Not only is it inappro- priate at this time, but it's inappropriate at any time. We should go over the budget and try to live within our means." In fact, she suggested to the council members that they lower the current property tax rate of 60.92 cents per $100 property value. City staffers are asking the Bryan City Council to consider a three- percent increase in property taxes, raising the figure to 62.75 cents per $100 value. If the proposed tax rate is approved, it - - would mean paying an addit Tonal $15 an, an $80,000 home. Bryan residents say that may not seem like a lot, but compare the city of Bryan's property tax rate with College Station's. College Station now has a property tax rate of 44.50 cents per $100 property value. As one Bryan woman pointed out to the Bryan City Council: "Our tax rate is a lot higher than College Station's. The taxes seem to never cease in Bryan." The council has set a public hearing on the proposed tax rate increase for Aug. 24. Rudy Schultz, a former Bryan city councilman, also approached the council asking them not to raise property taxes. "We have enough money in that budget to do what we need to do without raising Tax From Al able for public review in the city secre- tary's office and at the Bryan Public Library's main branch. The proposed budget shows a general fund of $21 million, an increase from last Please see TAX, page Ai Ti4E EA&Le taxes," Schultz said. Earlier in a council workshop meeting, Bryan Director of Support Services Mary Kaye Moore reviewed the proposed 1994 -95 annual budget with the council and listed some of the upcoming expendi- tures. A copy of the proposed budget is avail- B-ID -9q- year's $18 million general fund. According to Moore, the increase is because of the fol- lowing: ■Almost $1 million in addi- tional salaries, increased benefits and merit increases. New city positions include three police officers, a youth-at -risk coordi- nator, municipal court judge and one city attorney. ■Road and street improve- ments as well as road equipment, all costing about $450,000. ■About $400,000 in other ser- vice charges, such as funding for the Main Street Program and the Bryan- College Station Economic Development Corp. ■About $60,000 for replacing vehicles in the Bryan Police Department. Other expenses ' nclude park improvements, - ire station and replacemen 12- year -old accounting system, ivtoore said. The city yams renovating- the - P alace Theatre (shown here) in down Bryan but members of the Bryan Main Street task force contend the city's renovation eff orts violate its own ordinance. Fourth of j f e t e 1 Controversy over tickets clouds fireworks display By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer Fireworks shot out from the city of Col- lege Station on the Fourth of July. Some of them from a city- sponsored fireworks extravaganza, and others from angry res- idents left without tickets for the free event. People arriving without tickets for the Independence Day, celebration at the Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater were •eeted by signs reading: "Wolf Pen Creek Event Sold Out." The event, sponsored by the College Station Parks & Recreation Department and the College Station Noon Lions Club, accommodated about 6,000 ticket - carrying fireworks seekers. Everyone +� else was turned away or asked to sit out- side the amphitheater's gate. An estimated 20,000 people were ex- pected to view the 23- minute fireworks display. Nearby, some sat outside their homes and others in the Post Oak Mall parkinglot. College Station resident J.P. Irving chose none of the above. He said he tried to get tickets for the event early in the week and was told it was sold out. Entrance to the Fourth of July party meant getting a ticket from a Lions Club member, the parks department, KBTX -TV, The Press or several local radio stations. Irving said he was angry because his tax dollars went to build the amphith- eater and now he can't even attend a free event at the complex. "This is Independence Day," said Irv- ing. "And it's for all the people, not just for [former College Station Mayor Pro 'm] Fred Brown and his crew. How any people at the Lincoln Center have tickets? And no tickets were made avail able to those people at retirement homes." Mike Bolton, Lions Club chairman for the event, said a limited number of tick- ets was made available because the am. t=4� g ............ AY From Al "We're always impressed with the turnout." He said the sp it of cooperation with the city as always been great. This year, th city's parks de- partment waive the fee for use of the amphithea r, said Bolton. And the Coll a Station City Council agreed o pick up the tab for police and firefighter assis- tance, he said. They have quite a few people working tonight that wouldn't normally be working," said Bol- ton. Many of the Lions Club 141 members were on hand to help work at the event. Food vendors sold refreshments to those lucky people inside the Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater. Entertainment preceded the fire- works display. College Station resident Albert Morales was one of those specta- tors inside the complex. He and his family parked a blanket on a hill and prepared for the show. "Instead of being in the air - condition," he said, "we came out here for fresh air and to see the fireworks." Eagle photo/ Michael Mulvey The fireworks display at Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater reflects off the creek's water Monday night. The dis- play was sponsored by the Colle e Station Parks and Recreation Dept. and the CS Noon Lions Club. , phitheater can accommodate. only so hosting the event at Texas A &M's Olzq�r many. Field and city parks. Last year, Bolton said, 13,000 people en- "This is probably the most ambitious tered the gates of the complex. This was undertaking in 34 years," said Bolton. the second fireworks display held at the amphitheater. In previous years, the Please see SKY, page A6 Lions Club has joined with the city in ak_�_ 'e4 1- 13 -9a A &M leaders confident about new arena Officials expect Texas Higher +cation Coordinating Board �.pprove special events center By MELINDA RICE Eagle staff writer Texas A &M University and System officials expect the Texas Higher Edu- cation Coordinating Board to approve plans for A &M's proposed special events center during two days of meetings this week in Austin. "I think it will be approved on Fri- day, "said Wesley Peel, vice chancellor for facilities planning and construction for the Texas A &M University System. The Board's committee on campus planning meets Thursday, and Peel will be one of four A &M or System officials at the meeting to answer questions about the proposed $33.4 million center. If the committee approves plans for the center, the full Board will vote on it Fri- day. "If the committee approves it, the Board will approve it," Peel said Tues- day. This week's meeting is the final part of a three -step approval prom ss. All new construction on state-supported uni- versity campuses has to be approved by the Board. This plan was first presented to the Board in late April, and Board members made a site visit in mid-June. The Texas A &M University System Board of Regents passed a resolution at its May 25 meeting supporting construc- tion of the center, and the City of College Station passed a similar resolution at its June 9 meeting. "It will be a great benef.t to the uni- versity and to the community," said Col- lege Station Mayor Larry R' ager. The proposed center would seat up to 12,500 people — the largest such facility in the Brazos Valley area. University and city officials said they hope to attract concerts and events, such as the Ice Ca- pades, to the area with such an arena. "It will bring people to shop in our stores, eat in our restauran s and stay in our hotels and motels," Ringer said. Arena From Al for the outer skin of the area. In- stead of pre -cast panels, it will be made of a lighter, metal panel. "That saves a bundle of money right there," said Peel. No state funds are allotted to pay for the project, which will be funded with donations and stu- dent fees. If the Board rejects the project this time, Peel said it would be a blow to the community and the university. "We'd have to come back and lick ou If al cials plans t Regen The the de drews which begin proba' to20n Acc A &M Inter Finar Jerry wounds," he said. proved by the Board, offi- rill present the proposed the A &M System Board of s at its meeting July 21.22. )lans would then go back to sign firm — Lockwood, An and Newnan of Houston — would redesign, imple- ig the cost - cutting changes. ;truction probably would in May 1995 and the center ►ly would be completed 18 ;onths after that, Peel said. )mpanying Peel will be President Ray Bowen, in Vice President for ce and Administration Gaston and Assistant Vice ellor for Facilities Plan- ning and Construction Tim Do- nathen. This week's effort is not the first at- tempt to get plans for a special events center on the A &M campus approved. The Board rejected a proposed $40 mil- lion center in October 1991. Despite the fact that no state funds were slated for the project, Board members said at the time that it was an inappropriate expenditure when so many universities were tighten- ing their belts. A &M officials re- tooled the plan and further reduced the projected cost of the center. The first proposal, which was drawn up in 1984, called for a $47 million center. "They want us to be prepared to show what is the difference," Peel said. To slash the cost but retain a 25,000 square -foot arena, officials decided to eliminate several meeting rooms from the plan and reduce the size of the food services facilities. A lot of the food sold there will be brought in, though some food preparation facilities were retained. Other changes include changing plans Please see ARENA, page A7 Z 7- q4 i4 C 0 Group wants to ncover history of Northgate Did your family own a usiness or a home in Northgate? Or o you know any individuals with me ories of the early Northgate area? If so, the College Sta ion Historic Preservation Committee hand the Con- ference Center Advisory Committee would like you to join them for coffee and an oral history project. Interested individuals a invited to attend or participate in the history project called "Memory Lanes" from 9:30 a.m. until noon on Wednesday at the College Station Conference Center. The committees are loo ing for peo- ple with memories, photo , documents and memorabilia of the N rthgate area from the 1920s to the 1950s. Memory Lanes will be a collection of memories from several categories not just the Northgate area. Individuals willing to share their remembrances of early Northgate or who are interested in attending the presentation should contact Gracie Calbert at 764 -3720 by Monday. There is no charge to attend Wednesday's presentation. 'R1E E�SIE Bryan Council stews er foundation b By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer Bryan might see the demise of the Bryan Development Foundation, but council members could bring it back dis- guised under a new name. Talks of re- naming and restructuring the foundation took 30 minutes of the Bryan City Council's workshop meeting Tuesday night, but the issue could have monopolized the evening had time al- lowed. Changing the name of the group won't be a problem for members of the Bryan Development Foundation, said Bryan City Councilwoman Kandy Rose, who chaired a committee between the city and the foundation. Rose said re- naming the BDF could smooth relations with College Station city leaders, who say the group should have dissolved when the Bryan- College Station Economic Development Corp. was formed. "They see no problem with Bryan con- tinuing to have a group that solicits new retail for the City of Bryan," Rose said of an earlier meeting with h Coll ge Station M Larry leaders. The Bryan Development Foundation, formed in the early 1980s, has been criticized by College Station and some members of the Bryan - College Station Economic Development Corp. "That's because when the two cities Please COUNCIL, page A7 From page on¢ Council From Al Fairfield Inn to Bryan. The group is currently working on another hotel venture. B mane College Station city councilman said he's appointed that the City of Bryan has continued the use of the Bryan Development Foundation. agreed to form the EDC, there was "The existence of this founda- an informal understanding to dis- solve the separate entities," Rose tion does nothing but undermine the economic development cor- said. ad an poration," said College Station At the time, each city h economic development group. City Councilman Hub Kennady in an earlier interview. "This type of Bryan kept the BDF and city committee is a step back rather officials defend the foundation. than a step forward for the cities." They say it's direly needed to in- The purpose of the EDC, said crease the city's retail and motel Kennady, was to have a joint col - business. They argue that BDF laboration in economic de- does not conflict with the EDC be- velopment between Bryan and cause the development founda- College Station. tion focuses only on retail busi- The Bryan- College Station Eco- ness. nomic Development Corp., The Bryan Development Foun dation has brought a Blinn Col- formed in 1989, is a cooperative lege consolidated campus and the venture and funded by local enti- ties. It's purpose is to recruit new lishments, educational institu- businesses, mostly manufactur- tions and housing. The EDC's wish list includes ing, to the area. Both cities contribute $140,000 manufacturing plants, distribu- eac yYi eat' to the corporat &---tion om serv l tourist attractions, ice year, BDF received about $20,000 businesses, nonprofit entities, from the City of Bryan. consulting firms and educational Kennady suggested allowing the Bryan- College Station Chain- institutions. For Tim Bryan, president of the ber of Commerce to handle Bryan Development Foundation, Bryan's need for retail business. the EDC's list seems to be getting But Bryan Mayor Pro Tem longer and longer. Lonnie Stabler questions whether "The EDC needs to more nar- that idea is viable. If the cham- rowly define what they're sup - ber's role is helping existing posed to be up to," Bryan told the businesses, and the EDC is con- centrating on industrial business, council. Later, Bryan added: "I don't "Who is out there trying to bring think the City of Bryan is going to in retail ?" he asked. "I don't see a be well served by letting the EDC conflict with BDF going out and do everything." recruiting those businesses." Robert Worley, executive direc- The development foundation's for of the Bryan - College Station Development Corp., wish list includes recruiting such businesses as retail stores, hotels Economic could not be reached for comment and motels, entertainment estab. Tuesday. Bryar Bryan council to plug in law firm By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer The Bryan City Council plans to pursue its lawsuit against College Station by officially retaining outside attorneys to pull the plug on a 16 -year electric con- tract. In July, the Bryan City Council opted to file a lawsuit against its sister city because College Station city leaders delayed making arrangements to re- negotiate the contract. -- The electric contract, approved by both cities in 1980, calls on Bryan to hand over its utility lines and customers to College Station as College Station expands and annexes land. The agreement is set to expire in 1996. But Bryan officials found it violated the city charter, which only allows the city to enter into 10 -year contracts. Tonight, the Bryan City Council may adopt a resolution that officially puts an out -of -town law firm on the payroll. It was not known on Monday just how much Bryan plans to pay the Austin firm, which Bryan city leaders say specializes in this type of litigation. The council also has hired local attorney Billy Payne. While Bryan does receive a fair market price in exchange for its utility lines, some Bryan officials have said the con- tract has meant electric rate increases and a diminishing customer base for Bryan Utilities. Meanwhile, the College Station City Council also has hired outside counsel T P E E1+�-CE 4W_5US7_ q lqq4 EM Please see BRYAN, page A7 From Al '11% for the lawsuit. College Station Mayor Larry Ringer said the city's legal staff has consulted with other attor- neys. Ringer said he did not know what the outside counsel would cost the city of College Station, but said the budget allows for consultants. Yet Ringer stressed: "The problem can be worked out between the two cities without going to a court setting." While Ringer and Bryan Mayor Marvin Tate both have said they hope the two cities won't take the situation to court, city leaders on both sides are standing firm. College Station city leaders have said since both parties have continued to operate under the contract, the contract is valid. And on Monday, Ringer said: "But we're willing to discuss modificatio 7 -- But city officials in Bryan firmly point to a provision in the electric agreement — a provision that respects the laws of both city charters. It states if the court finds the agreement to be in con- flict with either city charter, the agreement will be modified to follow the city charter. The city of Bryan has filed a lawsuit asking for a declaratory judgment and status of legal rights. Through this procedure, the city hopes a judge will rule the agreement void. In May, Bryan voters amended the city charter allowing for con- tracts up to 25 years. Bryan offi- cials contend that the new amendment does not affect the 31ectric contract because the con tract was signed in 1980. The College Station City Council has put the lawsuit issue on its agenda fa "ursday's closed session meet TO G EA& 940 lDwq4+ Task force fighting to stop renovations to Palace Theatre By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer A citizens' committee wants the Bryan City Council to close the cur- tains on renovations being made to the Palace Theatre. About half a dozen members of the Bryan Main Street task force paid a visit to the Bryan City Council on Tuesday night asking council members to stop any Palace Theatre renovations that do not comply with the city's His toric overlay ordinance. Members of the task force are con- cerned because they say the city has Please see RENOVATIONS, page A7 Renovations From Al failed to follow its own ordinance in renovating the 1920 building. In essence, the group told the council that modifications and renovations do not fall within a city ordinance to keep the area as a historic district. Py not following the ordinance, the city "sets a precedence that people can do whatever they want to do in dow Bryan," said eol� n wwlaamson, a task force member. Williamson said the textures and materials now being used to renovate the Palace Theatre do not comply with those prescribed by the Historic Landmark Com- mission. But acting Bryan City Manager John James said plans for the Palace Theatre were in place four months before the ordinance was ever written. At this point, James said, the city will go ahead with plans on the Palace Theatre. But Bryan Historic Landmark Commission Chairwoman Nancy Volkman said she had hoped the council would review the com- mission's suggestions. Volkman said city staff came to the commission with design plans and materials, and the commis- sion denied the plan because it failed to comply with the ordi- nance. "That ordinance was in place a ?ood six months before the , ilding permit was issued," � nan said. ���truction of the Palace The- atre isn't the only thing under fire. One Bryan resident opposes the city spending $360,000 to ren- ovate the theatre. Ruble Langston, board chairman of Hanover Trailers in Bryan, bought air time on a local radio station asking residents to oppose the expenditure and any tax increases. Langston said the Palace The- atre will not create any jobs. In his radio commercial, he also said the city of Bryan should not spend $2.1 million to acquire land for Blinn College. Earner this the city council approved buying 73 acres of land near the corner of Villa Maria Road and 29th Street for a consolidated Blinn campus. The council also approved con- structing a 100,000 - square -foot building for the campus. But Tuesday night, the city council decided to postpone any funding decisions that deal with Blinn College and the Palace The- atre. Mary Kaye Moore, director of support services for Bryan, said funding for those two projects won't come from the city's gen- eral fund, as Langston expected. Moore said the Blinn College economic development project will eventually be funded through the city's oil and gas revenues. As for the Palace Theatre, Moore said, the city plans to use hotel /motel funds. Once the Palace Theatre is completed, it will feature musical and theatrical performances. The outdoor theater is expected to seat 400 people. Bryan city leaders say the theater will pt more people to downto% . State audits roast food services Two reports criticize find," said Lloyd Smith, who was reas- signed with no'notice last fall. from Sept. 1, 1992 through April 30, 1994, the auditors reported: op b o a� � s U .2 o c� � ' U � Former Chancellor William Mobley ■assets for fiscal year 1993 could not Texas A &M department •� c13 > cCS a) '� O s. ato� OUTS O.�U Ua) requested the state audit this spring fol- be accurately determined and the did O x c� o " r(no lowing the much publicized shake -up in amount reported as cost of goods sold .� 3 a� � food services management. not include overhead costs; By MELINDA RICE In a review of management controls ■the department's accounting system Eagle staff writer from Sept. 1, 1992 to Aug. 31, 1992, state does not provide complete and accurate auditors concluded: information, and; Texas A &M's food services department because ■the department lacks comprehensive organizational goals and a goal- setting ■a material weakness exists in the department's overall internal and control jeopardizes $2.1 million in food of inadequate inventory controls, process, and has no way of measuring structure, meaning that an error or irregularity could go undetected for a according to a state audit. Auditors detailed seven problem areas whether it is functioning successfully; ■data to support key decisions such as long time. within A &M's food services department meal pricing, expansion of operations, "It's certainly common to find control deficiencies —just not to such a magni- in two long- awaited audit reports and equipment purchases are not com- analyzed to address factors such tude," said Smock. "And we do not often released on Wednesday. - - - "The first thing they need to do is pletely as profitability and usage; find material weaknesses in agencies." She did not know how A &M's ensure they have controls in place. That's ■ physical and procedural controls over the department's inventory are not • said she food services department compared with the key factor," said audit manager adequate to safeguard against theft, those of other universities because the Cathy Smock. However, the former director of food damage, loss or waste, and; state does not routinely audit those services disagreed with the auditors' findings and said he was surprised by the ■hazards identified by safety and health inspections are not addressed in a departments. Smith said A &M's food services timely manner. department probably was better run than reports. "I didn't expect any thing except the In a review of the department's busi- please see AUDITS, page A7 piddley little things auditors always ness practices and inanci Lr �� J OC �n c� U a�i a�cn �`y v�cn CZ 0 Ei =ate .d �, CZ 0 �� .°� CZ r Oa x� vi°�0, �a�icd C a) 3 y y ` ca c Q) E, U >. C6 O x s. TJ 'a CZ 3 '�� •�'�,� o � °A-�03nt co o a' 0 .9 .� 2 ' , ca n a 2 cZ v rn 3 a7 (n r. - O y 0 0 a) a a a' ^a a a) � a> a C a> 0 C1 0 1 c W oo� 3 STS ao n 'f11s EA&1:� s -I (OF q4 � ` 5 2a goy 3 xa 0;E; op b o a� � s U .2 o c� � ' U � cti y c1 w U •� c13 > cCS a) '� O s. ato� OUTS O.�U Ua) a� O �OO�U� O W .� O,iZ O x c� o " r(no g'ooWW 0.0 C ' , o ,, 0 �s O� v� ai � � 0 It .� 3 a� � cd CZ >, o 0 to �n ctt E, �s c� ,� O aa� O�z.� �«. 0 a o s. o .. o w a�o U) a s �a�i =Oa� 0 ����..��� da) Q _ ����.~ o.ao �a�E,TS�.�s �s. «io✓�c�'v� a '" WC) ��v3 c.�CZ CU ,tea .oc 0c : :w Budget I By YVONNE SALCE Eagle staff writer College Station residents won't see a property tax increase in the proposed budget for 1994 -95 thanks to the enor- mous amount of growth in the city, said the assistant finance director. The College Station City Council received the city's proposed budget at Wednesday's workshop meeting. The $60.5 million proposal, which includes a number of additional staff members, is about $5.2 million more than the city budgeted last year. Charles Cryan, assistant city finance director, said the property tax rate of 44.50 cents - nw - property - value wiir probably remain the same. eaves property t CS plan won't raise property tax rate But because that rate is 5 percent above posed tax rate, also called the ad valorem the effective tax rate of 42.38 cents per tax rate. $100 property value, a public hearing "There's no ad valorem tax increase must be called, he said. because other revenue streams are The effective tax rate is the rate that, growing fast enough," Cryan said, listing using current property values, will gen- sales taxes as the big revenue maker. erate the same amount of tax revenues as He said sales tax revenues are up last year's tax rate. $150,000 more than expected. For the Under Texas law, any increase of 3 per- coming year, Cryan estimates $9 million cent or more above the effective tax rate will be made from sales tax. requires a public hearing. If the proposed tax rate of 44.50 cents is The council voted to hold a public approved, Cryan said, it would mean hearing Aug. 25 on the proposed budget. higher property taxes for residents At t hat - tame; the council is - expecte to have increased in value schedule a public hearing for the pro- Some of the additional positions in the 3x alone proposed budget include: a fire training officer, a police lieutenant, a criminal investigation detective, three park staffers and a systems analyst. The budget also proposes spending $42,000 holding a bond election and edu- cating citizens on the bond issues,.Those issues include street improvements and a new library. The proposed budget also earmarks $106,000 for an additional fire truck. The proposed spending plan does not include "wish list" items for the council to consider, including a $100,000 mar- keting plan for the city, $110,000 in com- munity appearance projects and $200,000 to the Bryan- College Station Economic Please see BUDGET, page IsHe e A&IE on �� o�� �a�i w > s~ ° � s. U a� o � an � � � °' v a w $ ° = S W Cn CZ o co 0 CZ " a '"+, o cZ �o p ��°'O o ° } ' o f�o. Maas v `n a�pa C a14 o°e�,Z > x. o °. 10 v�. ° a 5 � �b one, o a� �° � � >, Ew ° w o 0 0' 1 5 U �`.. ° ao 4 $' �„ a;� �, a�x. � ba '` °' 3 as :~ ° s °��o� o 0 D 9 � 0 CZ>, z.� p " , a ¢ 's.oa�� �° v� cn co �o�3� y o o jai ;~o a a>��• ° ° �y�o��.,k o Q ' �J �U �n C's °� o ° ° °' ° °'.STS s~ Zo cC o ° °� �° E o a C) to .. ;; o s~ . •., r~ as �� U F is ° ` o o�' o o a� 5 3�C� as+ ° a� �o a' ° ° `'" o °�. °°�' - ao 3 a .� ° a� ° s~ Q >' �, o tin � >, ° ° E o S~ Q oat 3.+ cnr~a�s~c.' �o `" .. r~�10 � mom- R ° 6.9 r. cn°a>.,via�., • • a� a� '_ OA as c v ° ° at �� o r o W u •s.J o a� _ a� C . as ,Z x s~ �/� >�r n•. ❑,4 • OaiUc�i�� ai�a�. °'p ^P ��ba>U0 n�� �o.°3e�a��E�a» �> � E- a s � W U_ q� ° 3 F �+' at cg�p Z� a o c� o`�o u� 42 "0 111G. eAer S A F irst salvo launched N n CS budget battle By YVONNE SALCE Eagle s taff writer College Station's public hearing on the proposed 1994 -95 budget isn't until Aug. 25, but one former city councilman took the initiative Thursday night to start the proceedings. Dick Birdwell asked the council to cut $581,000 from the $60.5 million budget and lower the city's property tax rate from 44.50 cents to 40 cents per $100 property value. The council is considering keeping the current property tax rate as it is. Birdwell, who lives in College Station, suggested a list of cuts from the proposed budget. He said rather than 4 percent merit increases for city staffers, the cou�hou consider percent and save $70,000. He also criticized the council's deci- sion to spend $345,000 on a new city master plan. As Birdwell put it: "That's a very expensive master plan, more than $300,000 ... "I don't understand it myself," Bird- well said about why the master plan costs so much. The council approved the $345,000 pro- ject Thursday night. Birdwell also listed a new computer system and improvements to the city's pension plans as unnecessary expenses. Because the council is considering -onerty tax rates_ Abatis five perce 42.38 cents, a public hearing must be called. The hearing will be scheduled later this month. The effective rate is the rate that, using current property values, will generate the same amount of tax revenues as last year's tax rate. According to Texas law, any increase of 3 percent or more above the effective rate requires a public hearing. The proposed budget also includes a 28 percent increase for the College Station City Council. The budget earmarks $78,450 for the council in 1994 -95. Last year's line item for the council was $61,725, and the council received $40,529 for 1992 -93. College Station Finance Director Glenn Schroeder said that theoretically the council could opt to lower the proposed tax rate of 44.50 cents to match the effec- tive tax rate of 42.38 cents. But, Schroeder added: "If you lower it, ask yourself if you want to increase it next year. "Not having to raise the tax rate is a more palatable decision for the council to make," he said. Birdwell listed another reason to the tax rate: an increase in busino_ and construction. Those new additions help add to the tax base, he said. To that, Schroeder said, "We do have new properties yes, as Mr. Birdwell said, but there's also increased services to the areas." Another expense in the proposed budget earmarks $140,000 for the Bryan - College Station Economic Development Corp., a corporation formed to recruit more industrial businesses to College Station and Bryan. In addition to the $140,000, the EDC is also asking the council for a $200,000 incentive fund to be used to recruit new businesses to College Station. TILE EAGI.�E Citizens set sights on CS's future By YVONNE SALCE dence to Wellborn. Eagle staff writer Councilman Hub Kennady sug- gested that Brown be on the com- The College Station City Council mittee, but Kennady met opposition nominated citizens to be part of two from Councilwoman Nancy Crouch. citywide committees — one to steer a When Kennady asked Crouch why proposed $20 million bond project for she objected to Brown, Crouch said: 1995 and another to handle the revital- "My objection is that we ought to use ization of Northgate. [College Station] citizens." The council met for its regular Crouch then looked at Kennady and meeting,- where 4t -postponed- naming as - "Fred's fide only - -pe tha Advisory Committee, the formal name for the bond election citizens group, in order to secure a broader representa- tion of the city. The committee will comprise 15 -20 citizens representing all sectors of the community. The $20 million proposed bond calls for projects on streets, drainage and bridges, parks, intersection and signal lights and public buildings. The 1994 -95 proposed budget calls for spending $25,000 to educate residents on the bond issue and $17,000 to administer the 1995 bond election. Thursday members listed which citizens they'd like to see on the committee. Although the council postponed making a definite decision on the list, two council mem- bers ran into a snag when Fred Brown's name was brought up. Brown is the former mayor pro tem of College Station. He resigned from his position a year earlier than planned because of business obliga- tions and a possible change of resi- you can TnmK o f To oe on Tnis com- mittee?" College Station city spokeswoman Peggy Calliham said it's common practice for the council to form a citi- zens' advisory committee for the bond issue. "It's not unusual to have a group of citizens to take a look at the list [of projects]," Calliham said. She said the bond election could be held in May of 1995 and that educating voters on the bond will be a top pri- ority for the city. "It's a real fine line," Calliham said of educating voters. "We can not use money, by law, to ask voters to vote one way or another." After a partial list of names had been compiled Thursday night, Mayor Larry Ringer asked that the list be brought before the council at its next meeting. At this point, the 1995 bond election is just a proposal, said College Station Finance Director Glenn Schroeder. Please see FUTURE, page A4 gw, 1 Future From Al Schroeder said the original list of - improv ements - f or the b"n election otaled more $40 million. After some projects were elimi- nated, the "realistic" number is more like $20 million, he said. But he said that after the advi- sory committee reviews the bond election plan, the projects and price could change. In other business, the council approved appointing members to a Northgate revitalization com- mittee. Ringer said the purpose of the committee is to get input from the Northgate area and provide ideas to _a - consultant, who w ill nut together a master revitalization plan. The group will comprise Texas A &M officials, local clergy, a member of the historic preserva tion committee, Northgate busi- ness owners, city staff, residents and A &M students. Revitalizing Northgate is expected to cost about $771,000. Funding will come through the city and state and federal funding. T14 E EAGLE 8 -(b- 9+ .ne College Station and A &M unite in recycling effort Unfunded state mandates have led the city of College Station and Texas A &M to join hands in recycling efforts. Earlier this month, the city and uni- - vex cr o coope r e c y- cling agreement in which College Sta- tion agrees to recycle newspapers, magazines and newspaper inserts while Texas A &M takes office paper, computer paper and cardboard for recycling. According to state mandates, gov- ernmental agencies are required to recycle office paper, computer paper, cardboard, aluminum cans and auto- motive waste. City officials said the agreement between the city and Texas A &M is a result of both parties needing a cost - effective way to recycle these goods. "Agencies have struggled to comply with the unfunded mandates," said Joe Sanchez, recycling coordinator for Texas A &M. Some C employees must shell out more for insurance By KELLI LEVEY Eagle staff writer College Station school district employees who work at least 31 hours a week will pay an additional $175 a year for health insurance for themselves and one dependent and those with two or more dependents will pay an additional $318 a year. The monthly rates will now be $112 and $202 for those categories. During their meeting Monday night, school board trustees approved the increase in the employees' contribution, based on a u}tan advice, because - the cost to the district for running the insurance program is expected to increase by 15 percent this year. The rates did not change for employees who work at least 31 hours per week and claim no dependents on their policies. Those employees pay nothing. Rates for employees who work 20 to 30 hours a week will increase by $92 a year for no dependents, $267 a year for one dependent and $410 a year for two or more dependents. The monthly rates will now be $63, $175 and $265. The board's vote also changed the pre- scription drug card program. Now, in addition to the $10 that employees pay for each brand -name prescription, they will pay a 20 percent co- payment. That means if a drug cost $100, the employee would pay a total of $30: the $10 he was already paying plus 20 percent of $100, or $20. No co- payment was added to the $5 that employees pay for each generic prescrip- tion. -- did. not discuss - the changes, which were listed on Monday night's consent agenda. But David Neal, assistant superinten- dent for business, said the district's Insurance Committee and Anco Insur- ance, the district's benefits consultant, helped draft the recommendations. The committee, which comprised a represen- tative of each campus and all employee groups, met twice this summer. High cost: Is death penalty too expensive? HOUS (AP) sta te -judge said he is concerned about the escalating cost of pursuing the death penalty in Harris County. State District Judge Miron Love, who oversees the county's 22 felony courts, predicted that of the 135 pending capital murder cases, 37 likely will be tried for capital murder. About 30 will end up on death row for stays averaging 10.6 years before they are executed — at a minimum tab of about $2 million each. "So far this year we've tried or are in trial nn 22 capitals, and it's only August. We're running the county out of money," Love told the Houston Chronicle. The county already has set a national record by having 33 men executed since 1984. It also has 108 convicted killers on death row, has gotten eight new death penalties so far in 1994 and has five more trials under way Capital murder trials are elaborate, but the ones where the state is not seeking the death penalty end much faster. "Non -death capital" and "mini- capital" trials do not involve several weeks of individual selection of jurors and can be done in a day or less. TAWle EA&I� Igor 1 (0 Or 1"46 EAGLE 6004 f Co llege Station ISO trustees embrace $38 million budget By KELLI LEVEY it includes about $500,000 for staff and the district's property tax base has $1.48 per $100. But the amount is still Eagle staff writer utilities at the new Willow Branch increased. About $74 million in new below the $1.62 rollback rate. Intermediate School; $425,000 for 3 -per- property was added to the tax roll this Trustee Dave Skinner cast the only College Station school trustees adopted cent pay raises; a $500,000 transfer to the year. vote against the budget and the tax the $38- million - bud get Monday night that cn struction fund for work at Willow The average home value in College Sta- increase, sayi he was pleased with staff they have been discussing for the past Branch and the junior high's indoor tion increased from $82,000 to $89,000 due memb ers' work o�l�e month, and they voiced consent to swimming pool; $745,000 for capital to county -wide re- valuation of properties. couldn't support the plans because he increase taxes next year. improvements; and $100,000 for music The owner of an $89,000 home will see an thinks more savings are possible. He said No citizens spoke during a public programs in the schools. increase of $97 annually or $8.11 monthly, he voiced his concerns to board President hearing preceding the board meeting, David Neal, assistant superintendent a 7.75 percent increase. Linda Parrish and Superintendent Jim and the board voted 5 -1 — trustee Dan for business, said the district is expecting Business and multi - family dwelling Scales. MacGilvray was absent — in favor. a 2 percent increase in enrollment, but owners will pay 8.65 percent more in "I am satisfied they heard me and that The 1994 -95 budget contains about $26 plans to lose almost $400,000 in state rev- taxes. they will be looking at them during the million for the general fund, which is enue because of ch in the state's The board will have a public hearing next 12 months, but at this moment I'm about $1.6 million higher than the cur- Mnding fbrmala. — - the tax rates on Sept. 12. n ot satisfied with the Midget the way it rent general fund budget. The proposed $1.61 per $100 tax rate is The state requires the hearing because is," he said. "Nor am I satisfied with the The general fund finances the district's lower than the current $1.63 tax rate, but the proposed tax rate is more than 3 per- tax rate. I couldn't support either one of daily operations. For the next school year it will raise more tax revenues because cent higher than the effective tax rate of them." 0 - 1}E EAGt.E 8.24 -94 B -CS keeps best unemployment rate Bryan- College Station contin- ues to lead the state with the lowest unemployment figures. July in Brazos County brought in a total civilian .labor of force of 66,700, surpassing last year's num- ber of 63,500, according to the Texas Employment Commission. There in July than in June. "There's a lot of work available during the summer months," said O.H. Patterson, employment ana- lyst for the Bryan TEC office. Brazos County recorded a 3.6 per- cent unemployment rate for July, a tenth lower than June's 3.7 percent. Following Brazos County was Austin -San Markus at 3.9 percent. Here's how surrounding coun- ties ranked for July: Burleson, 6.0 percent; Grimes, 5.5; Leon, 8.6; Madison, 5.1; Milam, 7.3; Robertson, 6.8; Washington, 3.9. 1 EA(sl.E TgnE go-29swi+ In Town &Texa s CS citizens can have say on budget tonight College Station residents can air their views tonight at a public hearine The plan increases spending by about $9.5 million more than the city budgeted last year. "This is an opportunity for citizens to speak on the budget in any way they like as it is being drafted," said Charles Cryan, assistant city finance director. although estia A expenditures for 1994 -95 are 14.4 percent higher than last year, Cryan said the property tax rate of 44.5 cents per $100 property value will more than likely stay the same because the city will get addi- tional revenue from other sources. An increase in sales tax revenues, an increase in new property values, and a return on investment from utili- ties transfer all contributed to keeping the property tax rate the same. T*0 .S EA&uE R isky business Venture backfires on �garr; H slammed with lawsuit By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer Bryan officials fear the city may have & z5 -44 Risky From Al erty and sales taxes and service fees for water, waste collection and electrical services. The defendants are Govern- ment Securities Corp. and its rep- resentative Ken Ward. The suit accuses them of fraud, lost about $1.5 million of taxpayers money in a securities inwestment that went sour. The city is suing a Houston investment representative and his employer, accusing them of fraud and negligent misrepresentation and seeking the return of its investments plus unspeci- fied punitive damages. The suit centers on a $3 million investment the city made in March. The market value of that investment now is estimated at half that. The lawsuit, filed in a Houston court, also says the full extent of financial damage to the city's coffers has yet to be determined. But one official said the money may not actually have been lost because the city can hang onto the investments until they regain their value. The money invested came from prop- able investment advice, viola- tions of the Texas Securities Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, civil conspiracy, negligence, negligent misrepre- sentation and gross negligence. Mayor Marvin Tate, City Man- ager Mike Conduff and other city officials declined comment, refer- ' ring all questions to attorney J.C. Nickens, who filed the suit on behalf of the city. "I believe the city was following a prudent investment policy. They just got into a situation where they were misled," Nickens told The Eagle. The amount of actual loss "depends on when you have to sell," he said. Nickens said the $1.5 million figure is the current market value, or roughly half of what the city paid in March for securities called "inverse floaters." "The principal amount is guar- anteed to be paid," he said. "The question is how quickly." The suit says inverse floaters - are the for collateralized mortgage obliga- tions and are most often traded by large institutional investors. It says they are one of the most speculative investments in exis- tence because they rise and fall dramatically in inverse propor- tion to interest rates. says, an inverse floater can be transformed from a short -term investment vehicle into a long- term bond trading at a fraction of its previous market value. The suit says the City of Bryan told Ward and GSC that as a municipality holding public funds it had a need and a duty to make conservative investments. But, it says, they induced the city to buy millions of dollars of inverse floaters "in violation of defendants' duties and instruc- tions." The suit says Ward and GSC fraudulently induced the city to buy the securities "at a grossly inflated price" in order to shift their own losses onto the city. Ward refused comment on the suit, other than to say, "We are in the process of negotiating with them." He would not specifically say if the two sides were trying to reach out -of -court settlement. Frank Klaus, an executive with GSC, also refused comment. "It's -our policy not to discuss matters of litigation," he said. The suit was filed in June. It says Ward first approached the City of Bryan in 1991 with investment recommendations and opportunities. The city opened an account with him under the instructions that all benefits should be in the When Ward approached the city about inverse floaters, the lawsuit says, he represented them as "extremely profitable, safe short-term securities that were `guaranteed' by the U.S. govern- ment." But it says the city now believes that he and GSC made false repre- sentations to induce the city to buy an inverse floater at a price that was artificially inflated to far more than the actual market value at the time. The suit says the city believes the defendants owned the inverse floater in their own inventory before they sold it to the city "and perpetrated this fraud for the purpose of shifting their own losses in the security onto the city." Please see RISKY, page A2 a W- �,Cl - cr � Bryan Council protecting B finally, fu It looks the tY look after like City Council has decided to number that city t one and not give in to its dream the south and ,Allege S lion -B of a cyan community. Council In the ideals mbers were right in keepine f a Bryan Development Foundatio the Bryan N intact after the creation o €:: liege Station Economic Developm nt Corporation The BD recruiting is doing an excellent job in economic opportunities Bryan. Wi how Bryar o out it, I simply cannot s n i would be able to retail bus' attract F: iesses, hotels and motels, entertainn tional ins ' ., ent establishments, educa- lions and housing to fair city. E our 7en though the EDC has all of these on i is that nem subtitled agenda, my belief-, businesses would do exactly what new businesses since the ir have been doing... id 197os: trying to get as close to the A&IV "that campus as possible, for is w re the money is. What I fa mate that I to understand is that I esti+ Bryan's 60,000 residents maybe 90, live on and north of Villa Maria Road these peopJ4 and Briarcrest Drive. Donn; have money to spend with• out having Coll drive all the way to 2 - ° ege Stat So, for on council met tem Lonnie Tim Bryan ; College Stat Kennady, al has its own to your own what goes 01 be, I applaud all of Bryan's': �bers, especially Mayor pro tabler and BDF President or their extra efforts. As for' on City Councilman Hub I can say is that your city roblems, so why not attend little community and leavIQ in ours alone? NOLAN E. TURNER Austin E wrongdoing, resigned his chairman- ship in April as the investigation in- tensified Last month, the Houston at- torney declined an invitation to appear before a Brazos County grand ',jtgy. hearing evidence in the case. :That same panel indicted a key .. r A&M decision maker, Robert Smith, �who, along with Mr. Margraves, had M 4pushed so-called privatization projects l'"tl&M, including the power plant. Smith, recently demoted from t t: l(# president for finance and admin- istration at A&M, was charged last month with soliciting trips and enter- tainment in New York for his wife from a firm that won a $23 million contract to operate the university's bookstore. Mr. Smith has denied wrongdoing. described as an umbrella agreement that could lead to final, more specific agreements on various aspects of the plant. Behind the scenes, though, College Station officials were crying foul. They believed that Brown & Root had the inside track on the job because it helped write the criteria for the pro- posals, said College Station Mayor Lar- ry Ringer, an A&M professor of statis- tics. By March 1, the chief financial offi- cer for the parent A&M system had hired the Ernst & Young consulting firm to evaluate the cogeneration pro- ject and the processes involved in it. The city and its partners on its proposal got to see A&M's tentative agreement with Tenneco which re- sulted in a March 15 letter back to A&M. The partners said they found significant errors in the Tenneco pro- posal and how the university dealt with the bidders. "There have been those rumors, They pinpointed 16 areas of con - yes," he said. cern, including their belief that the Mr. Keith, the Kansas engineer Tenneco proposal overstated its bene- who consulted with A&M on its ener- fit to A&M by $80 million while the gy needs in 1992, said the arrangement risks to the university amounted to was unusual. about $22 million. "If a consulting firm is involved in University and Tenneco officials, writing specifications or creating a meanwhile, pushed ahead with plans. RFP (request for proposal) or doing a Tenneco sought to hold a ground Texas A&M has operated a cogener— feasibility —Rudy, - normally that firm breaking cerem Ap ation plant for at least 5o years. Docu- should not be involved in subsequent On March 24, the members of the ments prepared by A &M physical design work involving the same pro- _ proposed nonprofit corporation de. plant director Joe Sugg say two consul. ject," Mr. Keith said. signed to own the plant for A&M's tants' studies in 1990 and 1992 pushed "That's been my., experience, and benefit held its first meeting at Col. the concept of a new plant, which I've been in the business for 29 years." lege Station. '665$ 16 aa 'gaols Aq saueA u011001GS - ubisap uossngny Inpineaq Tti a u1 '9P10wpueH - s6na loons 9sau1g0 ,0LX8 4luo I<jad' 66'650 3'1VS SL '006$ e0000,40 eli4M uj pa eogpeaq uaanb ao uiArq py puirlslt46iu 'Jaaiw '.tassaap sepnloul •Las woo.tpaq jwlolnn •od - t , Liluo 3sad' 66 3'1VS O4'nu "mb`er a1p1`ta"lnunurle memory w /'simplified entry - 3 one touch speed dial keys - Euro style housing - Color coded key pads - 9 turbo dial - Built in charger - 901360 minute talktime TONAL AUTO IRVING RICHARDSON N. DALLAS ARUN Hwy 183 ® O'Connor 1/2 ml. N. of aeltflne on Central Expy Midway ® Lail 1-200 458 -0600 479 -0600 433 -0600 .,7465 • Exclusive Digital Edge technol Clearer calls at less cost. • Largest Home Coverage Area - • MobiLlnk' service covers 90 i North American population. '66 3 `000 L$ '68a `JasseJa '66 3ldS `5LC$ 'bag `PUelsl46iu :osly •095$ •6a8 - ysiui quid pagseM - paq uaanp 41t 9L$1snr —6 a dea running down a hill with more speed lhp I could do anything with," Ms. ...; �} said. "I think a lot of misinforms- -; Asa" 1i was driving it, but I honest to God `1 1.x; o `. ,do#ikt know. A r 7A&M administrators broke off ne " "" ` tiations last month with Tenneco ` -RgWer Generation Co. to build the 4put after independent auditors de- +"'t;;clared the project "substantially hl ed." • Viist & Young Utilities Consulting questioned the need for the plant, as a former chancellor of the univer- :sily;5ystem, and criticized the univer- 'sitf for failing to accurately assess its ,, ucial risk from the project And "it`,4ong other points, Ernst & Young : r j4u11ed A&M's process of selecting a 4oygfoper for the project :0 s e findings tracked allegations raised more than a year ago by an � Vtgwat n ul bidder, the ci y of Col - hich accusA&M of nfair advantage to develop er Tenneco and its subcontractor, Brown & Root A&M hired Brown & Root. in 1992 to help draft its request for project proposals and then chose Tenneco and Brown & Root Tenneco officials declined to dis cuss the project A spokeswoman for Brown & Root said the company's ac- tions did not constitute a conflict of interest Officials for College Station raised questions about Gaylord T. Hughey Jr., a Tyler attorney who not only pur- chased gas for the university but was a partner in Rockwood Companies LC., the consulting firm. As a consul- tant, Mr. Hughey advised A&M against the College Station proposal, which offered fixed gas prices. Mr. Hughey declined comment, cit- inCa confidentiality agreement with A&M. . Since September, the Texas Rang - qtZhave been investigating allega- tions raised in an anonymous letter that accused Mr. Margraves, while he was regents chairman, of influencing business deals at for his benefit or that of busin ciates. ton, CSW Energy of Dallas and the city of College Station, which had teamed with the Texas Municipal Power Agency. In October 1992, A&M hired Dallas - based Rockwood Companies to review and evaluate the proposals. Six months later, Rockwood recom- mended that the university negotiate with Tenneco. Before the recommendations could be presented to the board in May, the first of several questions about the project was raised by Dr. Herb Rich - ardson, an engineer who was then A&M's chancellor. "It is hard to believe that demand will grow at the projected rate given that enrollment is capped, the physi- cal plant required to handle this load will be essentially complete, and the costs of energy are likely to increase creating strong financial incentives for energy conservation," Dr. Richard - son. wrote in a memo to Dr. William And if a reporter sought response to critics from College Station who maintained the process wasp t fair, Ms. L,eMaster advised Dr. Mobley to say: "I haven't heard that (Or, I hope they are not saying that)" Dr. Ringer said the memo is evi- dence of the university's attempt to ignore serious questions about the process followed in awarding the pro- ject "Me fact that they were concerned about questions about it being fair indicated that they were aware of the concerns," Dr. Ringer said. Dr. Mobley said that he viewed Ms. LeMaster's materials as "examples, not direc- tives." He said he never tried to mis- lead anyone about the project "I always tell people they have to tell the truth," said Ms. L.eMaster. She said she was trying to warn university officials against responding "to com- ments that have not been proven to be true." MODley, nniver a L y prauuCUL al. WQ December 1993, A&M officials Mar - time. graves, Smith and Sugg praised the The chancellor went on to question project, saying it represented the other energy growth projections used cheapest and most secure way of pro- to justify the new plant and the "eco- viding extra power to the university, nomic consequence' if energy de- with no risk to A&M. By having a mands flattened. private corporation finance the pro- — ject through a third -party, nonprofit In his July 1, 1993, response to Dr. corporation, the university would ulti. Richardson's "request for assurances mately save about $60 million to S70 on the cogeneration project," Dr. Mob- million in, future energy costs, the ley cited two studies that he said sup- officials said. ported the university's projected en- The university denied media re- ergy needs. quests for project details, and even By then, regents already had au- regent O'Connor said he could not get - thorized the university to begin nego. answers from staff members, which tiating with Tenneco to build the pow - prompted his call for an independent er plant. audit In a surprise move, the regents in . Community concern intensified in August removed Dr. Richardson as late January, when .the regents autho- razed Dr. Gage the tniversitys intern chancellor of A&M's parent system im presiden to, finalize the agree: and replaced him with Dr. Mobley.' The following month, the board , .ment with Tejo J;unu4ty.... , "clear announced that the university had In an attempt'to the air" of reached a tentative agreement with - rumors about the project, Dr. Gage on in Col Tenneco to provide the electrical,, Feb. 22 met officials involved - steam and hot and chilled water utili- lege Station's cogeneration proposal. ty needs of the university's campus It _ Finally, the city's concerns began authorized interim president Dean to be hear 'Ringer, the mayor, Gage to sign a development agree. Sald I Mondays thru Saturdays 9 to 5 I I l Phone 231 -346 H ustwuuu FINE FURNITURE to rL 1 & O MOTOROLA Authorized Dealer ?* Hand - Held Cellular .ro w K. w Flip Phone, r - Fax/computer compatible 7 level, cc restriction. 1 year warranty - Sigiu strength meter Dual number resister number memory • Battery meter - Auto a ® MOTOROLA CeUulur Phone T11 EE! ".r i11� ro - ect 5tar><ing i o kill uti v p , Thorntree Counts ti Duncanville / :.,. &.M r eg en t s po ised 969 -099' - .. g t Mr Mar aver who had played a Cgniinued from Page IA. y �' p But College Station officials also ke speak- � y B ee of Texas House of Representa- + said. with A tiges. T The city was concerned w Th gives me s roles of purchasing gas for A&M on A �� " make that kind of money. I don't think.., t ", '. s,., the spot market and consulting and anyone completely understands this, e evaluating t and )hat's the amazing thin g•" i i a as part owner o Tl a cogeneration project, as well M Mary Nan west Billy Clayton "One of the concerns was that the e as efforts to privatize some operations e fuel — in t " original proposal asked for guaran- at the state's s gas — and convert it to electricity and t teed g prices," Dr. Ringer said. " :and federal investigation since S steam t thought w ;tember, when a gy needs through the year 2012, uni- a and Mr. Hughey recommended to the their posts for personal gain. On v versity officials, in documents ob u university that rather than go with Thursday, the parent Texas A &M Uni- t tained under the Texas Open t the firm gas prices that they go partial- s versity System announced that i Government A ly with f would b a existing coge neration plant. t the r ket and that may be a pro a But Dale Keith, a Kansas engineer c conflict" they and other regents have b who s paid about $900,000 for its work on the how and why a priority pro- w work He said his firm advised the p project and has billed for up to $2 explain h board of regents to pursue dual op- m million. Rockwood partner Allen Dun- r j tions of a cogeneration plant or con can referred questions to university now n tracting with an a c officials. A &M administrators refused day' I walked on the board and was w whichever met the university im t this week to discuss any aspect of the never satisfied with the answers,' said p posed 1994 deadline. a agreement, citing the possibility of a Mr. O'Connor, who joined the board in M Mr. Keith said he did not expect c civil lawsuit being filed against them. March 1993. A A &M to choose the expanded cogener- T The mayor said College Station 'I've seen no evidence that this a ation option because the university c chose to keep its concerns quiet in (power plant) would be good for h had concluded that it did not want to h hop of someday doin g business with AM" he said. s spend the estimated $27 million to add t the university , the city's largest em- Ms. West said it appears that the t to its power plant. p ployer and economic force. first phase of the plant, which amount- H He was surprised, he said, when D Dallas public relations experts, ed to laying pipelines, is justified. i immediately after his presentation to m meanwhile, were advising Dr. Mobley However, the huge plant, which t the regents in January 1992, Mr. South a about how to deflect controversy would have been built in the second s stood up and urged the board to pur- a about the project. be stage, may not needed at all. That s sue a new cogeneration plant fi- " "Focus only on the positives," would leave A&M almost back to nanced by private industry. w wrote Lisa LeMaster in a Sept 16,1993, square one in figuring out how to "At that point in time, and only at memo to prepare Dr. Mobley for a supply utility Dower to i that point i west campus. p side of saving money, creating jobs ge4ts following the resignation in Mr. Keith said. a and meeting our fiduciary responsibil- +il of Ross Margraves Jr., said Within six months, documents ities," the public relations expert .7�, , ,,;6W's l project p y since the matter could p proposals on the power plant t the must be against those prin- end up in court M More than 30 bidders were pared to civles." a medical leave forced him to stay ome from work several months earli- r this year. The A &M system's chief financial fficer, Richard Lindsay, shut down the project June 17, about a week after eceiving Ernst & Young's report. "In summary, we found the pro- cess, the evaluation matrix, the analy- is of the data, the treatment of risk and the value of the project to TAMU ubstantially flawed,' the report said. Ms. West sai the consultant's re- port ma a me sir ulyand - a - lot notice." She said she has since realized she cannot rely on other regents, or even top A&M administrators, to keep her informed. "This is one of the things that has made me so distrustful of the informa- tion we are given," Ms. West said. "I'm told constantly the regents are trying to micromanage, but I just want the truth. When something goes wrong or bad, it's the regents who are responsi- ble and we have to rely on what those people tell us. And I have great reser- vations at times." We're almost GIVING AWAY our accu- mulative supply of defective, scarred, and otherwise not -so -great attaches, briefcases, wallets, memo pads and va- rious other leather Items that are taking up space and doing no one any good. We also have available perfect and reg- ular leather office Items at highly dls- counted prices. Visit our warehouse and do yourself some financial goodl CREATIVE HOUSE, INC. 100 Business Parkway, Richardson I (9 W lck- .ul d C*ntr.l ExPY dl SWing e(..,.�. i- u I I ✓ Free, no obligation hearil ✓ Up to 50% less than other ✓ On -site, same day repairs ✓ 90 -day/ 100% money bacl ✓ Free check -up of any heal North Dallas Fl. Worth 13327 Montfort 4 e S Next to Valley Hulen N View Mall By BEST PR ICE DINING ROOM SETS THE LARGEST ES .1• `NYPD BLUE' REAPS RECORD 26 EMMY NOMINATIONS. OVERNIGHT, PAGE 29A. 1 Ad Newspaper © im, The Dallas Morning Nm Dallas, Texas, Friday, July 22, 1994 11 Sections A a a 1tv vroiect today -� - no By Olive Talley Stoll Writer of The Dallas Morning News COLLEGE STATION, Texas — After two years and as much as $15 million toward construction of the largest capital project in the history of Texas A &M University, regents are poised to kill the venture. Regents are expected Friday to uphold an administrative decision to stop negotiations to build a cogeneration plant that was designed to provide A &M's utility needs into the next centu- ry. Some have questioned need for $120 million power plant The proposed $120 million project has been criticized by consultants who question its neces. sity and by regents, one of whom called it a "runaway freight train," who say they have not been able to get answers to their questions about it. A &M board chairwoman Mary Nan West and regent T. Michael O'Connor said they have been told that $15 million has been spent in the initial phase of the project. As much as $2 million in consultant fees, they said, has been billed by a Dallas firm. Regent Billy Clayton said the original consul- tant contract was for $25,000 and approved by the university's legal department. "The next time we heard about it, the con- tract had reached $2 million without additional approval from legal," said Mr. Clayton, a former Please see AAbi on Page 16A. , ' I 9�I r� RECEI' ED AU6 3 1 1954 Committee Vote On Flow Control Is A Win For Cities by Carol Kocheisen Following the defeat of the include those which have: livery of solid waste to the facil- O lt Local governments scored a Richardson Amendment, the I a law, ordinance, regula- ity; or major victory on waste flow con- committee, by voice vote, ap- tic i, solid waste management • other action since January trol as members of the House proved an alternative package ph n, or legally binding provi- 1, 1993 that evidences a recent Energy and Commerce Commit- (H.R. 4683), developed by a co- sic adopted prior to May 15, significant financial commit- tee (John Dingell, D- Mich., alition of local governments, 19 )4 (the date the Carbonne ment for the continuing devel- Chrmn.) last Thursday defeated recyclers and Waste Manage- decision was issued) that regu- opment of a waste management an amendment proposed by ment, Inc. (WMX), and pro- lates the transportation, man- facility for which a designation Reps. Bill Richardson (D -N.M.) posed by Reps. Frank Pallone ag ment or disposal of solid will be made. and ac Fields (R -Tex.) D- N.J.), Alec MacMillan (R- Flow control authority would wo v severe y restricted N.C.) and Blanche Lambert (D- a law, ordinance, regula- coti f continue or qualified local gov- local overnment authority to g t3' Ark do ,solid waste management ernments if one or more facili- ��ntrol the disposition of manic- The Pallone proposal autho- p or legally binding provi- t ties are actually designated Y Solid waste. rizes retrospective flow control simi that (1) before May 15, within five years of enactment of `'The 13 ( "yes ") to 20 ( "no ") authority to those specific 19 4 legally bound the state or the proposal if a competitive classes or categories of munici- qualified political subdivision to designation process is used vote was the result of substantial pal solid waste which were sub- de ignate an existing or future prior to any designation. Waste efforts by city and county offi- ject to flow control authority on fac 'ty, or (2) "committed" the combustion facilities are in- cials to fashion legislation over - or before May 15, 1994. In addi- or qualified political subdi- eluded in the definition of turning the recent U.S. Supreme tion, H.R. 4683 authorizes local on to designate a facility. The "waste management facility." Court decision —C.A. Carbonne v. Clarkstawn New governments to exercise pro- s ective flow control authority p �' vis c mmitment" can be demon- Existing contracts would also be "grandfathered." ' York—which held that the exer- over municipal residential solid d by any of the following: The bill is expected to be con- cise of waste flow control au- waste and voluntarily relin- 4 solicitation of proposals for sidered as a free standing pro - thority by municipalities was in quished recyclable materials designation of a facility; posal on the House floor in early violation of the commerce (essentially materials placed on purchase of land for the fa- September. Senate action oa a clause of the U.S. Constitution, curbside for pick -up). cili ; similar measure, while also an unwarranted intrusion on in- Local governments eligible to 41 execution of a contract or anticipated, has not yet been terstate commerce. exercise flow control authority chise for collection and de- scheduled. ■ authority to those specs is classes or categories of mumci- pal solid waste which were sub- ject to flow control authority on or before May 15, 1994. In addi- tion, H.R. 4683 authorizes local governments to exercise` pro spective flow control authority over municipal residential solid waste and voluntarily relin- quished recyclable materials (essentially materials placed on curbside for pick -up). Local governments eligible to �7_ Committee Vote On Flow Control Is A Win For Cities by Carol Kocheisen Following the defeat of the inclu a those which have: Local governments scored a Richardson Amendment, the •_ slaw, ordinance, regula- major victory on waste flow con- committee, by voice vote, ap- tion, solid waste management trol as members of the House proved an alternative package plan, - or legally binding provi- Energy and Commerce Commit- (H°R. 4683), developed by a co- sion adopted prior to May 15, tee (John Dingell, D- Mich., alition of local governments, 199 - (the date the Carbonne Chrmn.) last Thursday defeated recyclers and Waste Manage- d on was issued) that regu- an amendment proposed by ment, Inc. (WMX), and pro- lates the transportation, man - Reps. Bill Richardson (D -N.M.) pow by Reps. Frank Pallone agerrent or disposal of solid and ac Fields (R -Tex.) (D-N.J.), Alec MacMillan (R- waste; wo severe N.C.) and Blanche Lambert (D- 0 a law, ordinance, regula- local govemment authority to Ark.). tion, solid waste management co- ` -1 the disposition of munic The Pallone proposal autho- plan, or legally binding provi- rizes retrospective flow control d waste sion that (1) before May 15 a,- 9 6� J 6 9 it .f the mposal if a com titive The 13 (`des ") to 20 ( "no ") vote was the result of substantial efforts by city and county offi- cials to fashion legislation over- turning the recent U.S. Supreme Court '.3 `' decision —C.A. Car bonne v. Clarkstoum, New York which held that the exer- cise of waste flow control au- thority by municipalities was in violation of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, an unwarranted intrusion on in- terstate commerce. 1994 legally bound the state or qualified political subdivision to designate an existing or future facility, or (2) "committed" the state or qualified political subdi- vision to designate a facility. The "commitment" can be demon- strated by any of the following: • solicitation of proposals for designation of a facility; 0 purchase of land for the fa- cility; • execution of a contract or live of solid waste to the facil- ity; or = • other action since January 1, 1993 that evidences a recent significant financial - commit- ment for the continuing Bevel- opment of a waste management facility for which a designation will be made. Flow control authority would continue for qualified local gov- ernments if one or more facili- ties are actually designated within five years of enactment of F Pe designation process is used prior to any designation. Waste combustion facilities are in- cluded in the definition of "waste management facility." Existing contracts would also be "grandfathered. The bill is expected to be con- sidered as a free standing pro- posal on the House floor in early September. Senate action on a similar .measure;` while also anticipated, has not yet been exercise flow control authority flan for collection and de- scheduled. ■ • � • CS Council to ponder tax rate at special meeting oday The College Station City Council will mull the property t ix rate at a special meeting today al 4 p.m. and call for a public hearing on the tax rate. "We're suggesting to the council that the tax rate remain. the same," said Charles Cryan, assistant city finance director. The current tax rate for College Station residents is 44.50 cents per $100 property value. That rate is 5 perceits above the effective tax rate of 42.38 per $100 property value. The effective tax rate is the rate that, using current property 'values, will generate the same amount of tax rev - enues as last year's tax rate. State law requires a public hearing for any increase of 3 percent or more above the effective tax rate. The council plans to schedule Sept. 14 for the hearing. : The council also will review general government funds, debt service funds, hotel and motel funds and capital pro- jects of the proposed 1994-95 budget at today's meeting in the council cham- bers at city hall. The city hall is located a 1101 Texas Ave. S. in College Station. E a51Q w Z�, IqL) 0 L_� 0.* 1 hursda Interim executive director appointed for phys cal plant Officials at Texas AS M appointed Gene Ray, formerly the deputy director of the physical plant, as interim executive director of the phys- ical plant on Tuesday. Joe Sugg resigned from that job Monday, citing a desire for new chal- lenges. Ray, who has a bachelor's degree from Texas Tech Unive sity, was the assistant to the landscape architect at the University of Okla oma in 1973 when he was hired by A M. He served A &M as director of grounds maintenance until 1990, when grounds maintenance was merged with the physical plant He has been deputy director of the physical plant since 1990. S 'P_P 4 ' ►, 1gQL4 • • �r,da SQL a,ffi q CS official spotligh } for public power we A College Station offic' 31 makes the grade when it comes to contributions to a public power association, the organization said. Lin Piwonka, executive director for nanagement services for the city of College Station, was named to the Texas Public Power Association Honor Roll for her sub. stantial contributions toward attaining the goals of TPPA and enhancing the prestige of the associa- tion, the organization said The group presented the honor at the 1994 TPPA Annual Meeting Awards Luncheon on Au . 30 at the Stouffer Hotel in Austin. Piwonka has spent her entire pro- fessional career, 26 years, in public services at the city of College Station. She first performed administrative assistant duties and her job now includes the direction of Public Rela- tions and Marketing, Utilities Cus- tomer Services, Management Informa- tion Services, Energy Conservation and Public Facilities Management. 3(xt�o CS off icial: City invests for top return Editor's note:Editor's note: This is the first in an occasional series about how the cities of Bryan and College Station invest their money. By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer How could the city of Bryan could get itself in a $1.5 million mess based on'a securities investment? Bryan sank $3 million of taxpayers' money in March on securities called "inverse floaters" and the investment is worth roughly half of that now. While Bryan officials stress the city will even- tually get back the lost money because it is backed by the federal government, the question still comes up as to why cities But adds that CS emphasizes safety as well make these potentially risky deals. Over the next several weeks, The Eagle will look at College Station's and Bryan's investment portfolios and explore the reasoning behind the risks. Today's segment is the first on the city of College Station. To the city of College Station, investing is all about scheduling. "There are peaks and valleys in our cash flows as far as dollars coming in and dollars going out," said qlenn Schroeder, executive director of fins o i . Schroeder said 90 percent of property tax revenues come in December and Jan- uary, roughly six million dollars. "But we know that in June, we're going to have a lot less revenue, but roughly the same amount of expenditures," Schroeder said. "Even though I've got a lot of money in December, I don't go out and invest it beyond June. "I need to have the ability through liq- uidity to either have that money maturing in an investment at that time or make sure it is an instrument that I can sell to get that money back at that point," Schroeder said. The city of College Station holds about a $30 million portfolio, depending on the time of year. The number will jump to about $46 million when bonds are sold later this month, Schroeder said. As of July 31, the city held 11 securities that produce about $1.5 million to $2 mil- lion a year in interest. They are all backed by the federal government, Schroeder said. College Station looks at three items when considering an investment for its portfolio, he said. They are liquidity, maximizing return and, above all, safety. � J J ' L o r� 1 � J 1 u Invest From Al "If I put $100 of the city's money in an investment," Schroeder said, "I better cotton-picking well get $100 back at some point. That is an absolute. "It doesn't look ve y good on my part," Schroeder aid with a laugh, "if I put $100 ' t there and five years later I get 100 back. I haven't done a good ob on that investment but I had better be able to do that." - .In other words, Sch said, using caution wher investing taxpayers' money is x iore impor- tant than making h' -risk deals that may backfire. The risk factor -wi liquidity varies with the typ of funds available to invest, Schroeder said. "We know we are a ways going to have utility cus omers ... We're always going t have $2 or $3 million in utilities Jeposits, so I don't need to have t iose dollars available next week,' Schroeder said. The security's maturity can be extended, Schroeder s tid, because the turnover rate is c nstant and he is fairly certain a eryone will not move out of the ci at once. "But I've still got to keep that in mind," Schroeder sa' . . Using operating fur ds to invest is something entirely 1 lifferent, he said. That's when the importance of scheduling the mal urity of the security becomes a factor because of expenses due at cerain times of the year. After Schroeder considers I safety and liquidity, he gets to the heart of why a city ir vests in the first place: Maxirnizir g returns. And while the city always tries to place safety f irst, Schroeder said, 100 percent safety does not exist when making in iestments. "What you do wh n you have absolute safety [by holding on to cash] is give up that 2 million of interest earnings," h said. • Maximizing retun s is impor- tant to the city, Scl roeder said, but not at too much r' k. "There are ways hat I could " my rett rn on an investment,- but I uld get in some real risky deals " Schroeder said. "There are peop le that make 100 percent returns ot k things they invest in, but they can lose their shirt on the same ind of deal, too." Ea%t� n_PAL� Pa cc SCLtr.�d CS off icial: City invests for top return Editor's note:Editor's note: This is the first in an o ccasion and College Station invest their money. By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer How could the city of Bryan could get itself in a $1.5 million mess based on a securities investment? Bryan sank $3 million of taxpayers' money in March on securities called "inverse floaters" and the investment is worth roughly half of that now. While Bryan officials stress the city will even- tually get back the lost money because it is backed by the federal government, the question still comes up as to why cities make these potentially risky deals. Over the next several weeks, The Eagle will look at College Station's and Bryan's investment portfolios and explore the reasoning behind the risks. Today's segment is the first on the city of College Station. To the city of College Station, investing is all about scheduling. "There are peaks and valleys in our cash flows as far as dollars coming in and dollars going out," said Glenn Schroeder, executive director of fina`n or ci y. Schroeder said 90 percent of property tax revenues come in December and Jan- uary, roughly six million dollars. "But we know that in June, we're going to have a lot less revenue, but roughly the same amount of expenditures," Schroeder said. "Even though I've got a lot of money in December, I don't go out and invest it beyond June. "I need to have the ability through liq- uidity to either have that money maturing in an investment at that time or make sure it is an instrument that I can sell to get that money back at that point," Schroeder said. The city of College Station holds about time of year. The number will jump to about $46 million when bonds are sold later this month, Schroeder said. As of July 31, the city held 11 securities that produce about $1.5 million to $2 mil- lion a year in interest. They are all backed by the federal government, Schroeder said. College Station looks at three items when considering an investment for its portfolio, he said. They are liquidity, maximizing return and, above all, safety. • 1 Invest From Al "If I put $100 of the city's money in an investment," Schroeder said, "I better cotton-picking well get $100 back at some point. That is an absolute. "It doesn't look very good on my part," Schroeder said with a laugh, "if I put $100 in there and five years later I gel $100 back. I haven't done a gooc job on that ,investment but I hid better be ;able to do that." In other words, Sc oeder said, using caution when investing taxpayers' money is more impor- tant than making h' h -risk deals that may backfire. The risk factor with liquidity varies with the type of funds available to invest, Schroeder said. "We know we are ways going to have utility customers ... We're always going o have $2 or $3 million in utilities deposits, so I don't need to have those dollars available next week," Schroeder said. The security's ma urity can be extended, Schroeder said, because the turnover rate is constant and he is fairly certain everyone will not move out of the city at once. "But I've still got t keep that in ~mind," Schroeder sad. . Using operating fu ds to invest is something entirely different, he said. That's when th importance of scheduling the maturity of the security becomes a factor because of expenses due at cei lain times of the year. After Schroedei considers safety and liquidity, ie gets to the heart of why a city ' ivests in the first place: Maximiz' g returns. And while the city always tries to place safety firs Schroeder said, 100 percent s ety does not exist when making ir vestments. "What you do wh n you have absolute safety [by I olding on to cash] is give up that 2 million of interest earnings," h said. Maximizing retur s is impor- tant to the city, Schroeder said, but not at too much r sk. "There are ways that I could maximize my return on an investment, but I could get in some real risky deal," Schroeder said. "There are peol ile that make 100 percent returns o things they invest in, but they Gin lose their shirt on the same kind of deal, too." Bryan-College Station looking to 2020 future 0 44P Fable staH writer "A Berlin Wall between Bryan and College Station." A citizen's reply to the question of the worst nightmare for the community in the year 2020 probably won't become reality, but a number of residents are worried about the growing division between the two cities and what it means to the vision called Brazos 2020. "People coming in see the community as one," said Florita Bell Griffin, Ph.D, executive director for Brazos 2020 Vision. "But then they start dealing with various agencies and people who have been here for awhile and know the history of the division, and that really bothers me. I want to see a community that can work together for the benefit of everybody." Residents get their chance to work together to decide the future of the community starting tonight in the Chamber of Commerce Conference Room at 6:30. The theme meeting is the first of six that run through Sept. 15 detailing dif- ferent visions. The six theme groups then will decide how frequently to meet over the next nine months. Tonight's meeting covers economic enterprise, which includes the subjects of the health care industry, agriculture, manufacturing and international rela- tions. The meetings scheduled through Sept. 15 are: ■ Sept. 7: Entertainment. College Sta- tion Conference Center. Subjects include attractions, facilities, tourism and sports activities. ■Sept. 8: Environment. Brazos Centex. Subjects include landscaping, recy- cling, historic preservation and clean air and water. ■Sept. 13: Education. College Station Junior High Cafeteria. Subjects include early childhood, literacy, civic and social responsibility and parenting. ■Sept. 14: Service. City of Bryan Training Room. Subjects include health care providers, public safety and chari- ties. ■Sept. 15: Infrastructure. City of College Station Training Room. Subjects include transportation, utilities, housing and growth. Since May, Brazos 2020 has solicited responses from residents through 10 "Visioning Forums" at different places in the community, to give theme groups food for thought as the next phase of visioning begins. The questions at the forums deal with Above right, Anson Jones fourth- grader Michael Young looks to his teacher for guidance. The 2020 vision poll indicated that some respon- dents felt consolidating Bryan and College Sta- tion's school districts would be a good move. Above, some of those surveyed said the Bryan Business Park would make the community a better place if it could attract more businesses to the area. Right, the possibility of Easterwood Airport becoming a hub for more cities was expressed by some who responded in the 2020 survey. Far right, improvements in the mass transit system were envisioned by some survey respondents. Y ' It ' of funds are needed and the time frame of the project. A month will be set aside after the action plans are completed so the public can view the blueprints before they are presented to the Brazos 2020 board of directors. The board has members from both school districts and cities, Brazos County, the Brazos Valley Development Council, the B -CS Chamber of Com- merce and the Economic Development Corporation. An advisory council will act as the Eagle photo&/ Dave 1vlcDermand O un -met needs in the community and residents' dreams and nightmares for Bryan-College Station in the year 2020, hence tI e Berlin Wall response. Griffi i stressed that visioning forums can sti be scheduled through mid - October if an organization wants to help plan th community's future. After the theme roups meet for nine months they wi 1 form action plans to present to the corr munity, Griffin said. The action plans s ecify items like how the group plans o i reaching its goals, what kinds Please see 2020, page AB 0 C7 • 2020 From Al liaison between the comet ty and the board, Griffin said. "These people make sur the community's ideas are getting through in a fashion the board understands," Griffin said, "and they will be the ones to present the final recommendations to the board." Griffin said her philosophy on the whole project is based on working together to reach a common goal. "Collaboration and conse sus is the key," she said. The ob- lems that we face now and through the 21st century are far too big to deal with through gov- ernment alone. Everything is changing so fast it is very important for the com- munity to decide the direction they want to go in," Griffin said. Visioning has worked in other cities like Rock Hill, S.C., Griffin said, because the cities realize the importance of residents' input in overcoming obstacles now and in the future. "Citizen participation has been rgcognized as a key ingredient in solving some of the proble s," Griffin said, "and letting the diti. zens decide the direction of tj eft communities. "We want schools, churches, organizations, Individuals, everybody in any entity to par tie, spate in this visioning proce Griffin said, Rock Hill began "Empower g the Vision" in 1988 and has enjoyed a great deal of success with the project, GriQln said. "Once we are able to show people that this visioning process does work, and it has worked in other places, then we will be able to get more Input into the p cess," Griffin said. Griffin came to Bryan-Coll ge Station Aram North Carolina in 1987 because her husbar d, Richard Griffin, dreamed of attending Texas A &M and becoming a soil scientist. "I had never heard of BrTsile - College Station," she said wi laugh, "but we moved here him to go to school.' Now, added, "I'm convinced you will meet no better people in t le country than in this community " Griffin received her and graduate degree in communic 1. tions from the University f North Carolina at Greensboro iu.d worked for the North Carol State Highway Patrol for throe years before moving to the Braz s Valley. After the couple arrived he , Griffin decided to continue h r education at Texas A &M d received her master's degree 1989 in urban and regional pla - ning and her doctorate in 1993 urban and regional science. 1990 she was hired by the city of Bryan as a development planner and then as a senior planner before taking the reins of the 2020 organization in Nov ember 1993. "Although I did not want 'to leave the city of Bryan," Griffin said, "I wanted the challenge of trying to get the community involved in deciding what their future would be." And the future is closer than people may think, Griffin said. "Many people have voiced their concern that the year 2020 is so far away," she said, "but in order for us to reach our goals in 28 years there are going to have to be action plans that reach small goals In two- to five- to 10 -year Increments. "We will see a process where things will be continually hap+ parting during that time flame," ! GrMln said. "It won't be like the year is 2020 and you see all of these things when you didn't se anything before." pa cd-e -Cq,- ❑ W ed nesdct J Sep+- e.rnbe,r- r 1,lggy CS Council to consider landfill panel By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Committee to help pick n wr iter Eagle s taff writer It's going to be a dirty job, but some Brazos Valley residents volunteered to do it The College Station City Council tonight will consider 12 area citizens, six each from Bryan and College Station, to hr : a spot that takes Valley waste �L lst century. kecutive director of the Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency, Bill Angelo, picked the 12 people after interviewing about 40 candidates for the Citizens Advisory Committee. The 12 represent a "cross- section of the community" in areas like employment, salary and race, Angelo said. Committee members are also people who are "envi- ronmentally conscious but not opposed to land£illing as a form of disposal," Angelo said. Councilmembers will consider for- mally approving the committee members during their regular meeting at 7 pm. in T council chambers at city hall. Next week, the Bryan City Council will con- sider the same item at its regular meeting. The purpose of the committee is to give public input and help 13VSWMA form the guidelines for the selection of the landfill site, Angelo said. The agency staff and outside consultants then identify sites that best meet the guidelines. The consul- tants picked by BVSWMA are HDR Engineering; K.W. Brown Environ- mental Services; Lloyd, Gosselink, Fowler, Blevins and Matthews P.C.; and E. Bruce Harrison Co. "The permitting and design of a land- fill site is very technical," Angelo said. "It would virtually be impossible without tion 1 will b state wetly some No consi BV more Braze chaps Actic fill n landfill location r reviewing the sites, the com- will recommends the specific loca- )r the new landfill, although they restricted by available sites due to ;uidelines, Angelo said. Fault lines, ids, airports and floodplains are if the areas restricted, he said. >ites for the new landfill have been lered yet, Angelo said. IWMA hopes to add one or two committee members, one from the s Valley and one from the local sr of the Texas Environmental 1 Coalition, Angelo said. The land- ay be located outside of the two limits, he said, therefore the entire i needs representation. rently, waste generated by the two and some surrounding communi- ties goes to the Rock Prairie Road Land- fill located on 49 acres near the intersec- tion of Rock Prairie and Green Prairie roads. A 1993 report said that 440 tons of waste were disposed of daily in the landfill and that the site would be completely filled in 2001. Since the report came out, a number of landfills have closed due to tougher state requirements for operating a land- fill. The Rock Prairie site now accepts 550 tons of trash a day, Angelo said. At that rate, he said, the site will fill in five years, making a new landfill necessary sooner than thought. Early figures indicate the new site will cover about 640 acres, with 350 to 390 acres used for waste disposal. Buffer zones, composting and large -scale recy- cling would cover the other acreage, �1 �a51e- a q, lgQ New r In the late 1980s, the investment ball- game changed for Texas municipalities. Before goverrnmeme nt deregulation, cities played a game of softball with securities, lobbing their money into investments cities that were extremely safe but not very profitable. Station its p ut The city of College made investments through banks, which amounted to buying certificates of deposit, or CDs. With a CD, an investor i n d puts money in a bank fora period time with the bank agreeing to pay a certain interest rate during the life of the deposit or at its maturity. But College Stat i o n tS Although CDs are relatively safe , eir returns are low and the rostrum nta aren't very easily turned into cash or Conservative financial made eliquid." The federal government says that ou h kept t safe have to pay a pretty good penalty to break p o l i ci e s I I ave that CD before its maturity," said Glenn Editor's note: This is the second story in an Schroeder, executive director of finance for the city of College Station. That was occasional series about how the cities of Bryan a downside. We kept investments much and College Station invest their money. shorter than needed to have that liq- By BRENT ZWERNEMAN uidity." But the rules of the game changed. Eagle staff writer State government tossed a hardball to the cities, allowing them to play with the big. boys of investing. That meant they might face an occasional curveball in the fprm- of a speculative or risky investment. College Station guards against bu lilt speculative securities by dealing th. about six brokers, even though then are; about 75 others who would like t� do business with the city, Schroeder sai : "If one broker calls and says, his - looks like a good idea,' I'll call a broker at another place and ask him, 'Tell me what you think about that. What kinds of bids would you give me?' "Generally we try to get at least a couple of comparisons so we know what we are buying, [so brokers don't try to] pull the wool over our eyes," Schroeder said. David Ellis, an assistant professor of finance at Texas A &M University, said he's seen cases of cities trying to wheel and deal in the financial marketplace. "You will find — and they're always the ones who get in trouble — municipal- ities that think they can compete with the big boys on Wall Street," Ellis said. "That is not their job, and it's inappro- priate." Ellis advised state and local govern- ments for the investment firm Salomon Brothers before coming to Texas A &M. The city of College Station invests in all kinds of securities, but all are backed by the U.S. government, Schroeder eaid. That means the government will im- burse the city for lost investments. "State law allows us to invest in c om- mercial paper, but the City Council is not comfortable with investing in commer- cial paper," he said. Commercial paper is a business-issued i unsecured investment with a nine - nth or less maturity. That line of thinking is natural for a municipality, Ellis said. "It is quite common that the politi cans like to be more conservative than jhe financial managers, for obvious reasons," he said. Like getting re- elected? "Exactly," Ellis said. Investing in commercial paper is a good move if a top -rated secu- : City is picked, Ellis said. - Only the large corporations Lave access to that market. Is IBM liot going to be able to pay that Off? No. If nothing else, they have a huge line of credit that they can draw upon to pay that off. I'd have to argue that IBM commercial paper is safer than buying CDs in Wine Texas banks," he said. "There also is an active sec- ondary market," Ellis said. "You can turn around and sell [the . commercial paper]. A lot of these CDs, you're stuck with it." The city holds about a $30 mil- lion portfolio, depending on the time of year. As of July 31, the city held 11 securities that produce about $1.5 million to $2.5 million in interest annually. "That is a very reasonable return on a portfolio that seems to be managed in a conservative manner," Ellis said. Loc I/st te CS approves land fill committee ByBRENTZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer A dozen area residents are about to embark on a "major adventure." It's not a safari to the jungle. But, on the other hand, the upcoming task for the 12 people picked to select a site for a 644 acre landfill isn't expected to be a day at the beach. Bill Angelo, the executive director of the Brazos Valley Solid Waste Manage. went Agency, used the term "major adventure" Wednesday night to describe the process of selecting a site, receiving a permit, designing the landfill and than building the one -square -mile complex. The 12 people picked by Angelo for the Citizens Advisory Committee were approved unanimously Wednesday night at the regular meeting of the College Sta. tior Council. Committee members stil gain the approval of Bryan's Cit. 4 at its next meeting Tuesday night. College Station council members also "This is one greater step toward thi being acknowledged by all people that the problems of ore community affect the other." HUB KENNADY College Station city councilman adopted a $74 million budget for next year. The new budget is about $9 million Mort, than the current budget. A ]public hearing on a new tax rate is scheduled for Sept. 14. The council is proposing keeping the tax rate at 44.6 cents per $100 property valuation. There was a slight anag during confir- mation of the Citizens Advisory Com- mittee members. Mayor Larry Ringer pointed out that committee member Allan. Hanson lived in Bryan, not College Station as noted on the committee list. Hanson is a banker in College Station. Under repair The OMMittee was ideally supposed to have stir members from each city, Angelo ssaid* finger said the fact that Hanson lived in Bryan waan't a big deal because of the prO jest's regional scope. Councilman Hub Kennady said the project brings the two cities together and it does not matter what city the com- mittee members are from. "Every one of the 12 people there are going to make the best decisions for this community," Kennady said. "This is one greater step toward this being acknowl- edged by all people that the problems of one community affect the other." City Manager Ron Ragland said the cri. teria used in picking the site are most important in the drive to get a permit and it does not matter where any of the citi- zens reside in the area "It's not like it used to be. It's not a good-old-boy system," he said. °It's really a very objective, scientific, economic and cost-effective approach Ito get the per. mit]. If you haven't done your homework, You're going to get it kicked back. "When you spend the kind of money that we're spending to do the analysis required to get that permit, you don't want it sent back," Ragland said. In other business on Wednesday, council members adopted the new budget by a 6.1 vote. Kennedy cast the lone dis. senting vote. Earlier in the meeting he tried to put off the vote, saying the newer council members needed to become more familiar with the numbers in the budget that will take effect Oct 1. Ags want: lawsuit dismissed By SEAN FRERKINO Eagle staff writer Texas A&M University has denied all allegations levied by a former Develop- ment Foundation fund- raiser who says she was illegally fired from her job. In Its response to Dawn Lee Wake. field's civil lawsuit filed on July 29, the university contends that Wakefield's lawsuit should be thrown out because it "fails to state a claim" against A&M:or the Development Foundation, the other Party named in the lawsuit; and because the statute of limitations on the claim has expired Wakefield's lawsuit claims she was "unlawfully" terminated because she refused to cooperate in Rind- raising activities she believed were questionable or illegal. Wakefield was fired on July 31, 1993, after working as the foundation's director of development for A&M's Col. lege of Science since April 20, 1990. The lawsuit, which Wakefield wrote, also claims that she was discriminated against and harassed beca}m she was a woman. Genevieve Stubbs, associate general counsal for tha Taxss A &M TT,.iw. ,. Eagle photo/ BIII Meeks This ramp (foreground) Is one of the ramps at College Station's Central Park parks ponds are being deepened to create a more fish - frlendly home. A new that Is being Improved to accommodate wheelchairs. In the background, the pump system Is also being built to raise oxygen levels In the ponds. Mond" S 2), ►9 qy Eagle. Diversity and innovation give College Station solid portfolio Editor's note: This is the thb -d story in an occasional series about how the cities of Bryan and College Station invest their money. By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer State deregulations in the late 1980s opened a whole new world for the city of College Station investment -wise. The city was no longer limited to investing in the safe but low- yielding bank certificate of deposit. "Many of the states in the south are more conservative [investment -wise] than the rest of the country, but Texas has liberalized that a lot now and left it up to the discretion of the individual municipalities," said David Ellis, assis- tant professor of finance at Texas A &M University. Ellis advised state and local govern- ments for the investment firm Salomon Brothers before coming to Texas A &M. The city of College Station now holds a $30 million portfolio, depending on the time of year. As of July 31, the city held 11 securities that produce about $1.5 million to $2.5 million a year in interest. Part of the portfolio is a regular account with First American Bank where day - today transactions take place. "That is where all of our cash goes and that is what all of our checks are written roeder, executive director of finance for the city of College Station. As of July 31, the city held about $1.8 million in its demand bank account, although the city usually keeps it under $1 million, Schroeder said. When the account reaches $1 million, the city sees if there are any immediate needs. "If we don't need a lot of money over the next two or three days we'll transfer some money to the TexPool," Schroeder said. The TexPool is an account moni- tored and invested by the state trea- surer's office. Government agencies like municipalities and school districts pool their money so more financial options are available to them. The treasurer's office then invests the dollars and pro- rates the earnings back to the agencies P�- 1 z J J {nonda� 31c.s. S -P_p�e..rn)Ozr va, 19 9k4 1!�a9le- z maturity date. We do that with some cau- tion," he said. "So we don't get into the situation of needing that cash and we've got to sell some- thing [because of missed cash - need points in day - today opera- tions]." Several weeks ago the city took a look at its portfolio to figure its current net worth. In other words, if the city had to sell its entire portfolio, how much money would it make? Schroeder said it was worth about $31 million, but that could change. "A year from now we may look at the same thing and it may say, OK, you have a 30 million port. folio, but if you had to sell it today you would only get $29 million for it," he said. "It is a fact that we continue to monitor but we don't do it with the intent that we are going to have to sell it." Even in an emergency, Schroeder said because of liquid investments the portfolio should not lose the city's money. "If a toiiaado Came t1.rnugh Nora and I and needed to have $5 y million tomorrow," he said, "I want to be able to go to this portfolio and come up with $5 million dollars ... and not have to take a loss on any of it." totalling $2,660,671.05. intent of reselling it, Schroeder. ■ Investments with the Stu- dent Loan Marketing Association said. "We don't buy something in totalling $2,032,385.80. anticipation that we are going to s e l l i t b e f o r e i t ■ Investments with the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corpora- matures," Schroeder said. "It tion totalling $3,734,797.71. sounds bad to say, but we really don't care what the market value da ■Investments with Financing from the time we buy it the "(The TexPool) is a real liquid Corporation Bonds totalling t a time it is supposed to mature, i thing," Schroeder said. "We can get money whenever we need it. $2,117,365. ■ Investments with Federal because we don't intend to do anything with it anyhow. At the same time, it gives us a Home Loan Bank totalling " never had to sell any - better earning rate than if we just $1,996,876.73. is 1- lllg print to m t»�tct becau leave it in a bank account." College Station had $3,642,533.36 The portfolio w� constructed and conservative in we needed the cash," he said. in the TexPool account earning its investments, Ellis said. Plus, all of the investments are backed by the U.S. government, an interest rate of 4.3 percent as of "There is nothing here that Schroeder said. That means the July 31. Other items listed in the port- strikes me as out- and-out specula- tive," he said. "It seems to be government will reimburse the city for lost investments. Ellis folio on July 31 are: ■ A of deposit quite well- managed." Most of College Station's said the city's typical approach of certificate totalling $52,116.18 earning 4.2 investments have less than a year holding on to an investment until its maturity serves a munici- percent. until maturity. These securities pal w ■ An assortment of U.S. Trea- make up 28 percent of the port- folio. The other securities' The municipal portfolio sury notes and bonds totalling $8,909,810.66, about 30 percent of average lives are listed below. should be prudently managed and is the total portfolio. ■ Investments of one to three the most prudent manner a buy-and-hold strategy," he said. ■ An investment with the Gov- years make up 27 percent. ■Investments of three to five The c doesn't always hold ernment National ?Mortgage Association totalling $354,199.81 years make up 27 percent. ...;.. t_ - .,..,t.r.tr, everything it owns w u,Q�u though. If Schroeder sees a and earning 6.86 percent interest. ■ Investments of five to 10 chance to sell an investment that ■ An assortment of Refunding years make up 1 percent. has a low interest rate, he said the Corporation strips totalling ■ Investments of greater than city might unload it before it $2,555,150. 10 years make up 16 percent. matures to find a security that ■ Investments with the Federal The city of College Station will pay more at about the same National Mortgage Corporation never buys a security with the z maturity date. We do that with some cau- tion," he said. "So we don't get into the situation of needing that cash and we've got to sell some- thing [because of missed cash - need points in day - today opera- tions]." Several weeks ago the city took a look at its portfolio to figure its current net worth. In other words, if the city had to sell its entire portfolio, how much money would it make? Schroeder said it was worth about $31 million, but that could change. "A year from now we may look at the same thing and it may say, OK, you have a 30 million port. folio, but if you had to sell it today you would only get $29 million for it," he said. "It is a fact that we continue to monitor but we don't do it with the intent that we are going to have to sell it." Even in an emergency, Schroeder said because of liquid investments the portfolio should not lose the city's money. "If a toiiaado Came t1.rnugh Nora and I and needed to have $5 y million tomorrow," he said, "I want to be able to go to this portfolio and come up with $5 million dollars ... and not have to take a loss on any of it." r)cAQ� p4 I CS sch hearin of trustees will hold on tax hike Monday The College Station school trustees will hav a public hearing Monday night on a proposed tax increase. The will adopt a tax rate during i Sept. 19 monthly meeting. The p posed rate is $1.61 per $100 valuatio . Though the proposed rate is lower the current $1.63 tax rate, it ,Fill rail more tax revenues because the dis cVs property tax base has increase(. The hearing will begin at 6 p.m. in the administration building board room, 18 Welsh Ave. Call 764 -54W for informs on. Chair an of United Way camp Ign announces team Tim ryan, vice chairman of The First National Bank and current chairman of the local United Way campaign, has announced members of his campaign team who will be responsible for solicitations in spe- cialized of the community. They include Andrea Derrig, of Thomp n, Derrig and Slovacek, PC., who serves both as assistant drive chair aid head of the professional divisio . Othe divisional chairs include Terry The Eagle, major division; gill Atkinson, First American Bank, industrial; Bill Erwin, GTE, business; Celia Goode- Haddock, University Title Co., financial; Sue Cranford, First National Bank, mall; Gerald "Buddy" Winn, Brazos County; Bob Yancy, city of College Station; Lee Freeman, city of Bryan; Marty Criswell, Bryan schools Claude Cunningham, College Station schools; Tony Barone, Texas A&M 11UUniversitT, Linda Johnson, Texas A&M University System; and Ashley Winkelmann, A &M Students. The annual Brazos United Way campaign officially began Aug. 31, with a final report date set for Nov. 2. r)ck CS school trustees will hold hearing on tax hike Monday The College Station school trustees will have a public hearing Monday night on the proposed tax increase. Thboard will adopt a tax rate during its Sept. 19 monthly meeting. The ,proposed rate is $1.61 per $100 valuation. Though the proposed rate is lower than the current $1.63 tax rate, it .'Fill raise more tax revenues because the d trict's property tax base has incr ed. The hearing will begin at 6 p.m. in the a inistration building board ® room, 812 Welsh Ave. Call 7645400 for info tion. u Chairman of United Way campaign announces team Tirr Bryan, vice chairman of The First National Bank and current c of the local United Way campaign, has announced members of his Campaign team who will be respo Bible for solicitations in spe- cial areas of the community. Thy include Andrea Derrig, of Thorr peon, Derrig and Slovacek, PC., who serves both as assistant drive chair and head of the professional divis on. Other divisional chairs include Terry Hall, The Eagle, major division; Bill Atkinson, First American Bank, industrial; Bill Erwin, GTE, business; Celia Goode- Haddock, University Title Co., financial; Sue Cranford, First National Bank, mall; Gerald 'Buddy" Winn, Brazos County; Bob Yancy, city of College Station; Lee Freeman, city of Bryan; Marty Criswell, Bryan schools; Claude Cunningham, College Station schools; Tony Barone, Texas A &M University; Linda Johnson, Texas A&M University System; and Ashl y Winkelmann, A&M Students. annual Brazos United Way cam ign officially began Aug. 31, i with a final report date set for Nov. 2. Sur S�- ,o�mber eagle / Ig4y CS school board to adopting tax rate ft r College Station school ri to adopt the 1994 tax 1 night during the regular board meeting. room, 1812 Welsh Ave. Other agenda items in t wary of projects phu n Knoll Elementary's r ' Development School tion of consolidating e and December monthly ei a special meeting on Dec. onsider 1994 :ees plan Monday monthly The board has held several discus- sions and public hearings on the pro- jposed tax rate of $1.61 per $100 valua- tion. Though it is a 2 t reduction from last year, some payers will pay more overall next year because property values througho t the county have increased. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the administration building board tae a sum - for South Aessional considera- November ,tines with • C �P�C k _ r-) I C04 Sunday S4>,P4e(nIoee- l �agle. 5,�gqy CS school board to consider adopting tax rate for 1994 College Station school trustees plan to adopt the 1994 tax rate Monday night during the regular monthly board meeting. The board has held several discus- sions and public hearinE s on the pro- I)osed tax rate of $1.61 r $100 valua- tion. Though it is a 2 - nt reduction from last year, some t, xpayers will pay more overall next year because property values through t the county have increased. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the administration building board room, 1812 Welsh Ave. Other agenda items in Jude a sum- ; mart' of projects planned for South Knoll Elementary's I Irofessional Development School an I considera- tion of consolidating the November and December monthly meetings with a special meeting on Dec. 5. l 5 Only one speak out against CS tax ike Only one College Sta 'on resident took issue with the city council at a public hearing Wednesday night on a proposal to increase total property tax revenues by 9 percent. Jack Perryman stood before the council and told them he was being t; ,axed to death." He said the property Rue of his house inc sed $1,600 is year but his income is the same as st year, making it tough for him to ay his taxes. s "It's difficult to have an increase in ayment taxes to the cit r when all I ave is `x' amount of do rs," he said. `I'm not making $40,OOC, $50,000 or 40,000 like everybody else. I make only about $16,000. It's hard to pay the bill .When it comes due because I don't ave the cash flow to do it." Perryman was the only person who Spoke during the hearing. Mayor Larry Ringer sad he hoped at only one residents owed up at e meeting because College Station residents believe they e satisfied ith the council's financia, status. "I'm hoping they feel they're getting value for their money, ' he said. You've got to remember we have the Ihird lowest tax rate of ci ies our size in the state of Texas." o Councilmembers are proposing Peeping the property tax rate at 44.5 cents per $100 property valuation. Though the tax rate would remain the same, the city's tax base has increased so the tax rate ill bring in more revenues. The council is expected to adopt the tax rate at its Sept. 22 meeting. - Thk�day )s,ie9v be-C I 2 �o, �iq B -CS sales up, state report says By BRENT ZWERNEMAN E agle staff writer Statewide, there was an increase of about 9. 4 percent in sales tax rebates sent to counties, the report says. Bryan rEoelved $519,959.56 this September in sales tax rebates compared to $470,765.031 last year, a 10.44 percer t increase. College Station got back $578,771.91 this September com- pared to S5 8,187.20 in September of 1993, an 11. 9 percent increase. The 1994 monthly payments to date for Eryan total $4,989,312.96 compared to $4,422,728.68 at this time last year, a 12.81 percent increase. The 1994 monthly payments to date for College Station total $6,358,246.23 compared to $5,847,829. 8 3 at this point in 1993, an 8.72 percent increase. The current state sales tax rate is 8'1+ percent. Gross sales for Bryan - College Sta- tion jumped 14.6 percent in the first quarter of 1994 compared to 9.6 per- cent statewide a state report says. "When the economy is good in the country and state, the economy is especially good in Bryan - College Station," said Robert Worley, exec- utive direct of the Economic Development Corporation. The analysis fro the office of the comptroller of public accounts says the gross sales for the fast quarter of 1994 were more than $488 million for B-CS, compared to more than $426 million f r the rust quarter of 1993. Gross sales are the total amount of all sales, leases and rentals of personal property and all labor and service charges made during the reporting per#od. The number of reporting outlets for Bryan- Gollege Station also increased in the first quarter of 1994 to 2,440 from 2,424, the report says. The "stab Intribute ng influence" of Texas A&M ersity, new indus- tries like the ned Blinn College consolidated pus in Bryan, and the "strong eback" of the oil industry all to the area's continued growth, Worley said. But they 't alone, he said. "you can look at almost any business or sector in Bryan- College Station and see growth in it," Worley said. Use tax purchases for the first qua-ter of 1994 were about 53.5 million in B-CS. Use tax pur- chases are the costs of all taxable items removed from inventory for personal or business use and all purchases on which no Texas sales tax was paid or use tax accrued. For exam le, items like manufac- turing and mristruction materials often do not iave an initial sales tax because the finished product earns a sales tax, said Glenn Schroeder, executive d or of finance for the city of College Station. Another report from the office of the state comptroller says Brazos County re ived nearly $1.1 million in September sales. tax rebates compared to about $989,000 received at this time last year, an 11 percent increase. �'Ur on ICDII . ,Lion j rlolo College Station park taking new name to honor citizens and beautify the area. 'three years later the organization affiliated with Keep Ame ica Beautiful and changed its name tO Brazos Beautiful) College IC tation Mayor Lai will officially rename W Park on Tuesday in honor o time residents of the city, Dorothy Miller. The dedication ceremony at 9:30 a.m. at 501 Rock PrE the site of the park. The area will be renames Dorothy Miller Park. The Millers founded the Brazos Co ty Association encourage citizens to clear ry Ringer �stchester 'two long - Jack and begin Road, Jack and Beautiful h 1980 to up litter L RECE'VED SEP 2 �uesd ec� � moo, 1I°�k-/ College Station lands profit on controversial deal? By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle s0 writer A piece of land grounded in contro- versy four months ago now stands to earn the city of College Station five times what it paid for the property in 1992, a College Station official said Monday. An informal offer was made two weeks age bout four acres of the 6.3 acres lo( - Holleman Street near Lassie St A Elrey Ash, director of the city velopment Services Administra- tion. The remaining property would be used for a new central fire station, Ash said. Ash wouldn't say how much the offer was but did say it was for more than two dollars a square foot The city bought the 6.3 acres of prop- erty in June of 1992. In May of this year, local businessman Patrick Siegert, a Col- lege Station mayoral candidate at the time, charged the property was mistak- enly bought by the city at a Resolution Trust Corp. auction. Siegert told The Eagle at that time the city "failed to perform their due diligence ... This reeks of a coverup, now that they say it should be a fire station." On Monday, Siegert said he is glad the city is making a profit on the land pur- chase, but the city should never have bought the land in the first place. "They need to be more forthcoming with the voters," he said. 'They bought it for park land, they didn't buy it for a fine station. What they are trying to do now is unload the property." The city bought the land with park funds, Mayor Larry Ringer said in May. At that time, he said the tract could be used for a city budding, park land or a fire station. Siegert said he knew of no study done to show the property is the best location for the new central Cure sta- tion, and that the city is just trying to cover its mistakes by placing it there. College Station Fire Chief William L. Kennedy said the land is an ideal place for the new central fire station based on a computer- generated study showing dif- ferent response Limes for various areas. "Wolf Pen Creek was our general loca- tion when site]," Ke turned of needed.Il and gottei College St 1992 for $ bid on the Lion, said tant city a The la mainly di placed on intended mation" a After tl wrong pr opportun and kill t decided i property, same are buy, went Now, a taking bi( original we started looking [for a new medy said. "The six-acre site t to be exactly what the city ould not have had a better site I it at that price." A day after ition agreed to buy the land in 12,500, the city realized it had wrong piece of land at the auc- Roxanne Nemcik, senior assis- d was bought erroneously e to a "For Sale" sign wrongly the piece of property the city o buy and "incomplete infor- the auction, Nemcik said. e city found it had bid on the perty, RTC gave the city the ty to recover its down payment e deal, Nemcik said. The city had gotten a good deal on the though, and since it was in the as the land they intended to ahead and purchased the land. required by law, the city is I s on the four acres based on the ffer, and has sent out 70 bid packages that are due by Sept. 27. The city staff plans to take a recommendation on a buyer to the council at its Oct. 13 meeting, Nemcik said. t TO DARTMOUTH POST OAK MALL 19M CREST COLLEGE STATXk/ LAND PURCHASE &3 ACRE O 2 Z Q 2 J z W U � W J ¢ N Z Q o ® � r LASSIE POO H'S LN f TO ALM TEXAS AV E. S. CAMPUS w o Eaq� G�pxci ioe uann C s �ac� le. �ueSday Se,&knbw ;)0, )qq� CSISD board adopts new property tax rate College Station properl y owners will pay higher school taxes t Us year, even though the tax. rate dropped by two cents. s. School trustees adopted a 1994 tax rate of $1.61 per $100 of p 7operty value at a regular meeting of he board on Monday night. The rate ' actually two cents lower than last year rate, but Brazos County property values went up this year. The owner of a College Station home appraised at $60,000 by co inty officials will pay $966 in school s. Board members did no discuss the tax rate Monday night be muse details were hammered out at pr evious meet- ings and in public hearings. Trustee Dave Skinner cast the lone vote against the tax rate. "I think that taxes are just too high," he said after the meet' "I feel like we pay enough taxes as it is. Besides, I feel like we can still get cost savings within the district." Skinner declined to identify areas of possible cost savings, but said he had spoken with the school staff who were pursing the matter. In other business, the board approved a development agreement between the school distr and the city by only one vote. c 31 c .S. Ea 5 1 P, �Uec�nP -S�ay� IQGy Phone -call tracing added after CS schoois, threats By MEUNDA RICE Eagle staff writer - -- _.Beginning today, the College Station school district will be able to trace tele- phone calls to their sources. "GTE is able to determine where calls are coming from that are coming into our system," said Assistant Superintendent David NeaL "They will be doing that for us." The action was prompted by two bomb threats at College Station Schools in less than a week. .A&M Consolidated High School was evacuated Sept. 13 after an anonymous' call at the school's main switchboard at 1:20 p.m: The caller said a bomb would explode at 1:35 p.m. Fire and police personnel search the school but found nothing, and classes resumed about an hour later. Less than a week later, on Monday, students at South Knoll Elementary School missed an entire class day because of a bomb threat. At 10:35 a.m., a anonymous caller told a school employee that a bomb would go off at 1 p.m. School officials called a firs drill and evacuated South Knoll's 500.: students. About an hour and a half later, the , stu - dents were bused to A&M Consolidated High School where they ate lunch and watched videos before returning to the elementary school just in time to go home. "The kids were just great," said Prin- cipal Brad Lancaster after a Monday night school board meeting. "They did everything we told t t o do." (moo As with the previous threat, College Station fire and police officials searched the school and found nothing..., � It Js is a felony to make a bomb threat, and school - officials will press chafges against anyone making such threats against College Station schools. "We want to do everything we can to narrow this down and find out who is . making these calls," said Neal. "We fully intend to take any action we're legally entitled to do." L" l . �C_ Ga� • • 12_ do, vy94 B -CS sales u p , state report says By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer Gross sales for Bryan- College Sta- tion jumped 14.6 percent in the first quarter of 1994 compared to 9.6 per- cent state' , a state report says. "When th economy is good in the country d state, the economy is espec y good in Bryan- College Station;' i Robert Worley, exec- utive dirdet r of the Economic Developm t Corporation. The analysts the office of the comptroller f public accounts says the gross sales for the first quarter of 1994 were more than 5488 million for B-CS, compared to more than $426 millin for the first quarter of 1993. Gross are the total amount of all sales, leases and rentals of personal property service charges made during the reporting period. The number of reporting outlets for Bryan-College Station also increased in the first quarter of 1994 to 2,440 from 2,424, the report says. The "stabilizing influence" of Texas A &M University, new indus- tries like the planned Blinn College consolidated campus in Bryan, and the "str comeback" of the oil industry contribute to the area's continued wth, Worley said. But they en't alone, he said. "you 2gj look at almost any business 01 sector in Bryan- College Station aid see growth in it," Worley siai 1. Use tax purchases for the first arter of 1994 were about $3.5 million in B-CS. Use tax pur- chases are the costs of all taxable items rein ved from inventory for per r business use and all purcha s on which no Texas sales tax was or use tax accrued. Fore ple, items like manufac- turing >�n construction materials often do n t have an initial sales tax because) a finished product earns a sales said Glenn Schroeder, executive lirector of finance for the city of Co ege Station. Anoth report from the office of the state comptroller says Brazos County), ived nearly $1.1 million in Septe ber sales, tax rebates comp to about $989,000 received at this a last year, an 11 percent Statewide, there was an increase of about 9.4 percent in sales tax rebate to counties, the report says. Bry� received 5519,959.56 this September in sales tax rebates conpared to $470,765.031 last year, a 10.44 percent increase. Collje e Station got back $578,77. 1 this September com- pared Z18,187.20 in September of 1993, 1.69 percent increase. The 1 94 monthly payments to date f3l Bryan total $4,989,312.96 comp to $4,422,728.68 at this time 1a t year, a 12.81 percent increa6 The 1 4 monthly payments to date for College Station total $6,358,246.23 compared to $5,847,829.83 at this point in 1993, an 8.72 percent increase. The current state sales tax rate is 8 V4 percent. o anl Colle9z rC�Q J SQ- (J�f✓V1� I` �i (r IQ� on College Station par taking new name to honor,ditizens College Station Mayor Ringer will officially rename r���estchester Park on Tuesday in honoo long- time residents of the cick and Dorothy Miller. The dedication ceremo4F will begin at 9:30 a.m. at 501 Rock airie Road, the site of the park. The area will be renamed Jack and Dorothy Miller Park. The Millers founded the Beautiful Brazos County Association in 1980 to encourage citizens to clle up litter and beautify the area. hree years later the organization iated with Keep America Beautiful and changed its name to Brazos Beautiful. 0 Eal�lpl �J e-6 r-�e- �d(� S P� -mU-r a \, � ( �qq r] College station council will consider fate of Texas Avenue College Station city staffers will pre- sent council members wita plans for improvements to Texas Avenue as part of the state's planned widening of the road. The presentation will lake place at the regular workshop m ting of the City Council at 4 p.m. od ay in the council chambers, 1101 S. Texas Ave. The staff has worked wi the Texas Department of Transportation for the past two years on incorporating the improvements requested by the city into this state project. Improvements to the ad include shade trees, a sidewalk d lighted street name signs. 40 s P OL �- � S tudents ideas Texas Avenue f unding to w lanes from University Drive to use planter boxes," Jeffcoat said. will also serve as a bike lane. minate the three major intersec- Changes to widen Live Oak Street. "Instead of just trees and bricks, "Right now it is illegal to ride tions at University Drive, George Scott Jeffcoat, an off - campus they want to have flowers." bicycles on Texas Avenue, so Bush Drive and Main Street. - - - this ill be �eally helpful to stu- The parking lots on the east _ en C �e , _- raison on each s' --A A �* f T boundaries By Melissa Jacobs THE BATTALION The Student Senate adopted a resolution last week supporting the consideration of funding to widen and improve the segment of Texas Avenue that runs in front of the Texas A &M campus. If funding is approved by the College Station City Council, the Texas Department of Trans- portation will increase Texas Avenue from four lanes to six said Texas A &M attracts a wide variety of people to campus and the surrounding area, and it is only appropriate to provide a better image of the University. "Anytime you go somewhere and people have taken the time to better the area, you notice," he said. "A lot of people enter through that part of the city When people visit the Universe ty, they also look at the city, so we should go full throttle." The median along Texas Av enue will be landscaped simi larly to the median on Univer- sity Drive. "The city council staff hopes to enue, there a ees an en , e a 10 -foot wide sidewalk which Lighted street signs will illu- See University /Page 9 -- _. City council encouraged to propose additional improvements By Lisa Messer paved medians, shade tree and lighted street TIFF. BATrAuON name signs. w5tat C. .<r „� the Transportation Planner Edwin Hard urged volle8v ii ix : {, r: n the: touncil to Ioll()w the vu c M vlis friar , .City council Wednesday to p additional staffers made. ia'ce l3 - 'We recommend the full streetscaping treat- ., ;See Editor ment," Hard said. 'Ir. addition to brick paved, - - -- __ -. -- medians with occasional trees planted in trey; � rnprovements to the state's planned widening of Texas Avenue, a k Suggested improvements inciucie adding gee e.,vuIlLf fr ag t s < all Cl CIN L L TEXAS AVENUE Expansion should include The plan to widen and improve the section of Texas Avenue that runs in front of the Texas A &M campus merits strong student support. The heavily used area is often plagued with traffic congestion and other problems which would be lessened by the addition. Unfortunately, despite support from city staffers for the option of building sidewalks wide enough to allow bicycle traffic, • some members of the College Station city council oppose the idea. Cur- rently, it is ille- 40 gal to ride a bicy- cle on that part of the street. "As a driver I don't agree with [letting bicyclists go down Texas Avenue]. It would scare me to death to let kids near that much traffic," said Councilman Larry Marriot. M a r r i o t seems to forget that most of the bicyclists who need such a path are adult college students N-ho concur risk riding j.,i _ _ _ . y traffic along George Bush Drive and University Drive, as well as on campus. It seems the greater risk or danger lies in not building a sidewalk wide enough for bicycles - which would force students either to ride in the street, to ride on the to pedestri . less traffic, needed safe As stude Scott Jeffc way to tri Texas Ave; into consid A& tween Unix This con begin for : three years make sure nity's nee( about the n RAFFIC icycle paths dewalk and pose a hazard s or to follow routes with ghting, security and other precautions. liaison to the city council t said, "Students need a sport themselves down e.That needs to be taken tion." Furthermore, Trans- portation Planner Edwin Hard said, "Widening the sidewalk would make Texas Avenue safer and more bicycle friendly." The other options which the city council plans to add to the state plan will greatly benefit both aesthetic and prac- tical aspects of the area. Paved medians, light- ed street name signs, shade trees, a 6 -foot- wide sidewalk - which will at least accommodate pedestrians, if not bicy- clists - and renovate the Walton Drive intersection. If willing to provide fund- ing, the Uni- versity can add a rubber - surfaced jog- ging track be- sity and George Bush. ruction project will not even other year, and then take complete. Planners need to will address all the commu- and avoid misconceptions ded improvements. p,Qct a - University' Continued from Page 1 side of Texas Avenue across from Main, where Walton begins, will be repaved and trees will be planted. An outer lane on the east side of Texas - - Avenue will serve as a right of way access road to prevent cars from pulling out of busi- nesses at various places on the avenue. "The driveways to the businesses on the east side of the road will empty into an ac- ~ ' cess road with one exit on Texas Avenue," Jeffcoat said. "To do that, property will have Er to be purchased." Jeffcoat said the city budgeted $350,000 to the improvement of streets. Stacy cameronrl CIE B —ALION "If approved, the money will be given the the Texas Department of Transportation Areas along University Drive and Texas Avenue will get some much needed improvement if and they will take the action, he said. the College Station City Council approves funding for the renovations. Jeffcoat said the estimated cost of the im- 9 provements is $407,000 and he hopes to get things, such as the George Bush Library and the additional $57,000 from the city's contin- " awe city says you complete circle. have to d i in portions George Bush Drive." gency fund. because of the length of the paths, he said. Schneider said the City Council has been "I think the city council will be interested Jeffcoat said he does not e p ct this pro- upgrading Texas Avenue since he came to in spending a little more and the contin- t to run into a lot of trouble. College Station in 1973. gency fund usually goes unused," he said. ec the niversity to "They've added more power poles and "The main thing is for "This will be such a positive change that of the the unity. Ths have widened and upgraded it, but it is still take full advantage hopefully the city council will be willing to O i movement is the same old Texas Avenue," he said. "It's will be a pretty substantial e of t e use the fund for it." he face of the University," aid. gratifying and satisfying to finally see it t Jeffcoat said he thinks this is an impor- Jeffcoat said he hopes to cha ng e the plan to come to this point." tant enough issue to express to the city ut lights on the A &M side of as Avenue. Councilman Hubbard Kennedy said he is council that A &M students are interested. p "That is the only unrestricted view of , generally supportive of the project. The University is interested in seeing campus, so maybe we can mo a them to the "This will be a tremendous move forward ® ....whal can be, doue..aud -the. ,students are in- center of the road," he said. for the community," he said:: "It will add t6 tergsted in the image of campus and the Vernon Schneider, a former College Sta- the aesthetic view of the city, especially in University," he said. tion city councilman, said this is a massive light of the George Bush Library." Jeffcoat said the city council is also inter- project and you always have problems with Jeffcoat said the city council will probably ested in laying a jogging path on the A &M projects this big. be as cooperative possible. side of Texas Avenue from University Drive Money is always a basic p o lem and you 'The city is very y interested in keeping up to George Bush Drive. have to get down to the pri i ies" he said. the community," he said. "This is a top - "When Dr. Mobley was president, plans "There is always a timetablc and the ques- notch form of government for the city and were presented that included a jogging path tion of `do we have time to do that?" they are concerned and keep in mind the in- that was estimated to cost $100,000," he Schneider said he supports the plans terests of the city." said. "However, it doesn't stand with the 100 percent. Schneider said there are a lot of allied new administration." "I think one of the major a is of the City groups that will make a contribution. Jeffcoat said the University has a prob- Council is beautification of tf e ity," he said. Brazos Beautiful, in my opinion, has lem with the jogging path because it only "Texas Avenue is the most vi 3ible part of the been a real spearhead and will definitely runs along the front of campus and they city and it sets the tone for lot of other play a role in getting us money; he said. Kyle Avenue to Lincoln Avenue "Students need a way to sponsible for the funding, he Council from six feet wide to ten feet wide. tran port themselves down said. "Widening the sidewalk would Texas Avenue,* Jeffcoat said. Councilman Hub Kennady Continued from Page 1 make Texas Avenue safer and "Tha eeds to be taken into con- said c s a o t p e e f th the improve the mor bicycle friendly," Hard said. sider t on." wells, like the current medians "people are currently prohibited H r said a major improve- ments that affect the A &M cam - on University Drive, there would from riding bikes on Texas. Less men t e council should consider pus, such as the trees lining be raised planter boxes." experienced bicyclists would feel is t treetscaping of Walton Texas 'We hould go to A &M hat in The planter boxes would include safer riding on the sidewalk than Drive. shade trees, ornamental trees, in a bike route." he right turn lanes would hand," Kennady said. 'They can shrubbery and flowers. Councilman Larry Marriott be r oved," Hard said, "and help us on this, and we'll help Hard said city staffers also said he was opposed to allowing Walton Drive would be widened. them down the line. We'll be recommend planting roadside bicyclists on Texas Avenue. The existing median would be swapping favors." shade trees. "That's crazy," Marriott said. replaced with brick pavers." Jeffcoat said he thinks the "One hundred twenty -five "eyre going to let bicyclists go d said the city will pre- city has done well with the goal shade trees are allowed for in down Texas Avenue? Asa driver sent t e improvements to A &M of community enhancement. the project," Hard said. "You I don't agree with that. It would offic a s, but the University has "Overall, I think the city's im- can increase or decrease that scare me to death to let kids near not o miffed to any participa- tto front of campus and to the number, and dictate their loca- that much traffic. I don't think tion i funding. tion to both sides of the street or that's a good idea at all." o ever, if A &M is interest- dim parts of the city next to cam - one side or the other." Scott Jeffcoat, the Student ed i 6 -foot wide rubber sum- pus, Jeffcoat said. theme Hard said another option the Senate liaison to the College face ogging path to run along opportunity to upgrade council has is to widen the side- Station City Council, said he be- Tex s Avenue to University Drive, the ty." from George Bush age of the city and the Universi- walk the state will build on the lieves A &M students need the Dr a east side of Texas Avenue from 10- foot -wide sidewalk. Unf a ity would be entirely re- Hard said improvements to kyej E = 9 y DATE: 0 r).)I 4 Q D t I qq ` it COLLEGE STAT, Council to con's - " new regulation �s ' Inter this month, the College Station City Council will be asked to consider amending the city's drainage ordinance. The reason for revising the existing ordi- ^R is to help clarify some questions have come up regarding drainage he past few years. The ordinance oe viewed from different perspec- ves. On one hand the changes will pre- vent flooding and improve the communi- ty's appearance. On the other hand, the higher standards and regulation could increase land development costs. The revised ordinance also updates language related to the National Flood Insurance Program that makes flood insurance .available to the entire community. EASEMENTS A drainage easement gives the city the right to construct and maintain.. a drainage facility on otherwise, private property. The revised ordinance says that drainage easements may be required for facilities carrying storm and surface waters from city streets to major creeks, between properties and defined drainage ways, and along sections of major creeks to provide a pathway for the 100 -year storm flow. Drainage easements should also be provided for stormwater deten- tion and retention facilities and for drainage facilities carrying water firom a development to a minor creek. DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN Development and design standards have been made clearer by the revised ordinance. Drainage development regula- tions and standards are designed to lessen the flooding and erosion impacts that hap- pen when land is developed. These stan- dards apply to all properties in the city, but new developments are the ones most affected. The development policy begins with the basic idea that property owners are responsible for the water that drains through and firom their property. That risibility includes flows that might L from future development uphill rem New drainage.facilitfes,wil(be ied to be big enough to manage and ' control potential runoff from the entire upstream drainage area whether inside or outside the property. New development can increase the . amount of water that runs off the land. The revised ordinance says that increased runoff caused by new development cannot exceed the capacity of the upstream or downstream drainage system or adverse- ly affect adjoining Property. In cases where the anticipated runoff will exceed the existing capacity of the downstream drainage facilities, the city engineer may allow the phasing of development, the use of control methods such as detention or retention and/or the construction of off- site drainage improvements. in order to help keep the city clean, developments must be designed to mini- mize erosion during development and the . owner shall be responsible for immediate removal of any silt or soils transported' from the property by water, wind, people' or machines and deposited on streets,, drainage ways and other properties. The revised ordinance does not allow the construction of open ditches along .: rear lot lines in new developments. Once a good drainage facility designed and built, it can become less effective if it gets plugged up. The revised ordinance says that property owners can not cause flow to be restricted, blocked or impeded in drainage ways or facilities. MAINTENANCE An issue that frequently causes que$ . . bons is who will take care of these.facD;. ties and what level of maintenance wlll.be' provided. This maintenance issue was . '.:, the focus of discussion by a group of cit1-, '> tens invited to give their opinions on development issues. The revised otdl- nance contains the solution that this group developed and defines three levels ' of maintenance: public, residential and . . commercial/industrial. t Public maintenance is what the city.. . will provide. On drainage facilities .:.. i tamed in dedicated easements,, the el will maintain and repair all concrete` other hard surfaces, remove large debris and obstructions, remove or manage ; large vegetation and remove large aCcri• mulations of silt and soft Residential property owners' will. maintain drainage ways on their , ty by routine mowing of grass and removing small debris and litter. w,;'.;• Owners of commercial, industrial,.a�:; high density residential developm *5. will maintain and repair concrete�, other hard surfaces, provide routm ± mowing and removal of any and all debris, litter and obstructions. V, Drainage and flooding are issues M4.. ; community is particularly aware of given,`; our recent unusual storms. These 01'6 �t'_ nance revisions are only one componerit ' of these complex topics. rd welcome f back from College Station residents an developers regarding these pro changes. 1 ■ Mark Smith is director of public services College Station. Q\ c V�,aQ 00tboe- 7, lqaq Hazardous waste pickup gives area residents convenient disposal option Opportunity to rid homes of troublesome items Saturday By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer College Station resident Liz Crompton didn't know what to do with the old house at no cost and in an environmentally safe manner," he said. "We have received enthusiastic support, and cooperation from area leaders for this project." In addition to hazardous waste, people also may bring used tires to the collec- tion, said' E. G. White - Swift, public information officer for the authority. .Tin Nvrta director of reaional services is planned for November 12, at the Brazos County Road and Bridge Department maintenance building, located on Texas 21 just east of the FAl2818 intersection. What you can J "I've been saving th h ouse paint for 10 years, but I'm going to get rid of it on Saturday," she said. Crompton will be able to unload her unsafe waste free of charge at the House- hold Hazardous Waste Collection, and she encourages other Brazos Valley resi- dents to do the same. "We've all got hazardous wastes at home, and we need a safe place to dispose of them," Crompton said. The collection is sponsored by The Brazos River Authority, with help from the cities of Bryan and College Station and the Brazos Valley Development Council. The group will collect the waste, rain or shine, on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in front of the J.C. Penney store at Post Oak Mall. "We've had a call for quite some time to hold one of these events," said Terri Snider, inspector for the city of Bryan. Dale Pahmiyer, project administrator for the Brazos River Authority, said this is a good chance for residents to protect the environment. "This is a great opportunity for resi- dents to dispose of these waste products Council, said residents should follow three guidelines when bringing the haz- ardous waste to the collection site. ■Bring the waste products in their original containers. ■Don't mix the products. ■Don't allow children or pets in the same part of the car as the waste prod- ucts. The household hazardous waste collec- tion is the first in a series planned in the Brazos Valley, White -Swift said. Among the other collections planned is one in Washington County on October 22, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Linda Anderson Park on Independence Street in Brenham. The river authority contracted with Laidlaw Environmental Services to col- lect, package, transport and dispose of wastes astes in a manner approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Natural Resource Conserva- tion Commission, White -Swift said. No agricult— esticide wastes will be accepted Sa' White -Swift said, but an agricultu ticide waste collection For Saturday's Household Waste Collection Day at Post Oak Mall. there is a checklist from the Brazos River Authority of items to bring or not to bring. Items to bring from the garage or garden are: Used motor oil, antifreeze, bat. teries, brake fluid, herbicides, pes- ticides, rat polson, tires and pool chemicals. Old cleaning items to bring are: Drain cleaners, oven cleaners. spot removers, the cleaners. s6l vents, furniture polish, metal polish, kitchen cleaners and bath- room cleaners. Paint and supplies to bring are: Paint and thinners, paint stripper, spray cans, lacquer, wood preservatives and solvents. The items listed below cannot be brought, the authority said. Trash, ammunition, industrial waste, explosives, medical waste, fireworks, business waste, flares, smoke detectors, radioactive mate. rial and gas cylinders. an ct W V� U P� (1) H O O a� ct r TO THE CONCERT October 10, 1994 Eagle Editorial board Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater is a marvelous addition to the commu- nity. It attracts fine performers w have delighted people young an old. But neighbors have legitimat complaints about the outdoor th ater, or at least its users. When certs are over, many patrons ra strets and alleys as they leave The city must make sure that shadow are not disturbed by tho: ater, but let's be responsible abc way to and from the concerts. Sure you can drink a cup of coffee while you read today's n- newspaper clipping. Enjoy.! their cars up and down those crowded amphitheater. ose who live in the amphitheater's who use it. Let's enjoy the amphithe- our conduct on the Be polite to those around you. Don't forger to think of others who may surround you. SLOWDOWN, ON THE WAY y she was ano The Texas A&M student accused of fatally shooting 20-year-old Lori Ann Baker and then burning her body did not kill the victim's roommate because he believed she couldn't identify him, Col- lege Station police said. Robert Scott Shamburger, 22, 1226 Air. line Drive, College Station, confessed to shooting Baker, a junior accounting major at A&M, after he turned himself into College Station police, Lt. Wayne Onstott said. Baker's body was sent to Bexar County Medical Examiner's office in San Antonio. Preliminary autopsy results Monday said she died from a gunshot to the head and that her burns occurred after her death. urger's youth minister accom- `m when he gave himself up to ,tation police about two hours shot Baker, Sgt. Robert Cahill said. Cahill declined to name Sharnburger's religion or the youth pastor. Cahill added, however, that police believe Shamburger also is responsible for at least three other recent neighbor- hood burglaries. "there are probably some people in that area that don't know that he was ever in their house," Cahill said. "We think he probably burglarized more than two residences in that neighborhood in the past two or three weeks." Cahill said Shamburger probably robbed the homes because he was after money, items he could quickly sell or credit cards. Shamburger, a senior biomedical sci- ence major at A&M, faces capital murder and kidnapping charges for what police call a "senseless, horrible" crime. "What happened was just so sense- less," Cahill said. "What it did to her dreams, what it did to her family is beyond description. It's tragic." Question of identity spared life of Baker's roommate, polic. say By SEAN FRERKING Eagle staff writer Shamburger remains in Bra2os County Jail, in lieu of $250,000 bail. If convicted of capital murder, Shamburg er could face the death penalty. Police said they believe Shamburger shot Baker once in the head with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol after sh woke up and saw him trying to rob her house at 1008 Bayou Woods Drive. Cahill said the two A&M s udents were "casual acquaintances," bul he declined to elaborate. Police believe that Shamburger then abducted Victoria Kohler, B er's 20- year-old roommate who wa in on the attempted robbery /murder ly Friday morning. He threw a blanket over Kohler's head and bound her hands with duct tape, Cahill said. He then forced her to get into the trunk of her own car. Police said Shamburger drove Kohler's car around the area for some time before parking it a couple of blocks away. Shamburger then told Kohler to stay in the trunk until she heard sirens. Cahill declined to comment on how Kohler escaped from the trunk of her car_ He also declined to tell The Eagle if Kohler had identified Sham- burger. "Certainly we debriefed her," Cahill said. "You can't imagine the horrible ordeal this victim went through." Police said Shamburger returned to Baker's home, soaked her body and her room with gaso- line and then set her body on fire. Shamburger fled the house, leaving his car keys in the burning back room. Police said he reportedly stood in Baker's back yard before running into her brother, Mark. Shamburger reportedly told �Aark Baker before he fled the scene that "Lori is dead. Lori is dead." Sources: Investing by co mittee must go Editor's note:This is the fifth story ' ecca- e sional series about how the cities of an and College Station invest their money. By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer The city of Bryan doesn't have an employee whose only lob is to invest the municipality's money. "I think that you need someone who is constantly working the market, and we don't have that," said Mary Kay Moore, director of support services for Bryan. Instead, the city chooses investments by a four - member committee, and they deal with three to five investment firms at a time. I "We'll talk it through until we come to a decision that everyone agrees on," q Moore said. "You get to have some dif- ferent viewpoints." The committee consists of Moore, Finance Officer Kathy Davidson, Accounting Division Manager Debra Canant and Accountant II Julia Wofford. A former investment adviser for state and local governments and current assis- tant professor of finance at Texas A&M, David Ellis, said choosing investments'• } by ^ ^^imittee often means missed oppor- l t are problems with committees i it." you have to get a consensus, and someTiimes in the marketplace today you don't have the time to make a decision by committee," he said. 1 Some of these opportunities are there for only a couple of hours, sometimes a matter of minutes. Somebody has to make an informed decision in a short period of time. "By the time you get the committee together and circulate the proposal to everybody the opportunity may have evaporated," Ellis said. Linda Patterson, former assistant deputy state treasurer and state director of investments, said committees are good for deciding general policies and giving investment advice, but the final deci- sions on specific investments should rest with one person, based on the timeliness of the market. "The market moves quickly," she said. "If it's handled by committee, the delay can create lost opportunity. Ultimately, it should come down to one person's deci- sion on when to pull the trigger [on a deal]," she said. Patterson is currently president of Pat- terson and Associates in Austin. Moore said that because the committee members work in the same office they can call a meeting in a "heartbeat" if necessary. Ellis agreed with Moore th could use a full-time investor. "It's no longer the case that invest money on a part-time ba thing you do in addition to othe sibilities," he said. "That used to be the case 20 t ago, but I don't think we can si if we want our taxpayers' mone in a fashion that is consistent imizing return and minimi: We're in an increasingly coma cial marketplace and things going to get more complex in th years," Ellis said. "Obviously, if you are a sms pal ity like Bryan or College Stz is a cost involved in having investment officer and [the may not warrant that," he sa. that's the case, then it is proba idea to limit the types of prods gets involved in." Bryan III can some - espon - 10 years do that nvested h max- ; risk. i finan- •e only .ext few nunici- n there ill -time uation] "But if a good s a city In March of this year, Bryan invested $3 million in securities called "inverse floaters," and the investment is worth about half of that now. In June, the city sued the Houston investment representative and his employer who sold Bryan the securities. The lawsuit accuses Government Securi- ties Corp. and its representative, Ken Ward, of fraud and negligent representa- tion and seeks the return of Bryan's investments plus unspecified punitive damages. The suit says inverse floaters are most often traded by large institutional investors and are part of one of the most speculative markets in existence because they rise and fall dramatically in proportion to interest rates. Because of the pending litiga- tion, city officials wofi't comment Ct. itKy .t, Bryan uses a buy- and -hold strategy when investing, Moore said, meaning the city does not intend to sell any security before its maturity. Because of this policy, the $1.5 million is only a "paper loss," Ellis said, but is still cause for concern. "From a buy- and -hold investors' point of view, this mil- lion- and -a -half loss is not a problem," Ellis said. "It's unset- tling and unfortunate, but it's only going to be a factor if there was a catastrophe and they had to now. If it comes to that point, they're in pretty bad shape and losing a million - and -a -half bucks on their portfolio is the least of their worries." Ellis said the real problem is why the city invested in the spec- ulative security in the first place. "Did they really understand what they were getting into ?" he asked. .T The city of Bryan currently I holds a portfolio worth some S33 I million, but that number depends on the time of the year. The portfolio has held as much capital projects and debt service { payments have lowered the number. As of Aug. 31, the city held 27 securities that produce close to S2.5 million a year in interest. "Given how low interest rates are, that is an attractive return," Ellis said. All of the securities are backed v the federal government, which eans the government will reim- urse the city's principal invest- ment 100 percent. The city deals with about three to five investment firms at a time r Aloore sam. "We try not to have too many because it takes all of your time," she said. hours, sometimes a matter of minutes." z, E ll • Eac � e rGber 12 1 99 { In Town &Texas Brazos 2020 Visio - gives progress re ort Morita Bell Griffin, execu direc- tor for Brazos 2020 Vision, w update the College Station City cil on the progress of 2020 theme gr ' p meet- ings today at 4 p m. in the 4 S, — .chambers at the city hall, Ave. S. The 2020 update is of a coon =. cil's regular workshop'mee '' . Theme group mdetins Brazos:' Valley residents haf e i�v topics. , . like economic enterprlsdith nviron ' ment, education aind dh ent. Brazos 2020 Vision, o : -profit'.. organization, is sponsbrec nine ,t local organizations for the tsc.,of coordinating a coma' Vol— unteer effort. Th o un"e ook at how the Br - should advance, in all '' } i a year 2020. Leader: C �2020 0" sc B 4 ._ y KELLI LEVEY �^ Eagle staff writer Florita Bell Griffin assured the College Station City Council on Wednesday theft the Brazos 2020 Vision is right on schedule. She expects the group to finish the planning phase of its ntission in December 1995. , At least 650 citizens have already voiced what they would like to see in thii community by the year 2020. Members of the six "theme groups" — which target arts and entertainment, environment, service, infrastructure, economic enterprise and education — have narrowed their wish lists to five priority objectives. Griffin, executive director of Brazoe 2020 Vision, said public input has driven the project since it started almost a year ago. "We're trying to get the message across that you can't expect the government_ to do everything," she said. Griffin and the current participants still encourage local citizens to get involved. Next, each theme group W list two primary goals for what to d on each objective by the year 1997. "The next meeting will be kind of what I call 'the rubber hitting the road,' when some real action takes place," she said. "They'll start hammering out the details, then by the middle of next month we should be ready to invite the executive boards of each of the entities toI a ret ed to work on it." The theme groups plan to meet again within the next month. All meetings will be in the Brazos 2020 Vision headquar- ters in the Travis Landing Shopping Center, 1673 Briarcrest Dr. in Bryan. Theme groups will meet under the f61- lowing schedule: • Education, 6 p.m. today. • Infrastructure, 7:30 p.m. today. ■Arts and economic enterprise, noon Monday. • Entertainment, noon Oct. 31. ■Service, noon Nov. 1. • Environment, 6 p.m. Nov. 8. Several people involved in Brazos 2020 Vision plan to travel on Nov. 2-3 to Rock Hill, S.C., which has already gone through a similar process. The E g 13� 1994 The Eagle i`i State rewards College Station for coming 'clean' Eagle staff writer College Station has joined the ranks of an elite group of cities honored for maintaining a high standard of envi- ronmental protection. The Texas Natural Resource Conser- vation Commission recognized the city of College Station on Wednesday with 'ts Clean Cities 2000 award. The award )es to cities with a proven record of protecting the land, air and water. Mayor Larry Ringer received a call from the agency's commissioner prais- ing College Station for its exemplary plan of action to recycle and reduce landfill waste. Ringer said the award means two things for the city of College Station: "It recognizes the efforts were making in terms of protecting the environment. That's an incentive for new businesses to locate here. And it gives us some extra points when we apply for grants." Recognition by the commission will give the city of College Station leverage when applying for solid -waste grant ap- plications. The commission will also work closely with the city in providing public education materials and promot- ing public support for environmental projects. Commissioner Peggy Garner of the TNRCC in Austin agreed that the five selected cites would "get a better shot at recycling grants." Garner said it was College Station's efforts to reduce landfill waste that im- pressed the commission. "Composting yard waste is the easiest thing to do," Garner said. "Our main goal is to cut the amount of waste going into the landfills. Much of our landfill space is taken up by yard waste." One of the city's programs includes a "Don't Bag It" campaign that encour- ages recycling and backyard compost- ing. College Station now uses a curbside recycling program in residential areas. College Station Public Service Direc- tor Mark Smith said there are more en- vironmental projects planned for the city, such as curbside recycling for apartment complexes and commercial businesses. "We make it so easy to recycle," Smith said. "We collect the recyclables at the curbside. It does cost us some money, but I think it's worth it." Smith said many of the city's projects could become mandated by the state one day — for example, curbside recycling. He said the Clean Cities 2000 award will not only encourage businesses to locate in Bryan- College Station, but also sets high standards for business owners to maintain. Representatives from the cities of Austin, Garland, Georgetown and Waco will join College Station leaders in re- ceiving the award April 14 at the Gov- ernor's Banquet in Austin. By the year 2000, the TNRCC hopes to reach a higher standard of environ- mental protection in all Texas cities, said Garner. She said Texas is leading the ranks nationwide toward preserving the land, air and water. "The Environmental Protection Agency has told us that we lead in envi- ronmental projects," Garner said. "We are up there among the best. And we've worked hard at it." 0 L�I] G� I . F t o, C_ dS residents ready to t 11 City Council what to "Twenty College Station idents have agreed to serve as advisers to the City Council, helping to prepare for a potential capital improvema is bond election. The committee will re i w and crake recommendations on t pro- jects, traffic signals, drainage, parks pl7ojects and fire station issues. Resi- ftnts are encouraged to tell co ittee members their concerns an pinions *fore the end of October, s Peggy Oalliham, public relations and mar- keting manager for the city. The committee is chaired E)y Coun- cilman David Hickson. Girxc mem- bers are Sherry Ellison, StevB drich, Peter Keating, Charles Tho , Ron Silvia, Pat Cornelison, Edse Jones, $racy Gunnels, Bill Sw o A.C. Y[ar �nt, Winnie Garner, ci Rodgers, Joe Bergs $irdwell, Tony Jones, Riclu bert, Jim Hull and Greg Stiles. For more information call C 4 7643768 or Jeff Kersten at 76 Hazen, Dick •d Tal- Iliham •3745. 1 � � I ' - Killing sends shock waves through College Station residents By SEAN FRERKING Eagle staff writer "This hits too close to home," a College Station woman said. "Too close." The shaken witness, who was awakened by a pair of shotgun blasts, was only one of several people who repeated the same feeling of shock about the brutal murder at Adult Video in College Station early Wednesday morning. College Station police said John Wayne Walters' death is the fourth in less than three months, the highest annual total since 1982. Police said they couldn't offer any reasons why College Station's murder toll has increased dramati- cally. "Before this year, we hadn't had a murder since 1989," said Lt. Wayne Onstott. "And now we've had four this year. I don't have any idea why it's increased." The woman, who asked that her named not be used because of fear of reprisals, expressed disbelief about the incident. "This has been such a horrible day," she said. "I'm scared and my oldest daughter is freaked out because of this." She said she decided to call Col- lege Station police after the sus- pect sped away in a blue Ford pickup truck. State troopers arrested Bryan resident Stanley Allison Baker Jr. near Elgin about two hours after the murder. tic s. He's charged with capital murder. James Mayberry, manager of Adult Video, declined to com- ment. Adult Video, which is open 24 hours a day, opened for busi- ness later Wednesday. Pat Maros, manager of the La Quinta Inn which is next door to the adult video store, said that she was saddened to hear of the murder. "Certainly anything of this sort is shocking," said Maros, who lives with her husband on La Quinta property. "College Station is so safe 99.9 percent of the time. "We've never felt that the area was dangerous. We're shocked and really sorry for the poor person who was killed." She added that she had not received any complaints about the gunshots from hotel guests as of3p.m. Wednesday. J k 1 Off icials: Plant purchase to aid area By SEAN FRwriter Neatherlin firm buys long- closed plant site cantimprovement good inhatwa an indus- industrial jobs Eagle staff writer cant trial eye sore at one of the major The purchase of the long - closed NL Atlas Bradford plant in north Bryan will prime Bryan - College Station's economy as well as fulfill a local developer's dream, officials said on Wednesday. "We're here to congratulate and cele- brate this purchase," said College Station mayor Larry Ringer r'i'll give you twn reasons for lehration• One this project will bring jobs into the community. And two, this is someone local. That's exciting." Kenneth Neatherlin, president of Neatherlin Commercial Group, announced on Wednesday his company's purchase of the 120 -acre site north of Bryan at the corner of FM 2816 and Texas 6. The plant, which has about 200,000 square feet of warehouse space, closed in 1982 because of financial difficulties caused by dwindling oil markets. Nentherlin said he plans to turn the site Into a. husi-ness/industrial park. He declined to specify how much his com- pany paid for the closed plant and sur- rounding land, other than to say that it was a "multi - million dollar deal." Neatherlin said the new park could employ about 350 people. The new park will be called the North Point Business Park, and will feature light manufacturing and bring in new industry, he said. "It's been a long time coming," Neatherlin said. "This park will have a positive influence on the community, instead of being the ghost town it has been," Robert Worley, executive director of the Bryan - College Station Economic Development Corp. agreed. "As a direct result of this transaction we will see an immediate increase in the ad valorem tax base for the city of Bryan, entrances to the community," he said. Local officials agreed on Wednesday that the new industrial plant will only help Bryan and College Station's indus- trial parks. "I see it as a benefit to the community," Neatherlin said. "The more Bryan College Station has to offer the more industry will be attracted." Neatherlin also announced that Union Pacific Resources, a division of Union Pacific Railroads and another large com- pany have committed leasing space in the new industrial park. Polit.a.m Man accused in death of store clerk says he aimed to kill b )L - S - C 0 G 1Q._,.. C 7 r 6a.cj By CHRIS WHITLEY Police later learned that the truck belonged to Walters. The is considered a capital Eagle staff writer Sate troopers arrested Baker less than murder because ws A Bryan man accused of killing an two hours later on U.S. H 2 g y 90 near milled during an a - g a ggravated - role - adult video store clerk Wednesday Elgin in Bastrop County; Cahill bery, Cahill said. If convicted of morning told police that he went into the said. The troopers recognized the capital murder, Baker faces life in store to rob it and kill anyone who was truck from a bulletin put on a prison or death by injection. inside, a police affidavit said. nationwide police computer Cahill said he was glad troopers College Station police believe Stanley system by College Station police. brought Baker in so fast and Allison Baker Jr., 27, walked into Adult "We Put out a regional broad. without a struggle. Video at 603 Texas Avenue S. armed with cast on the suspect vehicle," "I'm very, very grateful that he a 12 -gauge shotgun and shot the employee Cahill said. "The trooper drove was taken into custody as quickly four times. Past that vehicle. He [Baker ] was and as safely as he was," he said. John Wayne Walters, 44, of Bryan, was going westbound, and the trooper "It could have been very dan- pronounced dead at the scene. He had was going east. The trooper gerous for anyone to stop that several gunshot wounds to his head. He turned around, pulled the car guy ... was working the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift in over and the suspect gave up Baker had been employed at the store, a police affidavit said. without incident." Winn -Dixie up until a month ago. The - affidavit said that Walters' man- The affidavit s aid that after W inn- ager es ha r 4:30 a .in. and Walters told him it had been a slow night nn1 -�g_ i maned of rights he told a Texas Ranger that Cahill said Employees Dixie's two Bryan-College Station and that there were no problems. he entered the adult video store area stores said they had never heard of Baker. Baker is charged with capital murder "with the intent to rob it and to and he remains in the Brazos County Jail kill anyone who was inside." in lieu of $250,000 bail. Cahill said police don't know Walters death marks the fourth what drove Baker to kill Walters. murder in less than three months in Col- "One would assume it would be lege Station, a town that before July had to eliminate any witnesses, but it not had a murder since 1989. might not be that in this case," "Four looks bad compared to the years Cahill said. "We're just not sure that we haven't had any kind of tragedy," right now." said College Station police Sgt. Robert id Baker made off with Cahill "It's just flat out coincidence It's orgy $� $120 the i just the kind of things that you can't plan for." A witness to the getaway reported hearing two shots, a short pause and then two more shots, the affidavit said. The witness, who requested anonymity, said a man walked out of the store and drove away in a 1991 blue Ford Ranger pickup truck. Police found the shotgun inside the truck, the affidavit said. Cahill said. he didn't know if police recovered the missing money. Police brought Walters back to College Station at about 2 p.m. _ College Station pol q uestioned him before moving him to the Brazos County Jail at about 3:30 p.m. J Page 2 Police: Man accused in death of store cl says he aimed to kill Ni Meeks "' Stanley Allison Baker Jr., a suspect in the College Station Adult Video store slaying, is led into the College Station Police Department on Wednesday. Eagle photo /Bill Meeks Harry Wilkerson, (right) a College Station Police Department crime scene detective, and an unidentified wrecker service worker stand by the murder victim's truck which was impounded at College Station. r Z .� �y..Y `�kN�1F4A1'"•f9��N,:�, d �;. Meeks "' Stanley Allison Baker Jr., a suspect in the College Station Adult Video store slaying, is led into the College Station Police Department on Wednesday. Eagle photo /Bill Meeks Harry Wilkerson, (right) a College Station Police Department crime scene detective, and an unidentified wrecker service worker stand by the murder victim's truck which was impounded at College Station. C� L Killing sends shock waves through College Station residents By SEAN FRERKING Eagle staff writer "This hits too close to home," a College Station woman said. "Too close." The shaken witness, who was awakened by a pair of shotgun blasts, was only one of several people who repeated the same feeling of shock about the brutal murder at Adult Video in College Station early Wednesday morning. College Station police said John Wayne Walters' death is the fourth in less than three months, the highest annual total since 1982. Police said they couldn't offer any reasons why College Station's murder toll has increased dramati- cally. "Before this year, we hadn't had a murder since 1989," said Lt. Wayne Onstctt. "And now we've had four this year. I don't have any idea why it's increased." The woman, who asked that her named not be used because of fear of reprisals, expressed disbelief about the incident. "This has been such a horrible day," she said. "I'm scared and my oldest daughter is freaked out because of this." She said she decided to call Col- lege Station police after the sus- pect sped away in a blue Ford pickup truck. State troopers arrested Bryan resident Stanley Allison Baker Jr. near Elgin about two hours after the murder. �3I S He's charged with capital murder. James Mayberry, manager of Adult Video, declined to com- ment. Adult Video, which is open 24 hours a day, opened for busi. ness later Wednesday. Pat Maros, manager of the La Quinta Inn which is next door to the adult video store, said that she was saddened to hear of the murder. "Certainly anything of this sort is shocking," said Maros, who lives with her husband on La Quinta property. "College Station is so safe 99.9 percent of the time. "We've never felt that the area was dangerous. We're shocked and really sorry for the poor person who was killed." She added that she had not received any complaints about the gunshots from hotel guests as Of 3 p.m. Wednesday. e- ;Q, A v • Thanks for making a great place to IN Like most people I always 0 fires were something that hap someone else. After all, this is tech age of digital smoke dete( sprinkler systems, and non -flE building products. When the College Station Fire Department gave me a 3:15 am. wa call to tell me my restaurant was o I thought it was a bad dream — or false alarm. Ten minutes later, as I pulled up my restaurant and saw the police c fire trucks and the KBTX cameran plying their respective trades, I re, that a minor electrical fire could e spread to something much more. But thanks to the good citizensh' Texas A&M University student, Dc McCanlies, and her friend, Heathe Harris, who spotted flames and sin and then flagged down a police off we were able to repair the damage open for business as usual. The quick response of the CoIleg S tation Pnlice– Fire departmen vented a small problem from becoi major catastrophe for me, my emp and our customers. Thanks for making College Stati great place to live and operate a bi ness. TOM K Outback to UP a a a ` cs Eq qIQ9�qq VJ e-6 n etd College Station plans to form Explorer Post The College Station Deparent of Emergency Management is fu a Disaster Preparedness Explorer Post. This scouting program is endorsed by the Federal. Emergency Management Agency and is open to young men and women ages 14 -�0. An organization meeting for potential members will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the city's.Parks and Recreation office, 1000 K enek Tap Rd. . , The post's emphasis tivill on disaster preparedness, - pu°blic safety issues and outdoor adventure activi- ties. Post meetings normally will be held twice a tnonth at the Parks and Recreation Department office. Sever fie trigs and caat�nping weekends ii4tc sclfeduled =ugh- out the y .O�r. , Contact the College Station Parks and Recreation Department at 764- 3773 for Piom information. J � lae day Ple se take care of the Col ege Station parks for G Austi Stati( here We very coves good midd who] The time throe does W, in G alre< don' d like to show my appreciation ege Station parks. I am ian and have lived in College for two years. I love all the parks �d my family and I use them a lot. ve close to Gabbard Park. It is a -etty park except that the pond is i in azolla (water weed). It was a ea to put that fountain in the of the pond. If it wasn't there the pond would be covered in azolla. nd at Brother Pond Park some - ias the same problem. People a lot of trash in the ponds and it aild up. lave some great parks and ponds ege Station, and the ponds are y covered in water weed, so please iollute them any more. SUSAN QUIRK, age 10 College Station (40,1 "P";�s. Ea51e -the Ec���or! College Station should pay law officers more As citizens of College Station, we are truly blessed with a fine city having many amenities and recreational facili- ties. We are indeed fortunate in that we and our children can enjoy these without having to be overly concerned with being harmed. I attribute this primarily to the police protection with which we have been provided. This protection is being provided by officers who are definitely officers must have off -duty jobs just to provide an adequate living for their fam- ilies. How can College Station expect to maintain experienced officers on the street without appropriate compensa- tion? True dedication is being demonstrated by these officers who go out each day or night and risk their lives to assure that we have a safe community. They are always there when help is needed. This has been demonstrated over and over again from help with minor problems as well as providing life- saving assistance. However, dedication doesn't put the T,_8 nesday To the editor beans on the table. How long can they afford to do this if their pay is not enough to maintain a reasonable life stylc- for their families? How many of us would be willing to put our life on the line each day for the salary they receive? I dare say there would be very few, if any. I urge each citizen of College Station to give this some serious thought and check out the facts. If you can, talk with some of the officers on the street to find out what they do. I think that once you do this, you will agree that our elected city representatives should take imme- diate action to increase the pay for our g desires. If they don't, then we have the duty to replace them at election time. JACK FOSTER— College Station of the funds used for parks or other recreational amenities could be used. Surely competent police protection is of higher priority than parks. One thing is certain: If we are not provided with dependable law enforcement and crime prevention, we will not be able to enjoy our parks, regardless of how many are provided, nor will we continue to have a city that we feel is unique and safe. If you think that something should be done, then let Mayor Larry Ringer and the members of the City Council know about it. They are our elected officials and are supposed respond to citizens � ( d a Why do cities n By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer The city of College Station studies the deed for possible annexation every year, a r -2 n n Thursday night the City Council k ved its latest annexation recom- Alon to four areas. ne areas include 2,100 acres north of Greens Prairie Road and west of Highway 6, 455 acres in the Pebble Creek Subdivision, 960 acres in an area east of Highway 6 and south of Rock Prairie Road, and 745 acres where FM 60 and the flzture Texas 47 will intersect. The areas do not include the Nantucket and Woodlake Estates neighborhoods. The City Council will hold public hear- E a) ings on the proposed annexe 10 and 16, and on Dec. 8. The city cites a number of It considered these areas for ■Expiration of the Com why and Settlement Agreement: Unci this 1980 agreement with the city of B College Station takes over electri ice of annexed areas after paying a fair- market value for the services, said Peggy Cal - liham, College Station's er of public relations and market The agreement expires in and so the city will look at areas with a high development potential and the need for land use control so that the city can, as much as possible, avoid ing into areas where College Station pro- d to annex? on Nov. vide full city services, Calliham said. ■Land use controL Growth manage- ment in road systems, utility infrastruc- ture and zoning are needed in areas around the city, Calliham said. ■Clear boundaries are needed: Pockets of unannexed land within the city limits do not allow for ease of service delivery and lower service costs, Cal. liham said. ■Extra - Territorial Jurisdiction cus- tomers receive city services outside the city limits: A drain on revenues occurs when some residents outside the city limits receive an equal portion of city services while paying a disproportion- ately low fee, CaMam said. c.s. hurzcla� S�� ad, IQQ�I Annex worries dominate CS meeting ByBRENTZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer Residents who live south of College Station didn't bother to wait for the reg- ular College Station City Council meeting tonight to voice opposition to a proposed annexation. At the regular wor1rd i meeting on Wednesday, an overflow crowd from the Nantucket W Woodlake Estates neigh- borhoods spilled out of the council cham- bers in opposition to a city staff study that showed their areas could be recom- mended for annexation at tonight's meeting. The residents gathered at the meeting let out a collective sigh of relief when told the staff decided not to recommend their areas for annexation, but they didn't have time to catch their breath before hearing I om the city that their areas would be reconsidered next year. The areas chosen by the staff for rec- ommendation to council tonight are all generally south of College Station. The areas include 2,100 acres north of Greens Prairie Road and west of Texas Avenue. 455 acres in the Pebble Creek subdivi- sion, 960 acres in an area east of Texas Avenue and south of Rock Prairie Road, and 745 acres where FM 60 and the future Texas 47 will intersect. Because of the big crowd, Mayor Pro-Tem Lynn Mcllhaney, f illing in for out -of -town Mayor Larry Ringer, broke from policy and opened the floor to the residents to tell the council how they felt about the proposed annexation. Usually, -the only ones to speak at a wor kshop ar e the council and staff. Even though the residents had been assured their subdivisions weren't a part of the staffs annexation recommenda- tions, some people went ahead and spoke up for next year's sake. After listening to several residents speak against annexation for a number of reasons, Councilmember David Hickson told the group that eventual annexation was inevitable due to a city's natural growth. "Eventually these areas are going to be sucked into the city," he said. No one spoke in opposition to the areas that were chosen for recommendation by the council, and no one spoke from the Nantucket and Woodlake Estates areas spoke in favor of annexation. After the meeting. Woodlake resident Bert Kretzsrhmar said he was relieved at the decision, but only forhow. Two of Four Sites Proposed for College Station Annexation P Approximately 2100 Acres s W T � , = p .� Approximately 960 Acres t� Eapl♦ GnpfJC /.be M. Man , "You have ordinances, rules and regu- lations that you are going to have to abide by [if annexed], which right now we don't have. We're happy the way it is," Kret- zschmar said. " Woodlake Las been Nomoted and developed as oounh'y- living lifestyle," he said. "With annexation I feel that that lifestyle is not going to exist anymore." Kretzschmar said so many people showed up at the meeting because there; was a high level of anxiety due to uncer, tainty about the annexation. `There are too m any que that are attached to annexation that are net being addressed prior to these [workshops)." he said. 1 � Queta Carpenter Has Personality the Size Of a Texas Judgeship County Jurists Have Powers Of Considerable Sweep; Has She Exceeded Hens? By RORM TOMSHn St4ff RePorter of TxE WALL STREET JOURNAL EAGLE PASS, Texas — It didn't exactly help her image as a political reformer when the state police set out to arrest County Judge Enriqueta Diaz Carpenter in June. A local television talk show called "Shoppers Guide" was drawing to a close one afternoon when Judge Carpenter stormed the studio. A powerfully built 53 with short black hair, piercing eyes and a voice like rolling thunder, she an- nounced tearfully on the air that her enemies were plot- ting to arrest, im- prison and perhaps kill her in jail. "It was like the Tammy' Faye Bakker `! show," recalls a_ _ still-incredulous &nqueta husinessman who Diaz meter tappened to tune in. "There were tears, and there were prayers." The judge's emotional outburst didn't stave off arrest. Nor did her arrest end her Performance. Using a portable phone, she called the television station, CSN, from her Jail cell and resumed broadcasting her tirade. The targets of her outbursts have been the small cadre of local politicians who had long kept a tight grip on local government offices and jobs in this barren border town. "I challenge their power, and I expose their corruption," declares Judge Carpen- ter, now free on bail and awaiting trial in a state district court here on charges of record tampering. "They don't know what to do with me." Even some of her supporters concede that Judge Carpenter may be her own worst enemy. "She has a heart of gold and she is as honest as the day is long," says Arturo Flores, a former mayor of Eagle Pass, the county seat. "But she is rude, she is loud, she is obnoxious and she is impolite." She is also unpredictable. "You can expect anything from her," says local KVAW -TV reporter Ignacio "Nacho" Tru- jillo, who last year won a civil suit against her in state court here. She has been ordered to pay by the end of this year $364 for the repair of a video camera she allegedly smashed while he was trying to film her. Judge Carpenter says she merely pushed away his camera because he was invading her privacy. "You may be walk- ing down the street and your butt itches rnd you scratch it," she says. "You don't ;now when he's back there [filming] be- hind the tree." Overarching Powers Few elected officials wield the kind of Power county judges enjoy in rural Texas. Besides presiding over certain criminal courts, these judges serve as chief execu- tives of county government, reigning over everything from payrolls to police work. The system can give rise to political bossism. It was Judge George Parr, the legendary "Duke" of nearby Duval County, whose political machine allegedly came up with the box full of "late votes" that rescued the 1948 U.S. Senate bid of a young Lyndon Baines Johnson. Here in A Texas Coq0ty To Mess With if Continued From F£rst P Maverick County, the late Jul Bibb enjoyed a 20 -year tenure .Part to platoons of so- called trc :paid political workers who n - absentee votes among the old, ti and the newly immigrated. Ever since Judge Bibb was v - office in the early 1970s, feuding the local Democratic Party ha musical chairs with local gover (ices. Each city, county or scl election brings a new round of pu plotting. "They are into revolut no other reason than just to rotal around," says Oscar Rodrigue four city managers hired and h 1990. Stepping forward in 1990 with to end the madness was Queta ter, as friends call her. A coal dau hter a d f Robert Inks in I out of 'ions of played ent of- ng and , if for he jobs one of I since g n ormer construch execu- tive, she used settlement money f rom her recent divorce to finance a writ -i cam- paign for county judge. The inc bent, a Democrat in an office held contint ously by Democrats since World War 11, didn't take very seriously her denunciation o his r "Iraqi- Hussein dictatorship." But in the end, Ms. Carpenter — an independ nt with Republican ties —won. It didn't take long for her to fil u 7e out how to use her new powers. She thr ened critics with arrest and publicly dei o need opponents as "kangaroos," swind and philanderers. Angie Rodriguez, liti- ca.11y active grocer whose husband enja- min, has served on the school boa and in various appointive posts in local overn- ment, found herself named tow iat the judge calls a "corruption list." All d after the city manager of the moment Oscar Rodriguez, proposed raising sewer es— a measure the judge opposed — he s Lys the judge had him taken into custo J3 for "conspiring to subvert the will o the people." The judge denies it, a the incident appears not to be a m r of public record. With the support of two allies n the five -seat county commission on whi she serves, the judge last year pushed ugh a budget that nearly halved the $14,6 2 pay of two commissioners who oppose her on most issues. She argued that, as teachers, they couldn't devote themselves full time to county business. Not that the judge hasn't taken a few hits herself. After she spent thousands of her own dollars stringing Christmas lights across a county park, somebody ha them taken down and chopped into piece!. The judge has feuded with the i 1 ted sheriff, Salvador Rios, who says s ie has never forgiven him for defeating on o her friends. As evidence of her vindicti ess, he points to a big new garbage compactor that the judge located outside his office door. And he says she and her commission friends have cut his budget so much that at times the department has had to operate without patrol cars. Judge Carpenter says that all ty departments are having to tighten t ieir belts but adds that the sheriff's pro 1 ms result from his own ineptitude. With ctlar- acteristic bluntness, she says the lawman, who was born south of the border, 's "a typical Mexican from Mexico. He is a v ry jolly man, he plays the guitar and he a good singer. Administratively, he hm a zero -mind for a brain." Another official with whom Judge C ir- penter has sparred, Maverick Count t- torney Ernest Mireles, helped bring ut her recent troubles. He says he left a of case files in the judge's courtroom an t at when he returned to court a few days I t r, the box was missing. The judge, he then began dismissing his cases. A local grand jury indicted her afte the Judge Is Nobody She Gets Riled missing box was allegedly found stuffed under her bathroom sink. Judge Carpenter says she was framed. Meanwhile, on June 13, the Texas Judicial Conduct Commission suspended her from office, with pay, pending the outcome of her trial, which has yet to be sched- uled. Undeterred by her arrest and suspen- sion, Judge Carpenter is busily running for re- election in November. Her opponent is making an issue of her problems: "We have gone from bad to worse, as far as image is concerned," says Rogelio "Rocky" Escobedo, the Democratic candi- date, adding that the judge "seems to be out of her mind when she runs a meet- ing." The entire affair has some local activ- ists thinking wistfully about Judge Bibb — the political boss they helped bring down two decades ago. "Looking back," says Mr. Flores, the former mayor, "he was better than anything we've had since." P i C� 1 t� c� 2 P S � tJ QL // �P� t � �I --Q -Q I ` L wNumic ruuus '.Xbate the Abatements? Study Offers Suggestion By MICHAEL ALLEN Staff RepOrter Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Do tax abatements have a future 'in Texas? Since 1981, when the Legislature first allowed communities to grant them, tax abatements have always seemed like a permanent —if controversial — fixture on the economic - development scene. But nothing is forever. This session, the law authorizing tax abatements comes under sunset review by the Le s- lature. While nobody expects abateme is to be eliminated entirely, lawmakers will be considering a number of possible changes. Among them: 9 Is the treatment of tax abatements in the new school- finance law fair to school districts? Many districts think not, a d they're teaming up with big industr al companies to have the law amended or overturned. 9 Are local taxing authorities com e- 'ent enough to negotiate a fair deal with tmpanies seeking abatements, or o 0iey need more state oversight? 9 What sorts of companies are the b sl candidates for abatements? For some interesting policy optio s, legislators need look no further than the Texas Research League, a nonpartisan Austin think tank that has been doing a lot of thinking about tax abatements. In a soon- to -be- released study, Ka in Richmond and Amy Spiro argue that abatements should be preserved as a development option, but with some im - portant caveats. At the same time, th y bring some hard facts and figures to Me debate over the new school- finance law, something that has been sorely lacking so far. First, school finance. As noted in a recent column, school districts around Texas are griping about the provision in Falling Abatements Number of school district tax abatements taking effect in Texas enterprise zones befor and after the new school finance law took effect (1994 figures are annualized) 50 40 10 90 '91 92 93 '94' '94' 'Abatements granted before May 31, 1993 and taking effect in 1994 'Abatements granted between May 31 and Jury 30. 1993 and taking effect in 1994 or Jan 1., 1995 Source. Texas Research league Senate Bill 7 that prevents them from deducting the value of abated properties when calculating their per-student prop- erty wealth. They argue that the requirement C kes it prohibitively expensive f( r n to grant abatements, because tf e a to assumes they have income from t1 e properties. In the case of poor distric s that grant abatements, this means sta aid gets reduced. Rich districts, co - versely, are forced to make payments the state or otherwise transfer wealt from their rolls, without getting incom from the abated property to compensate. According to the Research League study, the annualized rate of tax- abate- ment grants by school districts located in 78 designated state enterprise zones h in fact dropped nearly in half since Ma 31, 1993, when the new law took effect. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, says Ms. Richmond, an economist with the Austin offices of the Johnson & Wortley law firm. She suggests he new law may be forcing districts to be tougher on companies that come tot em seeking abatements, leading to few er deals that work out badly for the comm nity. In the past, she notes, other tax ng districts such as cities tended to make he decisions about abatements, and scbDol districts — which account for the over- whelming bulk of property taxes — wo Id merely rubber -stamp them. Now, e- cause school districts suffer a finan ial Businesses of Abatemen Percentage of Texas enterprise zones that aua�c,uwew Dui iHC�a cyNca s a hit, they are becoming more selective "Before, politics were driving the decision," Ms. Richmond says. " N ) economics are." Still, the study argues that it may be necessary to lighten the financial pena ty on school districts that grant aba e• ments. One way to do that might be to establish a competition among distric s, in which the state approves a lini ed number of abatements for which ded c• tions can be taken. State officials would examine propos- als from school districts and grade them based on such factors as the number and quality of jobs created, the amount of capital invested, and the level of nomic distress in the community. Sch 1 districts that lost out could still grant abatements, just as now; but they'd have to suffer the financial consequences. Apart from the issue of school-distr,ct abatements, the study suggests a nu ber of changes in the general tax -aba e- ment law. For one thing, the authc rs recommend that the law be amended to force taxing entities to perform a w - prehensive economic - feasibility stu ly before granting any abatements, so e- thing few do now. Another suggestion: Penalize taxi g entities that fail to report abatements 'to the Commerce Department and com troller's office. Though current law re- quires such reporting, there isn't cur- rently a penalty for noncompliance, le d- ing to "huge gaps" in state recur , Ms. Richmond says. Money Talks: The Amarillo Econon Development Corp. has been delug with calls from companies around 1 country seeking to cash in on the cit, offer to pay as much as $8 million for n jobs. Since starting a national ad ca paign last month and sending out sof 1,400 "checks" that can be cashed corporations that relocate or expand Amarillo, the city has received nearly inquiries. Last week, the first prospt paid a visit: A Texas publisher talked local officials about setting up a telem� keting operation that would employ people initially. Under the terms of Amarillo's offs that would set the city back $500,000. W l oc I Crq Lf 0 t The I c Groups collecting h; waste today at Post The Brazos River Authorii help from the cities of Bn College Station and the Braza Development Council, will Household Waste Collectic today at Post Oak Mall in fron Penney. The group will collect was Brazos County residents, i shine, Saturday from 9 a.m. to Jill Hyde, director of regio vices for the Brazos Development Council, said ri should follow three guideline bringing the hazardous wast( collection site. ■ Bring the waste products original containers. MDon't mix the products. ■ Don't allow children or pet same part of the car as the was ucts. with and galley Ad a Day f J.C. from n or p.m. I ser- 'alley dents when D the their n the October 5, 1994 56,iwrdo-`j 7 Ea3 le October 8 lq9q satu.rday Officials hope plan lowers tension between cities By SEAN FRERKING Eagle staff writer Bryan and College Station city officials hope to put their recent squabbles about electric service behind them with a pro- posed three -month suspension of legal action in the case. Mike Conduff, Bryan's city manager, said he expects the proposal to be accepted by the Bryan City Council at its meeting on Tuesday. "This is a mechanism to allow us to sit down and negotiate our electric contract issues," Conduff said. The city of Bryan filed a lawsuit in July against College Station over the validity of a 16 -year electric contract. The two cities have operated under an agreement that calls for Bryan to sell its utility lines and hand over its customers to College Station when College Station annexed land. In return for the utility lines, Bryan received fair market value for the elec- tric lines. The agreement was signed on March 13, 1980, and expires on July 1, 1996. However, Bryan officials believe the Please see PLAN, page A6 r i a n If the proposal is accepted by both city councils, all legal action From Al will cease until Jan. 10, 1995, or until an agreement is reached. College Station mayor Larry contract violated the city's Ringer said the proposal was a good move for both cities. charter. Until recently, Bryan's "The key issue is how do we get charter limited the authority of from here to the future," Ringer the city to enter into contracts said. "That does not only include that exceeded 10 years for the sale electric issues, but how this of electric power. affects the relationship between Bryan voters have to decide the two cities. whether to approve contracts that "Court cases aren't good for run longer than 10_years, under either city, or -for-our-developing- the charter. relationship." Don Wilkerson, operations He added that he believed Col - manager of electric utilities in lege Station's city council will Bryan, said the agreement has accept the proposal when it meets cost Bryan between 3,000 and on Wednesday. 4,000 customers. The proposal will also put a stop Both cities employed outside to either city annexing land until legal counsel, and officials Jan. 10, Conduff said. admitted that tension had "Annexation leads to service increased because of the issue. area disputes and those problems "Yes, tension had become are the ones we want to solve," he worse," Conduff said. "But I'm added. hopeful that this will build good The proposal allows the cities to will in both cities. "We'd both rather talk and nnex land from landowners who ad petitioned for annexation settle our differences than go and jefore Oct. 1. pursue litigation." J (law (From page one Roof From Al was still in the living room wen the high winds came, because his bedroom window shattered and the glass flew in. If anybody had been in my bed they would have been.. .," at that point Cunningham slowly drew his finger across his throat land said, "They would have had glass stuck all in their body." Oubre said the roof blew of at the same time the window blew in, and water started "gushing" through the ceiling. "I thought we were going to get electrocuted because the lights were on and the water was coming down out of the fight 41 Bryan - College Station Eagle socket and around the light bu he said. "We were just gc nuts." Cunningham said the sc would have been pretty had it been so serious. "The light was on, water filling up the light with the b and it was falling off the sides a fountain," he said. Oubra added, "it was pr neat." The two ran down the ha] wake up Stanley and then 1 fled the building. Oubra said his couch dining room table and ningham's bed were ruined by rain, and that they don't 1 renter's insurance. Next door in 307, Cathe Cloudt said she was in bed w the roof blew off. I was just curled up like a 1 baby crying, grabbing onto nday, Octo 10, 1994 Page A9 " thing I could," she said. "Our g windows were shaking like crazy. I can't believe that they didn't e break." Cloudt said she and Johnson s walked into the living room and 1 it was leaking like crazy." Kelly Cloudt was in Houston at the time. . Y "We didn't know what had hap - pened," Catherine Cloudt said. D "We were just trying to get out as fast as we could because we thought it was going to collapse." i- The city turned the College Sta- e tion Conference Center into a e temporary relief shelter after the storm, and two residents from the e apartment complex stayed n through Saturday morning, a con- ference center official said. The e residents' names weren't avail - i- able. P! • FIAM E019 le o giber I o I 1 �Fiq da y 'R oof does wim I aided i pp l l (( r i��Jr�• �� �s a'. wi e.4 .1 t t7 Eagle sla!l writer ��AL► i ` S��$ tL '1 : I Texas A &NI University students unter Cunningham, Mark Oubre and Rusty Stanley threw a party at their r ark«ay apartment. The next morning, their roof lay on it apartments grounds• having been luw•n off Wild night? Well, yes, but not due to to 21st birthday bash for Oubre's girl- , - fend. Instead. high winds, torrential iains and a possible tornado did the ;unage to Apartment 305. along with I to one next to it. t + The College Station Police Depart- lf- r tent reported no injuries from the %r , •%ere weather and said the storms r lost serious damage happened at arkway Apartments. No one spotted tornado, the lwl ice report said. M. On Sunday afternoon, the three stu- r (-ats. with help from fancily and tends. mueed their furniture from e second -floor apartment. located at - t300 Southwest Pkwy. l Oubre said the Parkway apartment Hi•e slid call around for a place for die three to live, but didn't offer a !,)rage place for their furniture in then r Meantime. k 'They dill just kind of say.' Well, you rtter find a place to put your stuff so it doesn't get ruined. he said. "We ;nd of thought they might have at v ast rented a storage room or some - t ing for the day." "` a The office offered to give the renters eir deposit back and their rent for Us month on a prorated basis. Cun- c ulgh;uu said. Parkway Apartments' manager, r r useanna Saldivar, was out"uf -town on unday and the apartments' district tanager. Vicky Kirkpatrick, said she „uld not speak on the matter until day. The roommates' next -dour neigh- ors in 307 also moved their belung- :gs from the complex Sunday. EapN pdota/M{dtael Mulvey The office on Saturday helped Ab ] tudents Catherine and Kelly Cloudt Texas A &M student Catherine Cloudt bads up some of her belongings after she was forced to move Tricia Johnson find a new place to from her damaged upstairs apartment at the Parkway Apartments in College Station. Cloudrs apartment ce at Plantation Oaks Apartments. and a few others were damaged when the weekend storm blew the roof on of a section of apartments. tLurir.c Cluudt said, but the stir e l is who lived below them weren't so Alf rd said the three were in Gray said. ruuuue. Housto for the weekend and couldn't The office had called them in " lThe office] said we should have make t back to College Station. Their Houston on Saturday to tell them 011ie [Saturday]." said Jefi" Gray, who fist apartment was not dam about the damage to the building, in 308 alum; with Angel Rivera aged. t they have no electricity so Gray said. nd Chris Alford. We ufl ice told them they had to move, The three made it back to College Station on Sunday, and for now, don't have a place to live. - ,� We have to go somewhere but 1 doti t know where," Gray said. b �• "I guess we'll just hang out with 4 friends," Alford added. Gray said the office told them to '• come back today because they were closed on Sunday. office] basically said it was up to us to find a place to live, which kind of sucks." Gray said. "It's not their fault or our fault• but we kind of _ ? expected to get a little more help than what we've gotten so far." When the storm hit Saturday t+i� +cu "ti ~ morniig at about 2:30, the party in 305 =' was over and Cunningham and Oubre were playing video games on the tele- y' * vision, as Stanley slept in his room. Cunningham said he was lucky he M students, wno were victims of the weekend's Inclement chef, move their belongings out of their cstairs apartment at the Parkway Apartments on SoUthwest r y in College Station on Sunday Please see ROOF, page A9 deader RECE"ITP DOT X2020 schedu RV I(FI I I 1 FVFY Florita Bell Griffin assured the Colle6 Station City Council on Wednesday "t the Brazos 2020 Vision is right bn schedule. She expects the group to finish the planning phase of its mission in December 1995. At least 650 citizens have already voiced what they would like to sea in thin community by the year 2020. Members of the six "theme ups" — which target arts and entertainment, environment, service, infrastructure, economic enterprise and education — have narrowed their wish lists to five priority objectives. Griffin, executive director of Brame 2020 Vision, said public input has driven the project since it started almost a year go. "We're trying to get the message across that you can't expect the government_ to do everything," she said. Griffin and the current participants still encourage local citizens 1 to get involved. Next, each theme group will list two primary goals for what to do on each objective by the year 1997. 'The next meeting will be kind of what I call 'the rubber hitting the road,' when some real action takes place," she said. "They'll start hammering out the details, then by the middle of next month, we should be ready to invite the executive boards of each of the entities to a retreat to work on it." The theme groups plan to meet again within the next month. All meetings will be in the Brazos 2020 Vision headquari ters in the Travis Landing Shopping Center, 1673 Briarcrest Dr. in Bryan. Theme groups will meet under the fol- lowing schedule: • Education, 6 p.m. today. • Infrastructure, 7:30 p.m. today. ■Arts and economic enterprise, noon Monday. ■Entertainment, noon Oct. 31. Service, noon Nov. 1. 1 Environment, 6 p.m. Nov. 8. Several people involved in Bm= 20k Vision plan to travel on N_ ov, 2$ to Rod[ Hill, S.C., which has ahead gone through a similar process. Th< 12 Brazos 2020 Visio gives progress rep rt Morita Bell Griffin, executive direc- tor for Brazos 2020 Vision, will update the College Station City C on the progress of 2020 theme gr meet- ings today at 4 p.m. in the'. une�'s_ chambers at the city hall,ei{,as Ave. S. The 2020 update is pa t:i)f c ;, cil's regular workshop 'meet '; 9. 1 Theme group m6ptings ,. Brazos Valley residents We topics' , like economic enterprise, the environ- ment, education and entgrta' ent. Brazos 2020 Vision, - a - profit' organization, is sponsbre4� - - local organizations for the p �s�.•of ': coordinating a coma =.° Vol- unteer effort. The ` k at how the Braz(M. advance, in all S ' hould 2020. E. year C. In Town &Texas e Eay �-tober Waste management agency By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer g ets ne o me r4 0 u Bill Angelo, executive director of the Brazos Valley Waste Management Agency, picked what he thought was the best spot for the agency's new office, but he still couldn't convince one College Sta- tion council member oft on Thursday night At their regular ZtIng, council members voted 41 in favor of moving the agency's office from the Public Services Center, located behind the police department on Texas Avenue South, to Crystal Park Plaza, located on the Texas 6 bypass between Emerald Parkway and Texas Avenue Sou The new ofii is about halfway between the ages Prairie Road and "[The agency) to both places,", down on travel cc Councilman against the prop �4 14, 1994 9 landfill off of Rock City Hall. ad have easy access elo said. "It will cut r Mariott voted saying he thought a month for the three -year lease. the office at Crystal Park was more than the agency needed. Angelo said the agency considered a of options when looking for the n office space, including expansion of existing landfill office and the rental or purchase of a portable office trailer. t agency also looked at leasing space o NationsBank, Victoria Bank and t, Varisco and WTA Management buildings and the Travis Landing re center. Rent on the office space will run $1,896 The agency is supported by fees from the landfill, an oil lease on the landfill property and the Bryan composting plant, he said. The agency is a cooperative effort between the cities of Bryan and College Station. Under an agreement reached when the agency was formed, agency administrators must get permission from the College Station City Council for pur- chases of more than $15,000, Angelo said. The eagle RECEIVED OCT 19 1994 0&ober Mother Nature, By SEAN FRERKING Eagle staff writer And after the deluge, the deluge. With 15 inches of rain already satu- rating the ground, flooding roads and trying patience, forecasters say 20 more inches could lash Southeast Texas and the Brazos Valley in the next two days. But when will it end? Friday. Maybe. "One would hope that by the end of the the rains would stop," said meteo- ,ist Bill Read at the National .. other Service in Houston. . "But we're in a pattern where nothing is moving, and I don't see any clear indi- cations that the weather will move out of the area in the next two days. "Severe flooding could be a result of this new front sitting over already flooded areas." The new front, a new line of severe thunderstorms, roared into the Brazos Valley, producing high winds and treacherous downpours that dumped as much as three inches of rain in an hour. But forecasters fear the front could stall over flooded lowlands and worsen already deadly situations. Inside ■ More weather news/B1 Since Saturday night, more than 15 inches of rain have pounded Bryan- College Station — setting a record of 14.51 inches in 24 hours. The storm rapidly became a killer with , ath toll of seven in Southeast Texas, re canoes and boats were a common ,.ght ferrying people from their dden homes. Phones and electricity were knocked out in wide areas i round Houston. Brazos County, apparently, got ofl 19 will it ever end' '' Eagle photo/ Dave McDermand Gabe Thornton, 13, peeks at the gapin hole that spanned Foxf ire Drive in College Station on Tuesday. two children, drowned i Grimes County, north of Anderson hen flood- waters swept their car off a co my road. A day -long search by vol nteers and Grimes County Sheriffs o ials found the bodies of Harold "Doc" nkoski, 67, of Richards; 8- year -old Anthony McIn- tosh of Anderson; and 5 -y a -old Chan - drall Calhoun of Anderson. Response to the situation m as swift by local, federal and state en e gency offi- cials. President Clinton or le red several top administration officia.s including Secretary of Transportat o i Federico Pena, to Southeast Texas t D inspect the damage and suggest ways to h 1p. Gov. Ann Richards dec ed Brazos County, along with 25 othe ounties, to be in a "state of disaster." But how much help Brazos County will get is anyone's guess, said County Judge has been done out in the county until the water recedes," he added. "The county engineer is out with emergency crews and has been for the past two days. "But if we get more rain it might take much more time." Holmgreem estimated county road damages at about $350,000. Floodwaters washed out several county roads and bridges. "We liave funds that will be used to fix the problems we have because of this storm," he added. "I'm delighted to receive state help, but we won't know how much we need until this all blows over." College Station authorities said they could sympathize with the county's plight. College Station spokesman Bob Yancy said the city has been hit with about $90,000 worth of damages because of the l / �� 1 u Bryan - College Station Eagle Wednesday, 0( er 19, 1994 Page 118 N O From page on for those who were displaced by E the riew b a ch of storms, but there were few tekers. Bryan authorities also were on From Al alert. "We're tanding by right now, torrent' storm. hoping t we won't have any At le st five city roads, more in," said Bryan including Foxfire Road and spokesman Joe Brown. "But we'll Graham Road, were washed out, be available all night because of and officials closed more than 40 the bad ather that is passing roads and streets during the through area tonight." storm's height. Brown dded that the City of "The damage was substantial," Bryan hz s 't seen much damage. ; Yancy s id. "But we've been "We mi ht have some serious lucky so' far. There have been potholes . our roads when the areas hit arder than us. water r es," he said. "But we "We're thankful and crossing have beei ery fortunate." our finge ." Grime nd Burleson authori. College Station emergency ties said ad conditions have crews alsh are preparing for the improvei I nd reported no addi. worst. cials opened a shelter tional i ies. N O I s RECEIVED OCT 2 1 o The [;a 91 October 0 Club's door slam for dance floor ri I, 19q L/ C ed One College Station n tclub has been giving police fits. Now lawmen are crac own ' on the establishment's viole t repu- tation. Aftershock, formerly call The Globe, is now the target of an ves- tigation by the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission an1 the Attorney General's off c in response to dozens of re rted crimes taking place there. The club, located on 10 6 E. Southwest Parkway, rece a seven-day suspension on u ay : after a riot ensued at the club early that morning. C�ollm Station police re poort 26 'ofFers from our different agen- cies had to control the mob scene that occurred there at abou a.m. Officers found many cha bar stools and tables either dam ed or destroyed after the melee u 'The e le October 21, 1994 Bryan - College Station Eagle Friday, October 21, 1994 Page D3 Police: Bryan and College- Station safe communities By SEAN FRERKING Eagle staff writer The people of Bryan- College Station may are very, very close. "Ninety -nine point nine per- cent of the people are good, law - abiding citizens," says Bryan police chief Lee Freeman. "We have a tremendous community that helps our department fight and prevent crime." College Station police agree. "We don't usually make reports of good occurrences," says Col- lege Station police spokesman Lt. Wayne Onstott. "And the media tends to focus only on the bad events. "The public just doesn't hear about all of the generous and good acts that happen in our commu- nity." Both police officials point to recent crises to prove their point. "The flood is a good example," Onstott says. "People went out of their way to help rescue stranded motorists and help out in any way they could. "That's simply common cour. tesy and we have a lot of it." Freeman, who has been with the Bryan police department for more than 28 -ars, says the people of Br Illege Station have always b Apful. "I've been hei,; a long time," he n(ift. "And there have been some traumatic times, but the local res- idents have just pulled together and done what they could to help out." And Freeman says it is wrong to think of either city as being dangerous or violent. "We have a very, very safe community here," he says. "But we live in the real world, and some times crimes happen but it is always a small percentage of people that commits those offenses." Freeman adds that one criminal can be responsible for a multitude of crimes. "We can catch these people and put them in prig he says "But because of ovding they eventually get ot. "So we have the same people committing most of the crimes." But Onstott and Freeman add that local residents have taken steps to clean up their commu- nity. "We have volunteers helping us fight crime in many different ways," Onstott says. "They have formed neighborhood watch groups and volunteered their time and efforts to help us out." Freeman says the people of Bryan have made similar crime - fighting contributions. "We [the police] couldn't do our job effectively without help from the residents of Bryan - College Station," Freeman said, explaining that ' - steers type, file police repo perform other duties that w officers to do their job. Lt. Wayne Onstott, College Station police spokesman, says the public does not always Lee Freeman, Bryan police chief, says the community helps the police fight crime hear about all the kind acts in the community. number of ways, including typing and filing reports. Ille a Momodd 0 C+o b r CS Parks and Rec. t hold hearing on park pro sal z4, 19R4 The College Station arks and Recreation Board will hold a public hearing on Tuesday night i t 7 to con- sider the site developm of Sand- stone Park at 1700 Sebesta The hearing will be held in Room 101 of the College Station onference Center, 1300 George Bush Features proposed for I velopment include a basketball co wt volleyball court, playground, prat ce fields, walking trails, lighting, landscaping and picnic areas. People also may respoad to the Sandstone Park Project by iting to: College Station Parks ind Recre- ation Department, Attn: DI ctor, P.O. Box 9960, College Station 7 -9960. For more information on the meeting, call the Parks an ecreation office at 764 -3414. To review related maps and plans, call Peter B. Vanecek of the parks department at 764 -3412. -- Compiled from staff reports THE E DATE: CS Council rethin By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer - - )llege Station Mayor Larry R nger .s the evaluation every six-months council- appointed staff needs ore substance and less subjectivity. "Too often [the evaluations] get into personalities instead of performanc ," he said. The City Council reviewed the rfor- mance of City Manager Ron Ragland, City Secretary Connie Hooks, City Attorney Cathy Locke and Muni ipal Judge Steve Smith on Monday in dosed session. The council took no action on its dis- cussion after the meeting. All four of the positions are appointed by the council. The rest of the city's staff are hired by the city manager, spokeswoman Peggy Calliham said. Besides evaluating the four staff mem- bers, the council talked about how it could improve the way it e` in the future, Ringer said. The evaluation, original for July, was put off until two new council members, Larry Mariott, were elec Ragland said. Under the current systen sits at a table and discuss mance of the employees an tations of those staff men said. "It's kind of informal," he This type of evaluation right if the council worked every day, but that isn't the Instead, the council must based on their limited conta The appointees are fl employees while the counc officials who usually meet of weeks. Ragland agreed a new N ating staff performance she LE :1 evaluations Cates them and that it is long overdue. "[The council] has not been satisfied in scheduled the past with this evaluating process," he 6v because said. ll Fox and "The staff needs to know the criteria in May, used to judge their performance," Ragland said. "It's easier to agree how ye council we're doing." he perfor- What Ringer and Ragland would like to ieir expec- see is a set of criteria in checklist form :s, Ringer that both the council and the staff member being evaluated receive. d. Ringer said all parties could read the uld be all set of criteria and check areas where they h the staff believe the employee has met expecta- ;e, he said. tions. the staff During the currently -used evaluation session, the council talks about what :ime city they expect of the city staff, he said. re elected For example, some of the current prior - ry couple ities of the city manager are continuing cooperative efforts with Texas A&M Uni- of evalu- versity and developing an effective I be found drainage system, he said. A DATE: C ■ r Burgia yes alarm citizen By SEAN FRERKING Eagle staff writer L oll' Small groups of thieves. An explosion in car break -ins. Vehicle burglaries have yrocketed 30, percent so far this year, College Stationa police say. But, they say, they are almost powerless to stop the crime "We've caught quite a few suspects, but more and more just come Dut and break into more cars," said Lt. Wayne Onstott. "People, especially stud nts, have to learn to take their valuabl s out of their vehicles." But one of the victims o a recent rash of car break -ins said that option is some- times unrealistic. "They broke into my ca — an old car — and took $5," said a fem Lle Texas A &M student who was one of 1 car burglary victims since Monday. ` didn't even have a radio." All the victims who we" a interviewed asked not to be identified. A male A &M student w ose car stereo system was stolen said he :hought he had parked in a safe place —t home in h s apartment complex. "I was under the lights and my door• were locked," he said. "I thought it w< in a good place, but it still happened." College Station police say there ha - v. been 524 burglaries of motor vehicle:; from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30. That's up 30.3 pei - cent from 402 vehicle burglaries for all of 1993. 2 a169 l99 "lit is little groups of people, sometimes one l or two, just walking around an area w Ore there are a lot of cars," Onstot: said. "If they see something, they'll take a cl. atice. " stott added that College Station p lice have special teams scouring the ar s likely to attract car burglars. `I is very difficult because there really is n one area that is the target of this cr e," he added. "But the more cars th ra are, the better the chances for a b Lary." stott said the best way to prevent a burglary is to take anything that might be attractive to a thief out of the car, to lock the vehicle's doors, make sure the windows are up and park in lighted areas. "That won't stop all of them," he said. "B it will decrease the numbers. ` e just hear too many stories of how pe le didn't lock their doors or how they Ie their valuables in plain view. Too mn.' onf ior aver: The 1994 -95 Texas Aggie bonfire, built over the last two months, was pulled that morning after cables broke loose and some of the logs fell away from the down Wednesday after it shifted and started to lean. Construction was stopped base of the stack. The bonfire will be re -built and set ablaze as planned Page z DATE: By CHRIS WHITLEY Eagle staff writer An old Aggie legend says if bonfire 'falls before midnight, Texas A &M will loge its epic contest with the University of Texas. If that's the case, the Aggies are doomed. After working for nearly two months putting the 55- foot -tall stack of viood together, bonfire had to be torn down Wednesday after the bottom column of logs started to buckle. Now, seven days before the 85th bo fire is scheduled to ignite, workers will ave to start from scratch. "I can tell you with assurance that will be bonfire next week," a sis- ice president Bill Kibler said it a conference Wednesday. A crowd of onlookers shouted "Whoop!" — the Aggie sign of enthusiasm — to Kibler's promise. But how it will look next Thursday is now the question of some debate. "I can probably say with assurance that bonfire won't look exactly the sme as it has looked in previous years, " Kibler said. Texas A &M senior John Barr serves as head stack redpot, the student in chaIrge of bonfire's construction. Barr said he and the other redpots, the group hat supervise the project, will have to rrleet and decide how the structure will b6 re- built after the current stack has been dismantled. L 0Cf_O ber Eagl The 1994 Texas Aggie bonfire which held some of the base Ic away from the main stack Wedr spokesperson at the scene saic rains may have contributed to the /, 199V- ' m t; Barr said safety is their main emphasis P z right now. No one was injured when bon- fire was torn down, and Barr said he � wants to keep that statistic intact. - "Right now, what we're concerned about is getting everything out of the way as soon as possible," Barr said. "We're going to have another meeting with all the redpots and brownpots (the group of workers that ranks second in command) to find the best solution on how to do it, and then we'll formulate from there." Bonfire has been a Texas A &M tradi- tion since 1909, and tradition dictates the lighting take place before A &M's football showdown with its archrival, Texas. Aggie lore states the burning of the towering stack of wood symbolizes the burning desire to "beat the hell outta t.u." Aggies use "t.u." as a derogatory label for the Austin school. Kibler said the intense rain that has hotos/ Bill Meeks plagued the area for the last two weeks caused the ground underneath the stack eans after cables to shift, which made the bottom row of Is in place broke logs start to crumble. ;slay morning. A the recent heavy A topic of much speculation on the stack's demise was that the centerpole bonfire shift. had broken, but Kibler dismissed that idea. "There was nothing wrong with the centerpole," he said. "The centerpole is obviously cracked now, but that's because the shifting took place with the other logs." When it became clear that bonfire could not be set straight, Kibler said offi- cials decided to dismantle it. "The decision was made pretty quickly that it was obvious for safety reasons that the stack needed to come down," he said. Noe -� DATE: Octo bP,r Z�) I 9`'I L 4 "It was real clear that it was not possible to set it back upright, and that it was on its way down anyway." So late in the afternoon workers attached a cable around the stack and tried to bring the wooden behemoth down. It would not go down easily. Two cabltrs snapped in the two hours that it took to bring down the enterpole. At one point, the centerpole owed par- allel to the ground before the c:Ne slipped off. The, stack's 'resiliency impressed the hundreds of Aggies that stood and watched the historic occasion. "It takes a licking and I I keeps on ticking," said one onlooker. Brian Thompson, a freshman A &M student, had worked on bonfire and felt bad to see it topple. "It's a shame that it has to come down," said Thompson, 18. "It's a lotta, lotta work. I hate to see all that work go to waste." Joy Whitmire, a sophomore, was equally disappointed, but said' she's con- fident the stack can be re -built by next Thursday. "It's a shame," said Whitmire, 19. "But we'll all pull together. We'll fix t." Malon Southerland, vice pr sident for student affairs, insisted that the engi- neering and building of the str cture was solid. "It was extraordinarily ell built because it took four times to g t it in the Please see BONFI E, page A8 C onfire Frbm Al f shape that it's in now," Souther- land said referring to the two ti es the cable snapped and the one time the cable slipped off as th y tried to dismantle it. arr said they will use logs from the current stack, provided that they are in good condition afl > the dismantling. The City of Br an late Wednesday afternoon de iyered an 80- foot -tall spare ut lity pole to be used as a m eshift centerpole, said city sp kesman Joe Brown: nce a plan is designed and approved, then Barr said con- s ction on "Bonfire II" will be in early this morning. O ddly enough, this bizarre occurrence has happened before. In 1P57, the stack collapsed four da before it was scheduled to go up 1� flames. Yet bonfire, which then stood 70 feet high, was re- built and went off as scheduled. A nother Aggie legend states when the 1957 stack collapsed, cla sses were cancelled so that all the students could pitch in to re- build it. Officials denied that story's validity. As for the Aggie legend that pus the football team in jeopardy against the Texas Longhorns on Nov. 5, Barr questioned that leE end's validity. "Considering that until last year, bonfire fell before midnight ei ht years in a row, and we still be it the hell outta t.u.," Barr said. "S I'm not worried about it." �aGe `F Ael N = I DATE: ()C-rObO4 - k-7, IGG4 Suspects nab ed in car burglar s College Station police ba ged two suspected car burglars We inesday, saying the arrests of twc Bryan teenagers will slow down the city's explosion in vehicle break -ins Ruben Jesus Martinez, L9, and Daniel Ron Pivonka, 17, each were charged with 13 counts of burglary of a motor vehicle. Martinez, 204 Glen- wood St., remains in Brazos County Jail in lieu of $13,000 bail. Pivonka, 1118 Alice St., was released on his own recognizance after aelping police in their investigation o a rash of car break-ins on Sept. 15. "These arrests will definitely clear up some burglary cases," sa Lt. Wayne Onstott. "But we still have offi- cers patrolling the streets and parking lots to prevent this crime." Car burglaries have increased Ito 524 offenses so far this year, up more than 30 percent from 1993's 402 car break -ins. A police affidavit said Pivonka told police that he and several others committed at least 13 car burglaries during the night of Sept. 15. Police recovered multiple car stereo systems, speakers and amplifiers at Pivonka's home, the affidavits id. QW, - Why Raglan The "good old boy network" is alive and well in College Station, Texas. Reference The Eagle on Nov. 1 and 2. There is not one employee that works for the City of College Slation that has a buy -out contract... why the city manager? So our illustrious Mayor Larry Ringer cuts a "sweet heart" deal with Ron Ragland, and Ron gets in excess of $8333.33 a month for seven months for doing nothing. Some people gripe about the good old boy network in Austin, Texas and Washington, D.C. It all starts right here at the grass -roots level in Dollege Station, Texas. I thought I read in some or I saw it on T.V. about si called "term limits." JIM 0 College L have buy -out deal? Firefighters battle blaze over an hour By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer Just when College Station fire- fighters seemed to have a routine fire under control, all hell broke se. What had been narrowed) a small now of smoke at 6:05 p.m,, hursday suddenly bloomed into a -blown nightmare for everyone in a imme- diate area as one explosion after another rocked the U- Rent -M building on Texas Avenue. Thick black smoke poured from the holes where the win- dows had blown out in near unison at the four -alarm fire. College Station police screamed at gawkers who had inched as close to the fire as possible — across Manuel Street — to get back. At the same moment, any firefighters inside the building crawled out as fast as possible, knowing anything that had been salvageable in the business was no longer. Please see FIRE, page A8 f College Station firefighter, Lee Gillum, wipes his brow after fighting a chem- industrial and commercial rental business went up in flames and it became ical fire that burned for over an hour at U- Rent -M in College Station. The one of the most serious fire on record in College Station. I 4eimml DATE: Oci, a9 I994 ------ - - - - -- An ambulance was ised to remove an elderly woman who was bedridden and she was taken to a friend's house, said fire Lt. Mike Ruesink, who adde tat all F ir e �/ other evacuees also chose t friends' or relatives' hoME s go to Also, a 3 /4 -mile stretch of Texas From Al Avenue was shut down b police after the second outbreak b it was completely reopened by 9:15, Remarkably, no one was seri- Yancy said. All of that time, Mancu 3c stood ously hurt when the containers of across Manuel Street and flammable liquids and the gasp line- operated equipment blew Up watched his rental business go up in a chain-reaction. in flames. "As the fire built up, the things "The main thing is no dy was ,��there heated up to where they hurt," he said of his employees .,pontaneously combusted," said who cleared the buildir g at 5:30 firefighter Bill Walton as he when the fire started. caught his breath after crawling "And I hope none of the fire - from the building. "There was fighters were hurt." just black smoke. You couldn't Mancuso said the CO,lE ge Sta- see anything in there." tion U- Rent -M had been n that Lt. Pat Quinlan was close to site for 20 years, and that he Walton when the orders came to would have the losses s imated clear the building. "We did a fast crawl," he said, soon. We'll wait for the ad usters to "It was getting ready to flash in come, pull a trailer on the site, there — and it did." and we'll be back in business real U- Rent -M owner Cullen Main cuso said that he had didn't know quick," he said. Calliham said the fire depart - what had caused the fire, except ment had a list of the flammable that it had started in the small- materials in the building, which engine room in the rear of the is part of city code. She said fire building. officials didn't think it wa 3 neces- Fire officials said the cause pf sary to evacuate because he con - the fire appeared accidental, but tents of the smoke were no toxic. weren't yet certain of its origin. Had there been an evacuation, At least six drums of petroleum, Calliham said it would have been 50 gallons of acetone, several on a grand scale. dozen gallons sealant, and may "It would have been most of gasoline - powered engines were in College Station,' she said, the building, city spokesman Bob pointing to the smoke that had Yancy said. fanned the area. The fire department decided to Ruesink said at one point so Qvacuate about 10 houses on the much water was used that the fire j . - th and south sides of Sterling hydrant system was "stressed," et, to which U- Rent -M backs but there was never an i terrup- because of their closeness to tion in water flow. the fire, city spokeswoman Peggy rMliham said. 4eimml Z- HATE: OG�-. 3 ■ City Secretaries Take Office: The B ryan and College Station city secretaries hav been named to the two top offices in th Capital Chapter of the Texas Munici Clerks Association. Connie Hooks, Colleg Station city secretary, has been appointed president of the association; and Mary Lynne Galloway, Bryan city secret tary, has been named vice president Hooks and Galloway were sworn 1.l- Thursday during the Texas Municip League's annual conference, held Austin. City secretaries and clerks from mo 199 (/- than 50 central Texas cities Capital Chapter of TMCA. land Director, BVSWMA By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer The Rock Prairie Road landfill's intake L ump from 650 tons per day to more 1,000 tons a day when the Conroe ill closes in two years, a local offi- cial said. Bill Angelo, executive director of the Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency, told the Brazos Valley Sierra Club it is "imperative" the community have a new landfill within five years, the life of the Rock Prairie landfill. all Due to state regulations enacted year ago, the number of landfills in Texas has dropped from 274 to 82, Angelo said, making the Rock Prairie Road landfill a regional site. The additional fill has has- tened the need for a new site, he added. Angelo said in recent years better technology and methods have made land- fills atypical from the stereotypes people may have had. L "A lot of people see a landf' as a nec- essary evil, he said. "But I don't see it as evil. "There is nothing more environmen- tally sound than landfilling." The city councils of Bryan d College Station recently approved Citizen's Advisory Committee of 12 area residents to help select a site for the 640 -acre land- fill. The Sierra Club is an o ji doors and conservation organization and the group's chairman, Les Greer berg, is a member of the advisory com ttee. The citizen's committee is now meeting monthly but has nc t yet looked at specific sites, Angelo sail The meet- ings will be closed to the publc pubic when dif- ferent sites are considered. Once the site is chosen, t ie meetings will be re- opened to the publi . The next meeting open to the public is Dec. 7 at noon in the College Station Con- ference Center. Once the site is pic will take place and construction will sU added the process to from three to five yea Angelo said prob matter what site is cl "As long as the se it's not affecting any when you start tal public hearings in research and 'Angelo said. He iDletion will take said. Ideally, the new landfill would be heavily wooded and have a hilly terrain, he said. Two hundred ninety of the 640 acres would be used for the landfill with a 500-foot buffer zone of hills and trees. The new landfill also would have com- posting and recycling plants, he added. The landfill site must meet several requirements, Angelo said, including being at least two miles from an airport, and away from wetlands, fault lines or "unstable areas." For example, where land has been mined. "The rest of the process is up to the community," he said. Dn is a concept, he said. "But about specific areas, you may get a pli lic outcry." The landfill is projected to cost $40 -50 million and $7 -10 million is needed to start the project. The money probably would be raised through the sell of revenue bonds, Angelo may occur no DATE: November Former C.S. councilman dies ai 69 By Brent Zwe neman Eagle staff witer Vernon E. Schneide , Ph.D., was not only a distinguished p fessor but a dis- tinguished gentleman, say family and friends. He was a wonderfu, loving husband and father," said his , vife, Nancy. "He was probably the mos fair and honest person I have ever kn " Schneider, Texas j L&M University distinguished profes or and former College Station counc lman, died of a heart attack Saturday shortly after For the obituary, ple se see page A6. The couple had celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary . late September. One of his former tudents, Claude Mounce, said Schnei er's personality and intelligence were i xceptional. "He was probably ne of the more affable and outgoing p ofessors on cam- pus," Mounce said. "H had a wealth of knowledge and expect d the best from all of his students." Schneider was a professor to agribusi- ness management in the department of agricultural economics at Texas A&M. He served three to s on the College Station City Council, ftom 1988 -94. "He was very dedicated to his council position," said Councilwoman Lynn McIlhaney, who serve with Schneider six years. "He always had a very posi- tive way 4of looking at gs." Schneider served in the U.S. Navy in World War H. He rm ived a bachelor's of science degree from the University of Missouri in 1950, his master's of science from Purdue University in 1960, and his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics and Statistics from Oregon State University /994 Before coming to Texas A &M, he worked in Washington, D.C., as presi- dent of the American Institute of Cooperation, which linked agricultural cooperatives throughout the country. At Texas A &M, Schneider was respon- sible for the development of teaching and research activities in agribusiness management and education. In 1990, he was nominated for thd Texas A &M Association of Former Students' Distinguished Teaching Award in Individual Student Relationships at the university level He was an organizer of the White House conference on agribusiness edu- cation in 1987 and 1989, and the Agribusiness Education Development Corporation. r M Obituan" Vernon E. Schneider Sept. 26, 1925 — Nov. 19, 1994 Services for Vernon E. Schneider, 69, of College Station will be at 2 p.m. today at the A &M U n i t e d Methodist Church with the Revs. Bob E. Waters nd Charles T Anderson offi- ciating. Burial will be SCHNEIDER in the College Station C�me- tery. Dr. Schneider died Saturd y in St. Joseph Hospital. Arrange- ments are by Callaway - nes Funeral Home. He was born in Cosby, Mo. Dr. Schneider was a distin- guished professor in agribusiness management in the department of agricultural economics at Texas A &M University. He was the founding president of the Interna- tional Agribusiness Management Association [IAMA] in 1990. He organized and participated in two international symposiums that addressed global agribusiness in the 1990s and beyond. Dr. Schneider served in the U.S. Navy in World War II. He received a bachelor's of science degree from the University of Missouri in 1950, his master's of science from Purdue University in 196o, and his Ph.D. in Agricul- tural Economics and Statistics from Oregon State Unive ity in 1962. Before coming to Texas A &M, he worked in Washington, D.C., as president of the American Institute of Cooperation, which linked agricultural cooperatives throughout the country. 1/ At 'Texas A &M, Dr. Schneider was responsible f r the develop- ment of teach' and research activities in agrijusiness man- agement and eduq tion. He was a key o ganizer of the White House c nference on agribusiness ed tion in 1987 and 1989, and tie Agribusiness Education Development Corpora- tion. His achieveme were widely recognized and received many awards, includ' one from Har- vard Universit ' College of Business Adm' tion, and the American Seed qYade Associa- tion. In 1990, he was nominated for the Texas A&W Association of Former Students' Distinguished Teaching Award th Individual Student Relatio s at the uni- versity level. Always interested in the bet- terment of his community, Dr. Schneider was elected to the Col- lege Station City Council and served three terms, from 1988 -94. Dr. Schneider had an apprecia- tion of beauty that helped lead to the development of College Sta- tion's streetscape plan. In August of 1994 he was elected to the Board of Directors of Brazos Beautiful. Dr. Schneider was a member of the A &M United Methodist Church. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Elizabeth Ellen "Betsy" Schneider, on April 26,1988. Survivors include his wife, Nancy Schneider of College Sta- tion; four sons and daughters - in -law, David and Cindy Schneider of San Antonio, Kirk and Cyndi Schneider of Dallas, Mark and Penny Schneider of Coppell, and Jonathan and Anthea Schneider of Carrollton: a sister and brother -in -law, Flo- rence and Marion R. Peterson of Clarksdale, Mo.; a brother -in -law, David Van Ginkel and his wife, Judy, of Cincinnati; a brother - in -law, Gerry Van Ginkel and his wife, Ellen; his mother -in -law, Elizabeth Van Ginkel, all of Des Moines, Iowa; and eight grand- children. Memorials may be made to the Schneider Permanent Endow- ment Fund for Ministerial Stu- dents, A&M United Methodist Church, 417 University Dr., Col- lege Station 77840. Eagle photos/ Dave McDermand Right, Elmer Lister and his wife Inez talk about the improvements made on their living room. Above, the Lislers proudly stand outside their newly - restored home in College Station. The Listers' home was restored with federal money distributed by the College Station Development Office. The federal government awarded the office $1,9 million to con- tinue this and other restoration projects. r• A DATE: By BRENT ZWERNEMAN our g a a ork R unity eets we will see Eagle staff writer have been workm on an o riew hous and rehabilitated houses College Station resident Elm Lister considers himself a lucky ma i, even though he's been in bad heal for a decade. Eastgate "I thank the Lord for this," h said as he pointed to his newly- restore house. "Without the city's help, I do t know what I would have done. I ess the house would have eventually just fallen on the ground." He said the. money will. be. Lister, 60, is disabled and o a fixe on a iixeu inwiiic. , 1e .n a Ye i Communi Devel- office 31, 199y of College selves." ` she amount of federal mo ney office is receiving is really mak Terence - t e-nei h or oo s Tn (arras t t he n," salr— �—Y - ' in,". development administrator. " an cir v� e�wn the s our g a a ork R unity eets we will see L jus in tune "This house was sh be raised up," he said, Lister said the city up on blocks, built screen door, ted the insside ide ; and added u gu have been workm on an o riew hous and rehabilitated houses areas that haven't seen substa tial con- is did: 0 om gathering under om structiop or re airin years, s Carroll said most of the �viio -wne..fS Lister said he has z injury suffered whil( homeowners has been in the Eastgate stry on job at Texa: and Southgate parts of-tov_v4i: The. federal aid_w be 1 e _t4 - 1e1 P 1984 In 1987, he saic heart attack and a str qualifying with b is house awn "ungJohn, "It's good to live t said, "But it's bad to 1 repairs, AI h home closing costs; ' §aid " payment community development grant _ arialysts. The U.S. Departm Urban Development He said the. money will. be. gi in programs as well. combinations of loans and gran s. Pleas) Othe use o f the federa al include gram that has supplied $62,000 said. Carroll.said_o n��f�e most ctive pro s now un�Qt w is c e the t onal Relocation Prog.r , w ich uilds net - houses for those wh se homes have deteriorated beyond reps' "By tha end the ear we p to have m ore t han acement es - tom- - loom) Pnr tour anti moderate ome resi- Rebuild From Al lion and it will be given in two separate grants, HOME and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG], Carroll said. "Money provided to us through the HOME program may only be used for housing - improvement programs," she said. "CDBG " she said. "Most money may be used for a variety of other purposes, although a large amount of it will be applied Emirs or - toward housing- improvement ". _ programs as well. t to the point of Other city programs include e repairs the Rental Rehabilitation Pro- gram that has supplied $62,000 ing and needed to toward repairing substandard units. They will then be made ropped his house available to low or moderate porches, added a income residents, Carroll said. l two windows, The owner of the rental com- d outside of the plex then matches the funds pro- ;rs to keep water vided by the city, she said. ie house. And the city now has a program ad back due to an in which substandard houses are vorking on a con- purchased from private owners, &M University in restored to meet city codes, and Le suffered both a then sold to low income home - ;e , buyers, Carroll said. 1 you're old," he This program offers two bene - in bad health." fits at once, she said. "It allows t of Housing and for the repair or replacement of anted the $1.9 mil- substandard dwellings that the owners were reluctant to work on, REBUILD, page A7 and it gives qualified applicants a chance to purchase a house that the open market probably would not have allowed." The Community Development Office, 903 S. Texas Ave., accepts applications for housing rehabili- tation assistance and homeowner assistance on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. College Station residents may call 764 -3778 to see if they qualify for help. I UO21 F ❑ DATE: W6,geMb�° No t rickm CS ity 43 age is ■ git By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle ita writer Ron Ragland sto pped the interview to say, "Trick or Treat!" to the costumed characters at his d r. It was just befo 6 p.m. "There's already trick -or- treaters here," he said in mock wonder. Even more surprising was Ragland's Halloween resignation as College Station city manager. "He was a �reat person to work for and we're going to miss, him,'' said Mary Tucker, a secretary in Ragland's office, her voice slightly shaking, RAGLAND "He thought about the future and how he was going to keep the city growing and changing." Ragland had been city manager since 1988 and before that was assistant city manager for two years. )C)4 bm Brymer, assistant city manager, L serve as acting city manager while council looks nationwide for a lacement, Mayor Larry Ringer said. it search is expected to take three to months. Agland said that he will receive seven nth's severance pay, and that his iry is in "excess of $100,000." [is contract has been renewed every inger was asked if Ragland was pres- Su d to resign. 'The best way to describe it would be t there were frank discussions in s of relationships and desires," er said. anger said there were "differences of Op ions on some things" that were ore related to philosophies and actual operations in terms of [where] the city needed to be in the future ... and how it should operate." Ringer described his relationship with Ragland as "very se." "It's a real difficult situation for me, h e said, his voice cracking. "I worked iv ith him very closely for eight years." finger said changes beyond Ragland's trol contributed to the resignation. .; ' Half your City Council can change qv ry year, which means you're working fb new bosses," he said. "The philoso- p es change ... Sometimes it will be 1e0as re you were a good fit at the initial , but after a number of years there is not that good of a fit anymore. t's not anything that he did or didn't much as that." Please see RAGLAND, page A4 Ne CS bos's'se By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer Tom Brymer plans to deal with issues he says can't wait for a permanent city manager. "There are a lot of exciting things to deal with and I'm happy to wo k with them in an interim capacity, ' the College Station interim city manager said Tuesday, his first day on the job. "And these are not things that can be Cre �City hold." Council plans to name a reg city manager in three to six months, Brymer said. Brymer served as assistant city man- ager under Ron Ragland, who resigned as city manager on Monday. Brymer said the most importan issues now facing the city include findin a spot for a new landfill, improving cit r codes and ordinances, studying the to - range" land use plan, continuing a capital - improvement projects plan, and settling:_ future power supply questions. Brymer said he spent most of Tuesday in meetings and was . "broughfk .up to speed on various issues." He said Ragland passed the jot to him at a Tuesday morning meeting. "I'm thankful I had the opportunity to work under Ron's vision and 'I leader ship," Brymer said. Brymer said he will probably nbt name anyone to fill his assistant city manager's spot but use different staff members to help out. Brymer said he will continu to do some of his former jobs. He said the council will set his new salary at next week's regular mee ing. Councilman David Hicksoi said Qe anrl'sjob. e was the right choice to fill is very knowledgeable ab ut cur- rent projects," he said. "For someone to continue the things currently in place, he was the natural individual to pick Councilwoman Lynn Mcllhaney agreed. Tom Brymer, interim city,,; Mang appointment came in the wake of "Tom has a good tinder, ernment policy and what as important issues," knows where we've been moving toward. "We'll move forward." Mayor Larry Ringer al will get the job done. "Tom is capable and kr doing. He's been workin tackle job T� E&g11s phc .Dive McDermand - for College Station, was appointed to his post Tu6day. Zrymers nercity manager Ron Ragland's resignation on Mondai iding of gov- for a number of years as an assistTit city have ranked manager," he said. +; :" said. ;-He . Ragland said he has prepped Brymer I what we're for the job. , "Tom has been groomed and is willing, able and ready to do it." said Brymer Brymer, 42, has been College Station assistant city manager since January rs what he is 1989. Before that, he was city manager in vith the city Lockhart and Gilmer from 1978 to 1988. It DATE: November Manager's resignation mutual deal By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer Ron Ragland's contract called for a seven- moltth severance pa if he was fired, and although he rE signed as College Station city manager on Monday, City Council will p y him that money. Mayor Larry Ringer said since the coun and Ragland had a "mutual feeling that Ron consider resignation, the council decided that we would honor that con tract. "We felt in fairness that was appropriate." Ragland said on Monday ie had made in excess of 5100,000 is city manager. The seven -month severance pay was justified because Ragla id had saved the city much more than that over the years, Councilman David Hickson said. "Ron Ragland has been able to keep the tax rate as one of the lowest in the state," he said. "And he has started many programs that have saved taxpayers millions of dollars. "We felt it was only fir for someone. who has done so much that he deserved the seven month severance." Members of the City Council had mixed emotions about Ra land's resignation. Councilman Hub Kenna y said Ragland resigned because ie had been on the job long enough. Mutua From Al "It was time Kennady said. philosophical dii been there eight at least as long c average city mar Kennady, t Ragland had be city. "I think he dii things for the cit Kennady said agement skills opingtpolicy an most important city.' "He identifies for the council implement idea said. On the seven - pay, Kermady o; by the council's 1 described Ragh lytical." "Ron has bi employee," she a lot of good this "But things c tions for peop: times it's time t him well. He derful addition said. Of the sever, said, "I'm very this decision. I 1 C? Please see MUTUAL, page A4 injust use of taxpayers' money." priority issues id then helped She said that although interim for them," he city manager Tom Brymer will get a raise, it won't be near the six :nth severance figures Ragland was making, and � said, "I stand Ragland's salary was budgeted - ision." anyway. Nancy Crouch Hickson said it was simply time a change," for a change in city manager, , as more than even though Ragland had led Col - ances. He had lege Station to its current role as a trs. He stayed model city. nger than the "That visionary process was Inge and direc- excellent and the city needed ever, said that, he said. good for the But the city must develop better lot of positive lot of relations with Texas A &M Uni- versity, the city of Bryan and he sad' . Brazos County, Hickson said. man "I'm sure there are other people ilude devel- - lude out there who would be a lot l ying the better for that," he said. es facing the as city manager. Please see MUTUAL, page A4 Councilwoman Lynn McII- priority issues id then helped haney said Ragland had devel- for them," he oped many cooperative and posi- tive efforts as city manager, and :nth severance his quitting was "a difficult situa- � said, "I stand tion." - ision." "It's always sad to say goodbye Nancy Crouch to a friend," she said. "But what- as "very ana- ever Ron does, he'll be suc- cessful." i an excellent Councilman Larry Mariott said d. "He has done that the mayor was the for the city. spokesman for the city and he did Inge and direc- not want to comment, except to change. Some- say Ragland had "basically done a nove on. I wish good job." 3 been a won - the city," she Councilman Bill Fox said that because he had only been on the .e pay, Crouch council six months he wasn't able imfortable with to judge Ragland's performance i't feel it was an as city manager. Please see MUTUAL, page A4 The man who AS College Statio� • E V Eagle Editorial Board come, take t glory, p oliticians and go. But the city r i, nager, administrative boss o7 all the municipal employees, labo most- ly out of the limelight. Under his direction, c t staff clean streets, pick up rbage, police the city, fight fires, and keep our parks green and beaut' For six years, Ron Raglaid WAS the City of College Station. On weekdays he was at iis desk at City Hall or supervising Ae men and women who worked r him and, thus, for us. On weekends, he was oft m to be found pedaling his bike to gh the streets of College Station, 1 oking not unlike a spaceman in his riding gear and helmet. He obviously loves liv' here. And it showed in the y he worked with the city co cil to spearhead College Station' owth f om a sleepy little town to ophis- ticated community. Ragland resigned this a k. Or maybe he was asked to 1 e. The mayor and city council say only that there "were differ es of opinions" on the direction of the city. Even those who privat( may have wanted Ragland to mo 7e along praise him for a good jot in his tenure as assistant city manager and then as city manager. Ragland himself says "Tie thrill is gone," and says he is eagE r to find new opportunities. Whatever the story of h' 3 depar- ture, Ragland doesn't wor here any more and the City of ollege Station is looking nationwide for a new manager. Maybe we can import a c for man- ager the next six years o was as competent as Ragland was for the last six. _[h ■71 HATE: -n bly_mk�1 � I A &M hunts': grease leaotk r By CHRIS WHI LEY ' Eagle staff wr er Cleanup continued o Wolf Pen Creek after a Texas A&M grease receptacle overflowed into the creek, affecting sev- eral College Station residences. City and university officials are tryirfg to determine whether r aw sewage also contaminated the creek in the spill. After collecting soil an i water samples, city officials said there were some ele- ments of sewage in Wolf Pen Creek. "We did take some samples, and it did in icad" to sewage, - said city waste water 5111MM Lawrence Carter. W a ` §re__ w _ aTe — r — U - 1VMM manager Bill Riley reasoned that the grease that over- flowect trorn the trap under Commons fining co ave campus s sewers em w ere i mix in with se Vie. The sewage then over - ow ed onto the ground and then ran into the creek, he said. "I don't know where the blockage was," R iley said. "It could have overflown from e sewer system into the ground. It's going to flow just like any other liquid to the ground. It goes into the sewer s stem pretty quickly, then it's going to ri d the creek." Al Baxter, superintendent of A&M's power plant, said that was not possible because the grease could not have over- flowed into the sewer system. Baxter rea- soned that the grease overflowed from its receptacle through a manhole above round, and then went into the creek. B ut Baxter said he found no traces of w sewage in the spill. I think that's false," Baxter said. 'There's nothing except what came out of ease trap that was in there. There',s t that kind of wastewater in there." ' axter said the grease trap is upstream f the pipe to the sewer system, anti refore could not connect with it. arter said though that the creek 1 tom has been disinfected, and that the a poses no health risk. T he university grease traps are being 3mined by physical plant officials, and B axter said steps are being made to pr�- vent any future leaks from occurring. w crill. ?lag AIFL4 N = 9 DATE: NOV. (Od College Station Survey adds perspective to vision of city's future The City of College Station is grateful to the new Eagle Publisher, Fred Lister for providing us with this space for a weekly column in the Sunday paper. It will chal- lenge us to keep interesting and informa- tive issues before the public but it is a chal- lenge we accept in the hopes of keeping readers up to date on city issues and activities. The byline will not always be mine, but will feature other staff members who will bring issues and activ- Pe Ca I I i ha m ities to public ��y attention. If there are issues that you would like to lmow more about, I invite you to call me at 764 -3768 or drop me a note to Public Relations & Marketing Manager, City of College Station, P. 0. Box 9960, College Station, 77842. This week I would like to bring you information that relates to the full page survey on the opposi page. The City of College Station has err. barked on a project to revise their existing Comprehensive Plan. In August 1994, the city retained a team lead by Helmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK), ar international plan- ning and design firm, o provide these ser- vices. HOK's Dallas olice will be respon- sible for conducting the study. Camp Dresser McKee, Inc. will help prepare a new infrastructure master plan for the City, and Barton- Aschman Associates, Inc. will provide the City's new thorough- fare plan. The project is expected to be completed in August 1995. 94 e project will include significant cipation by the citizens and business - College Station. Even before maps drawn up, the HOK team will assist e City in developing a vision statement a series of goals and objectives which guide the plan and help the City as it ep rs the 21st century. A series of in- depth interviews with residents, elected and appointed officials, business leaders, V other community "stakeholders" ki ks off this visioning process. HOK will o conduct a community-wide survey (b posite page) to measure local perspec- tives on various aspects of College Station's present and future. The visioning process, in turn, will help the City and the consultants arrive at proposals for the following future plans: ■ sand Use; ■ Urban Designs; ■ Thoroughfares; ■ Water and Sewer; ■ Development Guidelines (zoning, etc.); ■ Capital Improvement Projects; and ■ Geographic Information System. HOK provides planning and design ser- ces for projects of all sizes through its 17 orldwide offices and has been responsi- b e for several major Texas projects eluding the Houston and Dallas aerias, Dallas /Ft. Worth International Airport, the new George Bush Presidential Library, and Exxon's new World Headquarters. Current and previous plans have been prepared for the cities of Flower Mound, Fort Worth, Dallas, University Park, and Amarillo. For more information bout this project contact either: City Planner, Jane Kee, AICP, City of College Station, 1101 Texas Avenue, College Station, Texas 77842 (409) 764-3570 r Joseph Pobiner, AICP, Director of mmunity Planning, HOK, Inc., 6688 N. ntral Expressway, Ste. 700, Dallas, Texas 75206 (214) 739 -6688 Staff pulls double duty as park managers and as an emergency management team By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer "It's a nontraditional role, Put -it is us very well," he said. "Wls #ave a arge pool of people from which to draw." For example, Beachy said in time of crisis an athletic supervisor can good value Eagle photo / Michael Mulvey Steve Beachy not only manages College Station parks; he also manages emergency situations. Steve Beachy is director of a " World Headquarters" right here in Bryan- College Station. "Any place you are m the 1 vorld, and you need something frox a the College Station Parks and Recreation Department, this is where you ould get it," he said with a laugh. A sign at College Station's Qntral Park announces it is ... Vorld Headquarters," an idea Beacby got from seeing a huge industrial pI mt: in Houston with the same global rocla- mation. And the parks and recreation department has a world -class staff, Beachy added. "They take their jobs very s ious- ly," he said. "There is a treme dous amount of pride in what they d ." In addition to his role as d' for of the parks and recreation de ent, Beachy also is the city's eme ency management coordinator. "It helps keep me out of uble because I stay busy," he said 'th a grin. The job combination is uncoinmon but full of common sense, Beach said. "It's a nontraditional role, Put -it is us very well," he said. "Wls #ave a arge pool of people from which to draw." For example, Beachy said in time of crisis an athletic supervisor can good value Eagle photo / Michael Mulvey Steve Beachy not only manages College Station parks; he also manages emergency situations. m COLLEGE STATION: Lighting event great way to kick off holiday Nov em ber On December 2, the city of College Station will celebrate the 10 -year anni er- sary of the Christmas in the Park p during the annual lighting ceremon at Central Park. It is estimated that more than 100,000 guests p0ted Central last year. •ys of visi- have indi- cated that many �, p come from out of town, from as far away as Egypt, Taiwan and Russia. The idea for the program Eric Ploeger was formed from my memo- ries of annual family Christmas light expeditions a child. I discussed the idea of Christmas in the Park with former program supervisor Suzie O'Connor, who enthusiastically agreed to help with programming and organization. This was late in 1984, only a few years after Central Park was complet- ed. With sponsorship from the Jack ter family, the first light displays began that year, with around 18,000 lights. The parks and recreation departm ant's forestry division is responsible for the installation of the displays and tak es a great deal of pride in the quality of the pre- sentation. Other city departments ve provided invaluable help through the -s including the electrical division, the r and wastewater division, the fire 164, rent, and facilities maintenance. Virtually all of the displays are made by city employees who develop the ideas and see them to completion. This custom_ F1 made approach leads to c 've designs that are durable and allow e nployees to have more pride in the resi il s. Over the years many changes have x en made to improve installation efficiei Lc 1 and quali- ty. Decorations are now pirmo on steel frames that can be reused ir succeeding years with minimal refurbishing. has Everywhere there are ligh wiring been installed undergro d to supply power and ease installation a majority of the lights are on timers t automati- cally turn on and off. Alth the num- ber of lights has increased ch year the task becomes easier throug I careful orga- nization and planning. Ross Albrecht and Bob Hole of the forestry division have los of number of lights used, although this year's display is expected include more than 80,000 lights with 36 new displays and new color patterns. Waltman Beginning in 1987, and Grishman, attorneys at , became the primary sponsors of C tmas in the Park. Other sponsors that have helped through the years have I Britt Rice, Fred Brown, Keebler, Nestle and Appletree. Sheila Walker beg guiding the Christmas in the Park am in 1986 as the program supervisor f the parks and recreation department. St eila has refined a number of holiday se n events that have become Brazos V y traditions. Once of these events is thE a rimial lighting ceremony that will be h 1 this year on December 2, at 6:30 p.m. This opening night in des a number of other features, in a bonfire, a live nativity scene with a Bryan FTA and Christmas music ormed by the Willow Branch Middle 1 and College Station Junior High cho . Free ref esh- ments and hayrides will o be available. Santa will arrive on cember 3, and be available for visits m 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., December 9 and 10 6 and 17. Each year Santa visits and has picture made with more than 3,000 chil n in the lobby of the Central Park office. On weekend nights when Santa is present, fee hayrides and refreshments will be offered. Children can visit with regulars such as Frosty, Jingles, Rudolph and friends. An outgrowth of the Christmas in the Park program has been the annual Parade of Lights. This is an exterior Christmas decorating contest for homes, businesses and neighborhoods. The pro- gram is operated by both the Bryan and College Station parks and recreation departments. The awards include cate- gories for Large Business (25 or more employees), Small Business (24 or fewer employees), and Bryan and College Station Home Awards for character design, lighting design, and spiritual design. Street and neighborhood awards are also offered. Registration must be received by December 5, as judging takes place on December 7. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, December 13, at a reception for the winners. Sponsors for the Parade of Lights include TCA Cable, KORA Radio, KTAM Radio, The Eagle, Interurban Trolley System, and Randall's. Further information can be obtained from the parks and recreation departments in Bryan at 361 -3656 and in- a Diversify key to longevity Career with College Station never boring By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer "At the local level you really can feel lid �li've made a difference. 17 LINDA PIWONKA College Station director of management services Linda Piwonka has spent her entire career in the city of College Station, and she doesn't plan on that changing anytime soon. "I just really enjoy working for the community," she says. "I'll stay with it until it isn't fun anymore." Piwonka, executive director of management services, has had fun for 26 years now. She never really intend- ed to only work for the city of College Station coming out of Caldwell High School, but it just turned out that way. "I was going to spend three years with the city and then become a com- mercial artist," she says with a smile. But then her childhood sweetheart was in College Station, she married him, and the job was, well ... fun. So why leave? "The work is diverse," she says. "It's fun to do things with the com- munity's citizens." Not only that, she adds, but the job stays fresh because she is constantly meeting new people. "College Station is such a young and upbeat community," she says. "You always get to meet new individ- uals coming in. 6A (aw i DATE: NNC pbe "You can work here for 26 years and feel like you have just gone to work." Although Piwonka, 44, started working for College Station when City Hall was where Cafe Eccell now sits and Holleman Street and University East Drive were dirt roads, she says the impq nt things in College Station reaVlly haven't changed. "College Station has retained that small, community atmosphere," she says. "That's one of its strengths." Her job has a range of duties, including directing public relations and marketing, utilities Customer ser- vices, management info�Cmation ser- vices, energy conservati and public facility management. Its toughest part? "The paperwork," she says. "I'd rather be out with the staff and work- ing with the citizens. But in adminis- trative duties, you have a lot of paper- work." Piwonka says one of the most criti- cal parts of her job is keeping College Station residents informed of the city's business. "We have to make su a the public is aware of what the government is doing," she says. Piwonka was recently recognized by the Texas Public Power Association, where she now serves as the chairman of its Customer Services and Communications Committee. She received an Hono Roll Award from TPPA, but says I onors aren't her biggest thrill in the business. "I get a reward from Feeling that I can help make a difference daily in the community," she says. And about that itch to be an artist? wants sh( wo wo arE )9q Piwonka says she no longer be a commercial artist, but paint and maybe one day to to test the market with her :er her days of public: service ngh. ka says public service is a "calling.i' Public service is something peo- ple neel to consider as a career goal," she says "At the local level you real- ly can e like you've made a differ- ence." In the early years of her employ- ment P wonka worked in the mayor's office doing administrative assistant duties. "Being single at that time, I didn't want tc spend all of my nights taking minute at City Hall meetings," she says w tit a laugh. "So I switched to utilities. She s�rved 14 years with pu+-lic utilities In the positions of customer service representative, assistant util- ity office manager and utility office In 1988, she was promou -1 ,.,) assis- tant to the city manager, followed by a promotion to her current position as exec tive director. Piw nka has a husband. Bob, who is a manager of student financial ser- vices at Texas A &M University, and a son, tjick, a freshman at A& M Consolidated High School. Bookish Bushes arrive 9 DATE: NO V em ber 3 Pl I C--1(1 Lf By CHRIS WHITLEY Eagle staff writer You'd think they were building the Eiffel Tower. And in a way, they are. Groundbreaking ceremonies for Bryan- College Station's equivalent of the Eiffel Tower, the George Bush Presiden- tial Library Center, will be at 1:30 a.m. today at the center's future homd south of Texas A&M's Research Park. In what could be the most P -laden groundbreaking of any building in local Inside ■The Eagle editorial board w (comes George Bush to the Brazos Valle, /A5 ■A complete listing of the day's scheduled events /A15 history, the library's namesake — former President George Bush — will take center stage. Former Cabinet members, former White House officials, a former prime minister, members of the nobility, A&M officials, students, area residents, and family and friends will watch George and Barbara Bush as they symbolically set the wheels in motion for constructing the $42 million library. I think it's a watershed event for the university," said George Edwards, head of the George Bush Center for Presiden- tial Studies. The new library will be the headquarters for the center. "It begins a process of placing us in the forefront of universities, and placing us in the forefront of government and public policy studies," Edwards said. The only sour note sounded for today's �remony is the inability of former Vice Vlkw?mident Dan Quayle to attend. He was hospitalized Tuesday with a blood clot in his lung. Still, Bush plans to bring many digni- taries with him from Houston, where they all met for a private dinner Tuesday Former President George Bush and wife, Barbara, wave to well - wishers in this recent photo. The couple will I be in town today for the ceremonial groundbreaking on the George Bush Presidential Library Center. This is your invitation to today's groundbreaking of the George Bush Presidential Library. Come on down! night as a prelude to today's festivities. "As far as the number of dignitaries they're going to have, this will be a really great event," said Perry Adkisson, former Bush library director. "A lot of people will know where we are." Bush and his entourage plan to take a special 14-car train from Houston to Col- lege Station, where they are scheduled to arrive at 10 a.m. From there, they head to A&M's Memorial Student Cen r to attend a private reception. They will then travel to the libraly site where a tent that seating more 500 people, will house the ceremony. The public is invited to attend. A&M President Ray Bowen will kick off the proceedings at about 11:30, a.m. Thp former president's son, Texas gover- lect George W. Bush who is head of Jeorge Bush Library Foundation, also speak at the ceremony. He will be followed by former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, whose presentation will preceed a speech by the library's namesake. After the ceremony, Bush pose for a photograph with his for r Cabinet members: Secretary of State James Baker, Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander, National Security Advisers Andrew Card and Brent Scowcroft, Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs Edward Der - winski, White House Chief oqf M�all John Sununu, Secretary of Lalbor Lynn Martin, Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis Sullivan and etary for Housing and Urban Develo ent Jack Kemp. A private luncheon at the Memorial Student Center will follow the ceremony, and A &M System Board of Regents Chairman Mary Nan West and Bush will speak. Most of Bush's entourage will take the train back to Houston after the luncheon. Organizers said Bush will remain on campus and attend some on-campus meetings pertaining to the library. Tonight, Bush will be the featured speaker at the Bryan /College Station Chamber of Commerce's annual banquet before he leaves for Houston. The center, scheduled to be completed in the fall of 1997, will be the 12th presi- dential library built in the United States and the 10th operated by the National Archives [Richard Nixon's and Ruther- ford B. Hayes' libraries are privately runl. Bush chose A &M as the site of his library in 1991 over Rice University and the University of Houston. e c,� n :) 9 ° ! te , ' - J of 9f '4On This is your invitation to today's groundbreaking of the George Bush Presidential Library. Come on down! night as a prelude to today's festivities. "As far as the number of dignitaries they're going to have, this will be a really great event," said Perry Adkisson, former Bush library director. "A lot of people will know where we are." Bush and his entourage plan to take a special 14-car train from Houston to Col- lege Station, where they are scheduled to arrive at 10 a.m. From there, they head to A&M's Memorial Student Cen r to attend a private reception. They will then travel to the libraly site where a tent that seating more 500 people, will house the ceremony. The public is invited to attend. A&M President Ray Bowen will kick off the proceedings at about 11:30, a.m. Thp former president's son, Texas gover- lect George W. Bush who is head of Jeorge Bush Library Foundation, also speak at the ceremony. He will be followed by former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, whose presentation will preceed a speech by the library's namesake. After the ceremony, Bush pose for a photograph with his for r Cabinet members: Secretary of State James Baker, Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander, National Security Advisers Andrew Card and Brent Scowcroft, Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs Edward Der - winski, White House Chief oqf M�all John Sununu, Secretary of Lalbor Lynn Martin, Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis Sullivan and etary for Housing and Urban Develo ent Jack Kemp. A private luncheon at the Memorial Student Center will follow the ceremony, and A &M System Board of Regents Chairman Mary Nan West and Bush will speak. Most of Bush's entourage will take the train back to Houston after the luncheon. Organizers said Bush will remain on campus and attend some on-campus meetings pertaining to the library. Tonight, Bush will be the featured speaker at the Bryan /College Station Chamber of Commerce's annual banquet before he leaves for Houston. The center, scheduled to be completed in the fall of 1997, will be the 12th presi- dential library built in the United States and the 10th operated by the National Archives [Richard Nixon's and Ruther- ford B. Hayes' libraries are privately runl. Bush chose A &M as the site of his library in 1991 over Rice University and the University of Houston. Gala-lozes security E By SEAN FRERKING Eagle staff writer Local law agents will team up with state and federal officials to make sure that — from a security standpoint — today's groundbreaking ceremonies for the Bush Library are anything but earth- Security From Al to ensure4i peaceful and fun envi- ronment for today's historic events. "It's been a little crazy around here," Wiatt said. "We are going to have a full day [today] but we'll be getting a lot of help." College Station Police Chief Ed Feldman said taking such secu- rity precautions is nothing new for his department. "We've assigned an additional 17 officers to the event," Feldman said. "But this should be anything we haven't seen before. "This i a lot less trouble than bonfire." Feldmah said College Station officers have worked on security details for about three weeks. He said he expects few problems. "There IIII will be a little traffic congestio but that should be it," Feldman �said. "We'll have offi- cers on foot, on patrol and on five motorcycles." Feldman said he has heard pre- dictions that as many as 10,000 people will turn out for the begin- shattering. Bob Wiatt, director of University police, said the A&M, Bryan and College Station =ep artrnent s will work with the ent of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers and many federal agents Please see SECURITY, page AB nings of tie George Bush Presi- dential Li Center which is expected to be completed by the fall of 1997 But wh r that many people converge Fin one place, some prob- lems natu y arise, Wiatt said. "We're not going to have metal detectors or general searches or anything like that," Wiatt said. "But we'll have officers in the crowd during the groundbreaking ceremonies because that is the only even t is open to the gen- eral publi� He addk that security con- cerns were lessened because all other scheduled events are invita- tion -only. "They'll have a security convoy when they're on the road," Wiatt added. "But parking will probably be the general public's biggest concern." Parking is available near Research Park off Stolzer Parkway. "There' my one entrance for the gene public," Wiatt said. "But com early and bring your walking shoes because the gen- eral public will have to go over some fields to get to the event." Officials with the Secret Ser- vice and the State Department declined to comment on any of their security arrangements. 0 DATE . [)(?CeM b!�,r 3J f 99 q 0 t By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eaqle staff writer Drivers beware, a co ple of College Sta- tion streets are about become one -way. Beginning Sunday morning, East Tarrow Street and parls of Tarrow Street will become one -way help ease traffic flow in the area, said Ed Hard, College Station transportation planner. The full length of East Tarrow will run northbound only, while the part of Tarrow Street that curves next to Ran - dall's will become southbound only. Both streets intersect University Drive near the Hilton Hotel. Traffic signals installed at the intersec- tion of University Drive and East Tarrow will be turned on Sunday. Signs directing the flow of traffic will also be uncovered Sunday, Hard said. Eighty percent of traffic in the area already flows in these directions, he said. "We're putting into effect what the traffic already does." Besides the changes of directions, "Streetscape" additions also will take place. . Streetscape is an appearance enhancement project that combines things like street lighting, signs, land- scaping and brick paths, said College Sta- tion spokesman Bob Yancy. The traffic improvement project has lasted several months. It started in late August when new traffic lights were turned on at the intersections of Tarrow, Hearthstone Street and Spring Loop; and treets From Al University Drive, Spring Loop and Lincoln Drive. After East Tarrow and Tarrow streets are changed to one -way, the next step is to make the streetscape improvements, said Hard. After that, East Tarrow and Tarrow will be repaved. The project should be com- pleted by March. Yancy said drivers should be extra careful on Sunday because of the 2 p.m. Christmas Parade which will travel down Texas Avenue from the east entrance of Texas A&M University to Manor East Mall in Bryan. The parade will cause extra traffic in the area, Yancy said, and drivers should make sure to pay attention to the new signs and changes of traffic directions. One -Way Change N Randall's Grocery � � V w College Station Hilton UnNemity Drive University Drive, Spring Loop and Lincoln Drive. After East Tarrow and Tarrow streets are changed to one -way, the next step is to make the streetscape improvements, said Hard. After that, East Tarrow and Tarrow will be repaved. The project should be com- pleted by March. Yancy said drivers should be extra careful on Sunday because of the 2 p.m. Christmas Parade which will travel down Texas Avenue from the east entrance of Texas A&M University to Manor East Mall in Bryan. The parade will cause extra traffic in the area, Yancy said, and drivers should make sure to pay attention to the new signs and changes of traffic directions. L �4 Home oming at Cft7hall i Bryan public grad takes assist service director By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer so A hometown woman returns to her Bryan- College Station roots with a btg task: Managing s Jeets, drainage and affic operation for t e city of College Sta- t' n. The city hired Kathryn Anthony, a 1P81 graduate of Bryan - igh School and a 1987 g aduate of Texas &M, to become Public ANTHONY Services' assistant director. Current Public Services director Mark Smith left the assistant's posi ion last year. The College Station Capital Improve- ments Advisory Committee just recom- mended a $22 million bond election, and Smith said it shows how important streets and drainage are in the city. "Streets and drainage are the two major components of the [proposed] bond election," Smith said. The management of streets, in partic- ular, is importa in College Station, Anthony said. "A lot of times, streets are the first impression of a city," she said. And with more development drainage has become a bigger issue, both Smith and Anthony said. "With more rain and development we have more challenges," Anthony said. Anthony, 31, last worked for the city of Dallas where she started as a budget ana- lyst in February 1989. She then became development coordinator in the Eco- nomic Development department. Before working in Dallas, Anthony was a management assistant in Fort Collins, Colo., for one year. She is a 1985 cum laude graduate of Texas Tech University and received her master's of public administration from Texas A &M. Anthony, who started Nov. 17, says coming home is special. "My father is a professor at Texas A &M and I graduated from Bryan High, so I already know firsthand how great the people are and how fun the community is," she said. "I wanted to come back to this area. "I really enjoyed living in Dallas, but I wanted to come back to a smaller com= munity." DA'C'E: I)e&Mbe Old re ction go times o up i n moke By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle sta writer Starting today, College Station resi- dents in the south part of town can expect a quicker response from the fire depart ment. College Station Fire Department No. 3, located at the entrance of the Shenan- doah subdivision jlust south of Barron Road on Texas A nue, will open and assistant chief of o rations Dave Gior dano said the res nse time for the area should be cut in half. "We've had a fairly long response time on the south side between seven and nine minutes," h said. "That's not acceptable. "Now, the respo time south of Rock Prairie should be three to five minutes." The south side of College Station is growing rapidly and the station is needed to service that growth, Giordano said. This area includes residential develop- ment in the Shenandoah, Pebble Creek, Cypress Meadow and Oak Grove subdivi- sions and also business growth. A computer program that considered response times from different locations determined the best location for the new station, he said. The half - million dollar Fire Station No. 3 is 4,300 square feet in size and will house six personnel, Giordano said. Four of the personnel will work with one fire engine on site and two will work with an ambulance there, he added. Designers built the station as the fire - fighters' second home, Giordano said. I lggT When visitors walk through the front door of the station, they will see a living room -like setting instead of a commer- cial -type atmosphere, Giordano said. "We want this to be a neighborhood Fire station," he said, and then invited esidents to stop by and visit. The fire department will hold an opening ceremony at the site today from 5:30 -6 p.m. By KELLI LEVEY Eagle staff writer College Station homeowners may face a bond election next spring, now that school trustees have unanimously approved a long -range study on the topic and are starting to organize a committee to set the district's priorities. Superintendent Jim Scales and staff members are recruiting students — mostly from the high school and junior high — staff members and community members_ including parents and busi- ness people. The board unanimously approved the study Monday night during a meeting at the district's newest school, Willow Branch Intermediate School. The meet- ing was a combination of the regular monthly November and December meet- ings. "It was a real positive step, and they were ready to go with it," Scales said of the unanimous vote after a scant discus- sion Monday night. "We had talked about it already in two workshops, so we all knew where we stood on it." Today, Scales will travel to Fort Worth to meet with a consulting group, JCL, on how to proceed. The target date for com- pleting the study sion on whether to call for a bond refer- endum is around March 1. "We'll also look at demographic data for the next 10 years and make some pro- jections as to what we're looking at," Scales said. Scales said early calculations indicate the district will need about $50 million for the next 10 years. He also said orga- nizers will try to keep the increase to each homeowner at around 2 cents to 5 cents per $100 valuation. Scales said the high school would bene- fit most from the bond proposal because it is the largest campus and because high schools are the most expensive construc tion projects that school districts .under- take. J J J r C7 na�E: DEC. 10d In Town &Texas City closes Graham Road due to repairs after rain A short section of Graham Road east of the entrance to the College Station Public Utilities Department is b icad- ed until repairs can be made, ci offi- cials said Friday. The repairs are needed because of recent heavy rains, spokeswoman Peggy Calliham said. Entrances at Texas Aventi i and Wellborn Road will still be open, t iough, and drivers can travel in eith 'r direc- tion up to the barricade, she said. Signs will warn drivers of th road- block. • DATE: ftc lot 1 Battle brewino By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer College Station C� c "You'll : hearing from some of the more vocal residents and som not as rational as myself." ERIC LINDQUIST College Station resident Eric Lindquist thought lie should warn College Station City Council members they were in for a fight if they kept the extension of Welsh Street as part of a proposed $22 million bond- election package. Lindquist said he and his neighbors fear more traffic on their s treet. "They're all kind of up t," he said of his neighbors on Welsh S eet, and then added that if the council follows through with the recommendation it would get an earful from other residen . "You'll be hearing from some of the more vocal residents and some not as rational as myself," he said. A proposal to extend Welsh Street is part of a package of civic improvements recommended by the Capital Improve- ments Advisory Committee, a 19 -member group headed by Councilman David Hickson. The group made its mmendations in outlining a proposatr a $22 million bond election planned for late March. Despite Lindquist's complaints, the City Council agreed at an exhausting seven -hour workshop to keep the project recommendations the same, even though the last time a Welsh extension was pro- posed its residents rallied against it. "I think it was courageous for that committee to put Welsh on there," said Councilwoman Nancy Crouch. The committee said it made the Welsh recommendation based on perceived need for another north-south artery in addition to Texas Avenue and Wellborn Road. "When push came to shove, they felt Welsh was the best north-south route," Hickson said. City Council members went over each recommendation of the bond -election package at the workshop and then directed city staff to gather the needed paperwork to call a bond election for March 25 at its Jan. 12 meeting. More than $10 million of the $22 million is tabbed for street projects, including improvements made to Southwest Parkway, Tarrow Street, Anderson Street and University Oaks Boulevard. Street extension projects recommended are for North Forest Parkway, Rock Prairie Road and Welsh Street. The council was cautious about changing too much of the residents' rec- ommendations for fear of losing their Please see BATTLE, page A7 Battle From Al support. "If we make wholesale changes or additions, we may lose the support of the committee," said Mayor Larry Ringer. The council narrowly changed the $1.6 million recommendation for " streetscape," sidewalks and bikeways. At the urging of Coun- cilman Hub Kennady, the council voted 43 to designate $500,000 for improvements in the Northgate area. The committee's recom- mendation tabbed $250,000 for this proje Councilmen Kennady, Hickson, Larry Mariott and Bill Fox voted for the change while Ringer, Crouch and Lynn McIlhaney voted against it. They also seemed to think the term "streetscape," was too broad a word and talked about changing the wording. "People don't even know what that is," Hickson said. Streetscape is an appearance enhancement project that com- bines things such as street lighting, signs, landscaping and brick paths. Also included in the recom- mendation is funding for a new library - at - asst ofmore - Um million. - -- Hickson said the committee discussed listing on the bond brochure and ballot a location for the library, for example, as west of Texas Avenue or south of Southwest Parkway. The library proposal was part of a bond issue in 1990, but it failed by seven votes, Hickson said. Ringer directed city staff to ., resurrect" 1990 property rec- ommendations if the bond issue passes. At first, Mariott refused to sup- port a new library. "I think it's a waste of money," he said. Mariott said there were plenty of libraries in town, including at Texas A &M University and public schools. Ringer remin.led Mariott those libraries don' serve the general public and th, cooperative effort with the cite of Bryan and its library system will continue. After that, Mariott had a change of heart "That makes me feel completely different," he said. In addition, the council nar- rowly passed a $950,000 proposal for Wolf Pen Creek d rainage and �dete ntion ponds Mariott wasn't optimistic about Wolf Pen Creek's chances with the voters. "I think it's going to get killed," he said. Ringer, Fox, Crouch and Mcll- haney voted to keep the $950,000 as part of the bond election while Mariott, Kennady and Hickson voted against it. Other recommendations: ■ Parks and recreation pro- jects: $2,430,000. These include continuing the development of the Lincoln/Wayne Smith Park Co rridorr_ purchase of additional park land, and park upgrades at Bee Creek and Central parks. ■Drainage projects: $855,000. A major drainage study does not have to be done, Hickson said, but improvements would include areas that need new underground storm drains or where existing ones need major repair. ■Traffic improvements: $1.9 million. Includes the addition of traffic signals to intersections as recommended by city staff. Other improvements include adding medians and continuous right - turn lanes at intersections. ■Central Fire Station reloca- tion: $935,000. Involves relocating the Texas Avenue Central Fire Station to a site in the area bor- dered by Holleman Drive, Dart- mouth Street, Southwest Parkway. ■Land purchase for future municipal court and public ser- vices use: $430,000. The city would use the land for parking and storage. The advisory committee reviewed $56 million in capital projects, Hickson said. The com- mittee narrowed that to $22 mil- lion based on the idea that $22 millio in bon could be sold at $5.5 million per year over four years without increasing the tax rate, he added. But, Hickson said, a tax hike could still be necessary because of operational expenses from the capital projects. The City Council appointed the committee in August. It met Tuesday evenings for about three hours from Sept. 13 through Nov. 15. DATE: DeC. I(o , I In Town &Texas • Al L n ., Downpour could cause 1 around B -05 7 i" County law enforcement o gials say they are preparing for more gavy ,,,,rains that could again flood many • roads in Brazos County and make today's driving extremely hazardous. • College Station police asked dri- vers Thursday to avoid at least eight sites because of flooding. Easterwood Airport received 3.03 inches of rain as of 6 p.m. Thursday. Forecasters predict more of the 4 same for today, with Bryan- College i Station having a 60 percent char of amain. College Station police added that motorists should use "extreme cau- tion" today in the following areas: Wellborn Road from George Bush o Drive to FM 2818, Rio Grande Street at r Navarro Steet, Anderson Street at Cedar Run Street, South College Avenue at the College Station north city limits, FM 2818 at Dowling Road, tu-K ing Cole Road, Glade Street from �Holleman Drive to Southwest f 'Parkway and Southwest Parkw y at ,Bee Creek Drive. r ' Bryan police had to barricade) sev- eral streets including section of r William J. Bryan Parkway and Inlow t Blvd. Other trouble spots include { 'Barak Lane at Oak Ridge Drive, behind Bryan High Scool, Groesbeck "Street and Mockingbird Street. The Brazos County Sheriffs i Department reported that they knew of at least one road that was under water, FM 974 at Edge. No accidents had been reported because of the rain as of late Thursday. l The hammering has stopped and the inspections are final. The fire engine and ambulance have backed Jnto the bay. College Station's Fire Station 3, located off of Highway 6 on the 'south side of town, is open for business. Station 3 began operation on November 28, 1994 at 4 p.m., and the first call for service came in at 11:03 p.m. r the same day.; This call was the 3053rd call of the year for the fire department. If you have Eric Hurt ever toured Station 1 or 2, you will be in for quite a surprise when you walk through this new facility. It is much more "new age" and actually takes into consideration that firefighters spend one -third of their liv s living in it. The fire service has been predomi- nately a male dominated fi ld, but in the last few years women ave made a strong appearance. Station 3 takes this into consideration and provides equal areas for both genders. t also meets Americans with Disabilit' s Act (ADA) standards. Now a little history less n on the evo- lution of the other two fire stations - "Central," or Station 1 6vas built on Texas Avenue alongside City Hall in the 60s and was used as a conit iination police and fire station. As you know the police moved out years ago. This allowed the fire department to spread out a little, but the problem was that the city began to spread also. Before long the response times to the southern area of town began to lengthen. Station 2, located at Rio Grande and FM2818, was built in 1980 to accommodate this growth to the south, and is pretty much a bare bones fire sta- tion. COLLEGE STATION College Station opens new Fire Station N6.3 With the building boom in the early 80s the fire department grew along with the community. Additional firefighters were hired and additional equipment purchased. Along with these additions, though, the need for more space became apparent again. So in 1986 we added on to Station 1 to house the administrative offices. As 1994 comes to a close, the fire department is feeling growing pains. Texas Avenue will soon be widened in front of Station 1 to accommodate heav- ier traffic flows. The growth of the city has also left Station 1 in a less than per- fect location, as well. The City Council is considering the relocation of this station as a possible bond election issue. The location of Station 3 was very well thought out. Armed with new technolo- gy, firefighters used a computer model- ing program to find the best location for the new station. Response times to vari- ous locations in the city were calculated and then several new locations for the station were entered into the computer. From this, new response times were cal- culated. The goal of the fire department is to have a 4.5 minute or less response time to any location in the city. Station 3 fits into this goal very well. This may come as a surprise to you but no new personnel were added to the fire department to staff this new station. The troops were reshuffled and dis- persed into the three different locations. We are very proud of our new station and would like thank you for your sup- port. If you would like to tour any of them feel free to stop by any time! ■ Battalion Chief Eric Hurt is the Fire Marshal for College Station's Fire Department. CS problem drains away p at te n c e By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer College Station resident Dennis Ethridge said he started sweating during last week's downpour. As recently as a month ago, 8 inches of rain would have been in his home in the Shenandoah sub- division on the south end of town. Eagle photo/ Dave McDermand This time water rose 6 inches against his foundation, but had the city not just College Station resident Dennis Ethridge shows where recent city improvements behind his Shenandoah enlarged a drainage ditch behind—his home have helpedlo ease flooding. e changes - his house In the last heavyfa+rrs. house and cleaned the subdivision's drainage pipes, Ethridge said he and his neighbors on Windfree Drive would have subdivision [The Eagle, Nov. 121 because finished yet," said Mark Smith, director been flooded — again. "The improvements had a noticeable when hard rains came his home flooded. "Any future development will cause of public services. Since Ethridge spoke to the council last effect," Ethridge said. "They didn't alle- more problems, and the city will be month, the city enlarged the ditch and viate the problem but they helped." responsible for some major damage," he cleaned and repaired the pipes, and is if the improvements had not been told the council. now inspecting the entire system, made, Ethridge said, "the water would Since then, city staff has met with removing silt from the drainage lines and have been in the house." ' Ethridge and a couple of his neighbors, cleaning and enlarging a detention pond Early last month Ethridge asked City pinpointed the problem and, to an extent, uphill from Ethridge's house, Smith said. Council to postpone a proposal to con- tinue the development of Shenandoah remedied it. "We've done a lot, but we're not really Please see DRAINS, page A4 C2w-PJn hm- 22 /?9Y Drains From Al Smith said in the future the city will determine a new ditch route and buy rights of way that will drain to the main channel of Allen Creek on the east side of Texas 6. "The main thing was to clear the ditch, but (a new ditch) is something we need to look at association's responsibility. opment where McClure Engi- also," Smith said. "That will give "We will work with them to get neering requested 26 single the water a place to go instead of the pond operating, but it's going family lots be created as well as stacking up." to be the neighborhood organiza- the necessary rights of way and The detention pond was tio_n's_ responsibility_ to keep it _easements. designed to collect rain water-and- clean said lure - rim Md release it at a slow rate, Smith After Ethridge complained for the lot creation for said, but it had become clogged. about the drainage problem at the Froehling, a local developer. "That detention pond partly early November meeting, the City filled with mud, dirt and silt," he Council decided to postpone Ethridge said in past years he said. "It was not functioning as it voting on the development pro- and his neighbors had pne to the 'but should." posal until the staff had a chance city with the problems Smith said the city will clean to survey the area and see what nothing had been done. and enlarge the detention pond, could be done. Now, he said, it's different. but it lies on private property and At its most recent meeting, the "They're working up a storm_ is the Shenandoah homeowners City Council approved the devel- out there," Ethridge said. IC COLLEGE STA Drainage utility is h College Station's fut How big is the drainage issu In an average year 32 inches c falls on College Station. That is at billion gallons of storm water. If soaks into ground, leaves over 7 billion gallons of k i runoff flowing through our city's system of creeks, streets and drains. In 1991 and 1992 our rainfall was double our annual aver age. Recently we Mark Smith experienced the single largest rain in the history of C Station. Needless to say, rainfa the resulting runoff has a large i on our lives in College Station. What is College Station cur doing with regard to dra issues? The City establishes design dards, and reviews and inspect developments for drainage as v maintaining the current draina€ tem. Maintenance of the drainal t m is a narrowly defined fu: �M, includes mowing and diggi 2s, clearing out inlets an repairing damage due to ei repairing bridges and headwall repairing leaky storm drains. The facilities that the City mai Dec. I I a I The first step is to create a master plan for drainage in the City. This mas- ter plan will provide f h. �'ity and devel- opers guidance in coi 'sting existing problems and avoiding Jroblems in the future. Once the older parts of the City's drainage system are improved higher standards the we will work on regional flood control projects, develop greenbelt parks in flood prone areas, and improve water quality in the city. The drainage utility will bring College Station one step closer to improving the current drainage system and preparing for future needs. ■ Mark Smith is director of public services for College Station. are all contained within dedicated drainage easements or right -of -ways or in street right -of -way. Development N standards for drainage are detailed in the Drainage Policy and Design -- Standards for the City of College Station. The City joined the National Flood Insurance Program in 1980. Since joining the program, drainage issues Gre have been reviewed from a regulatory perspective. ? Participating in the National Flood rain Insurance program makes federally iut 15 subsidized flood insurance available to alf of all the citizens of College Station. In order to make this benefit available, the City agrees to establish and enforce cer- tain development standards within flood prone areas of the city. Currently, the city spends about $450,000 per year on drainage manage- ment and maintenance. By comparison, the city's water system delivers 2.1 bil- lion gallons of water to its customers each year with an annual budget of $2.1 million. To be fair, the two water sys- tems aren't really comparable. But in the eyes of our customers, the citizens, they are both services provided by the City and the expectation of service is comparable. There is a need for ac higher service level in drainage. )liege As land develops and is paved over, . and less water soaks into the ground. Also, apact there are new environmental regula- tions that make cities responsible for enily the quality of the stormwater runoff. As nage the growing demands of drainage regu- lation and expectations of the citizens star- increase the City is evaluating ways to new meet those demands. 01 as In August, the City Council autho- sys- rized the staff to begin implementing a sys - drainage utility in College Station. The ction drainage utility fee will be based on a g out property's contribution to storm water cul- runoff. The end result is a revenue �sion, source that will provide resources to and meet the rising demand for service. The first step is to create a master plan for drainage in the City. This mas- ter plan will provide f h. �'ity and devel- opers guidance in coi 'sting existing problems and avoiding Jroblems in the future. Once the older parts of the City's drainage system are improved higher standards the we will work on regional flood control projects, develop greenbelt parks in flood prone areas, and improve water quality in the city. The drainage utility will bring College Station one step closer to improving the current drainage system and preparing for future needs. ■ Mark Smith is director of public services for College Station. December Z5, 1 Trashy topic takes center stage By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer Ready to talk trash? Brazos Valley residents get their chance a t 7 n.m. � 19 in the Brazos Center when the Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency holds a public hearing to help determine the site for a square -mile regional landfill. "We'll be soliciting input from the general public about criteria for the site - selection itself," said Bill Angelo, Inside A I 1 k t th I df' I I 11%4 Sunday Workers at the Rock Prairie Road Landfill prepare to cover waste. The landfill has an expected life span of five more years. ■ c User 0U a e an I public hearing. Angelo said. The process to completion "Today's landfills are not the old should take from three to five years. BVSWMA's director. "We want to give dumps of the past," Angelo said. "They The landfill is projected to cost $40 - 50 the public ample oppor tunity t provide don't have steaming piles of trash with million and 57.10 million is needed to input into the process." rats running around everywhere." —start the project. The - money probably Angelo says the community needs a Angelo said the meeting will be open would be raised through selling rev - new landfill within five years, the for any comment from people, even enue bonds, Angelo said. remaining life of the Rock Prairie Road though the committee has made no rec- BVSWMA was created in 1990 by the landfill. ommendations on specific sites. cities of Bryan and College Station to A Citizen's Advisory Committee met In the months after the public consolidate solid waste disposal in the ,this fall and determined general criteria hearing, the comm?i tee will then hold Brazos Valley. on which to base the site - selection. closed meetings because it will address Its current landfill is off Rock Prairie Some of those include: size, different specific sites in the Brazos Valley. Road, but that site's intake may jump kinds of buffer zones, environmental The meetings are closed for a simple from 650 tons a day to more than 1,000 conditions and financial concerns like reason, Angelo said. tons a day when the Conroe landfill current property ownership and how "You don't want property prices to closes in two years, Angelo said. much to spend acquiring it, Angelo escalate just because you are looking in Due to state regulations enacted a said. a specific area," he said. 17 ^ar ago, the number of landfills in BVSWMA �s will explain the Once the committee chooses a site as has dropped from 274 to 82, he making the Rock Prairie landfill a agency's pu nd the technology public hearings will take place and then involved in rluuern landfills at the research and construction will start, regional site. The additional fill has eayin puuiu/ uave 1V1LUU111WiW hastened the need for a new site, Angelo added. The city councils of Bryan and Col- lege Station this fall approved the coin - mittee of 12 area residents to help pick a spot for the 640 -acre landfill. Ideally, the new landfill would be heavily wooded and have a hilly ter- rain, Angelo said. And 290 of the 640 acres would be used for the actual land- fill, with a 500 -foot buffer zone of hills and trees. The new landfill also would have composting and recycling plants, lie added. The landfill must meet several requirements, Angelo said, including being at least two miles fr- - n airport, and away from wetlands lines or "unstable areas." For e _ , e, where land has been mined. Bill Angelo, the Brazos Valle Solid Waste Management Agency's director, drove his blue pickup truck ul i a hill and through the mud at the Rock Prairie Road landfill. "We've been hit hard by recent rains, but the garbage doesn't stop com- ing when it gets wet," Angelo said. "It's hard to move around. Most dirt oving businesses stop when there s bad weather, but we keep going." Angelo is in charge of what could be a much muddier and ploddin task, though, which is helping to pit a site for a square -mile landfill to b 2 built within five years somewhere in the Brazos Valley. He directs a Citizens Advisory Committee of 12 area residents appoint- ed by the Bryan and College Station ty councils to help choose tie site. It Angelo said that because t e com mittee hasn't addressed spec' c loca- tions yet there hasn't been mucl L public reaction. "As we get further down the ' e and talk about specific areas, we'll get a lot more public participation," he said. "Unless something impacts people, they aren't prone to get involved." A public hearing has been set for Thursday, Jan. 19 in the Brazos Center for residents to voice their opinions on the new landfill. Agency officials will explain its pur- pose and the technology involved in modern landfills at the public hearing, Angelo said. Angelo came to Bryan College Station as director of the solid waste agency on April 11 of this year after working 15 years in Denton. He was that city's director of community services. He said one of the things th it drew him to this area was the conso 'dation of solid waste disposal by the cities of Bryan and College Station with the for- mation of BVSWMA. That attracted him to the job Angelo said, because both cities realized they auld save money by combining the rvices. Angelo said the consolidation isn't over yet. "The plan is for the agency to take over the [solid waste] collection for both cities," he said. No timetable has been set for that, he said. Angelo's duties include directing the overall operations of Ste dispos- al ' stablishing his agen y as a sepa- rate entity from Bryan nd College Station, and managing its planning, budgets and public relations. He also said he often deals with state regulatory agencies and engineers and geologists to ensure the landfill landfill is environmentally sound. Angelo said the toughest part of his job is dealing with the obstacles and delays of his goals for the agency. "I'm very results oriented," he said. But Angelo said he enjoys nothing more than dealing with the public and takes his job seriously, which includes finding ways to save taxpayers' money. "There's no reason why a public agency can't be extremely conscious of costs and avoid wastes," he said. Angelo has a wife, Julie. He also pointed out he owns four dogs. "We're both big animal lovers," he said. r/ BILL ANGELO Age 42 Place of birth Dallas Education Shawnee Mission Sc School in Overland undergraduate degr science and history, University of North ter's in public admi UNT High :, Kan.; i political mas- Years lived in B -C S Since April 11, 1994 Job duties Overall direction of waste dispos- al for Bryan- College Station; man- agement planning, budgeting and public relations; dealing with state regulatory agencies, engi- neers and geologists Hobbies, interests Golf, gardening, hunting, photog- raphy and collecting lapel pins Heroes Roger Staubach, Bobby Kennedy Favorite musician John Prine Favorite actors Harrison Ford, Meg Ryan [because of her smile] Favorite author Dan Jenkins Favorite movies Blazing Saddles, The Color Purple Last book read The Iowa Baseball Confederacy DATE: U - fa nk 9 / Eagle photo /Dave McDermand Bill Angelo is directing the Citizens Advisory Committ�e, which has been charged with the task of recommending a site for a landfill to be built in the Brazos Valley. T ak m ing eps o I lean u B Saving taxpayers money is director's idea of waste management By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff write "Unless something impacts people, they aren't prone to get involved BILL ANGELO Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency director AL DATE: C ities as r esident. Vi e.ce m lit. i Q-8, Ig Lf to recycle State officials will exchange seedlings for Christmas trees By BRENT ZWERNEMAN Eagle staff writer Make room for one mo e, newer, hol iday tradition: Christmas tree recycling. The cities of Bryan and College Station encourage residents to br ng their trees to Sue Haswell Park in Bryan and Cen- tral Park in College Station on Jan. 7 and 8. The cities will collect trE es from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Jan. 7 and frorr noon to 5 p.m. on Jan. 8. People who bring their ees will get a free seedling provided by the Texas Forest Service, said city of Bryan spokesman Joe Brown. He said recycling Christmas trees serves two purposes: They won't take up space at the landfill ano they create mulch for city parks. To prepare your tree for recycling, remove all decorations and items like nails, Brown said. Volunteers from the Brazos County 4 -H Equestrian Club will help remove the tree from your car or truck. Flocked trees, which have white spray on them, won't be taken at the Bryan location. Residents who want to drop off trees early may do so at the city of Bryan com- posting plant on Pleasant Hill Road, but seedlings won't be available there, Brown f said. Folks at Evergreen Fa ms Christmas Trees of Bryan said tur ing trees into mulch is the most popular way to recycle them. They said chips from t e trees can be Please see RBCYCLE, page AB Wednesday, December 28, 1994 _recycle From Al used in flower beds, on trails or around newly - planted trees. According to the folks at the Christmas tree farm, old Christmas trees also can be used to stabilize sand dunes along the beach and provide cover for fish by tying the trees together and sinking them in lakes. Chr1*S+nV5 Dg . C C VImc COLLEGE STATION Christmas arrives at College city hall Those of us who work fc are somewhat like a fan; have our light- hearted si gets us through the day . lished on Christmas Dad for of economic and deve tle humor. We also havg people who work for the Jenicek, electrical super The cartoon is his ereati, this with the sense of hw wish each of you a very 1 Christmas in a 'Twas the night before City Hall, All the creatures were the Mall. The weather was gioon But all was recorded b3 Tom Brymer and I had Discussing the flooding When out on the lawn 1 I sprang from my chair Away to the window I f Grabbed hold of the haj The low -light condition Made it difficult to see, When what to my won( But a short little man b He was so short and tin I thought it was Beachy He came in the front do Currina, Then turned up the hall He got on the elevator, I As it came to a stop, he All were concerned for I Peggy bent over and we "I think he broke somet and see!" Cathy Locke came runn indemnity". "This is not fn our budg sadly. Up walked Glenn Schro gladly „ "It's St. Nick ", Linda shi to be done, Go get Mary Tucker, ha Gretchen ran to the offic the City of College Statton ly and like families, we do ells where a sense of humor Since this editorial is pub I called on Elrey Ash, direc- opment services to share a lit - nany other multi- talented ity. One of those is Len sor, who is also an artist. a. We hope you will enjoy or that is intended and we ferry Christmas Day Peggy Cailiham Relations & Marketing Mgr Station as, and throughout their thoughts at Y, not pleasant you see; " Live Doppler 3 ". ust settled down, and events 'round the town ►ere arose such a clatter, to see what was the matter. �w like E. Ash, dies and opened the sash. on this rain -laden day, s I looked cross the way. 'ring eyes should appear, a Jeep Wagoner. ., but lively and quick, but 'twas Ole St. Nick. r, walked right past �, bumped into Regina. ied facing the door, out on the floor. taken a tumble. u'd a soft mumble, ;', she cried, "Come „ "Have him sign this Charles Cryan said er, "We'll handle it ted, "Something needs her call 9-1 -1 ". "Hurry get on the phonp- eCEYnb2r ZS 19q / `+ - z ti� J Santa's fallen from the elevator. He's broken a bone ". The call went out and response took an infinity, Up pulled the ambulance driven by Kennedy. "We'd have gotten here sooner, but someone got in the way, It was a lady in a Isuzu, with a lighted license display ". We all helped Bill load St. Nick on the gurney, And all wished him well on his very short journey. As they loaded him on, I heard a loud whistle, And away they all flew like a screamin' scud missile. But I heard him exclaim, as they drove out of sight, "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Now one might think that this tale's at an end, Like the poem of old from Clement Moore's pen. But that's not the situation in this case at all, No one knew why Santa was even at City Hall. Toni and I wondered why he'd even come here, Then a note on the floor made it all very clear. Santa had heard of this great little city, He'd seen it from above and thought it real pretty. He was planning to expand and he felt real inventive. Thought he'd ask for and economic development incentive. If the Council would just give him the land, He'd move the North Pole south to old "AGGIELAND ". P. S.Now we'll all wonder if it really is true, That jolly St. Nick is a an old AGGIE too! ![CI A = I Yi • TE: h/Guern ber a, 1994 The man who WAS College Station Eagle Editorial Board oliticians come, take the glory, and go. But the city manager, administrative boss all the municipal employees, labc r most- ly out of the limelight. Under his direction, c t staff clean streets, pick up y rbage, police the city, fight fires, and keep our parks green and beautiful. For six years, Ron Ragland WAS the City of College Station. On weekdays he was at his desk at City Hall or supervising a men and women who worked r him and, thus, for us. On weekends, he was often to be found pedaling his bike through the streets of College Station, looking not unlike a spaceman in his riding gear and helmet. He obviously loves living here. And it showed in the way he worked with the city council to spearhead College Station's i rowth from a sleepy little town to a i ophis- ticated community. Ragland resigned this week. Or maybe he was asked to leave. The mayor and city council sE y only that there "were differences of opinions" on the direction ' the city. Even those who private y may have wanted Ragland to mo along praise him for a good job ' his tenure as assistant city manager and then as city manager. Ragland himself says "Th thrill is gone," and says he is eager to find new opportunities. Whatever the story of his depar- ture, Ragland doesn't work here any more and the City of College Station is looking nationwide for a new manager. Maybe we can import a city man- ager for the next six years who was as competent as Ragland was for the last six.