HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970 CS City Council Sets Election Day� c s c I Set •
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El ect i o n s
By Dave Mayes
Battalion Editor
The College Station City Coun-
cil designated April 7 as the day
city residents are to elect a mayor
and three councilmen.
The council also approved a
17.36 per cent hike in rates
charged by the Lone Star Gas
Co. and authorized Mayor D. A.
"Andy" Anderson to work with
the city of Bryan and Texas
A &M to set up a joint city utility
committee to handle citizen com-
plaints about telephone, gas,
electric and other services.
At stake in the April election
are the offices of mayor and
council posts occupied by Jim
Dozier (place 2) Mayor Pro Tem
O. M. Holt (Place 4), and C. H.
Ransdell (Place 6).
According to Anderson, filing
for offices opens today and
closes March 6. Absentee voting
begins March 17 and closes April
4.
On election day, Anderson said,
Polling places will be at A &M
Consolidated High School, the
new fire station and the old city
hall.
Concerning the gas rate' hikes,
Ransdell told the council that he,
Dozier and City Manager Ran
Boswell had worked with the gas
company for three months and,
"after prolonged negotiations,"
managed to get Lone Star to low-
er its original increase request
from 21.68 per cent to 17.36.
Ransdell said that under the
Present proposal, Lone Star
would still be making more than
seven per cent overall gross prof-
it. He said that he thought the
increase was "fair and equitable,"
in that Lone Star had not had a
raise since 1953.
Councilman Holt questioned
whether the "little user" (gas
consumer) was being charged at
a rate higher than the "big user."
Ransdell said this was true but
that the revised proposal brought
the percentage differences .be-
tween the two closer together.
During the discussion, a lady
in the audience asked a represen-
tative of Lone Star why her gas
bill was estimated rather than
computed from readings from her
meter. The representative replied
that if the meter in a particular
place is inaccessable then it is
often estimated.
The woman maintained that
her meter was very easy to read,
and that she knew that Lone Star
had not checked it in the last four
months.
. Several councilmen expressed
concern that Lone Star be more
diligent in its future meter read-
ings.
In the vote on the rate hike,
Holt and Joe McGraw . voted
against it, and Dozier, Ransdell,
Dan Davis and Jim Cooley, in
t or.
Anderson said the new rates
uld go into effect March 217.
ntroducing the joint utility
mmittee proposal, Anderson
d that the Bryan City Com-
mission had already expressed fa-
vorable interest in establishing
the panel.
Anderson said the committee
would be made up of citizens
from Bryan, College Station and
J�e who are "well versed in
atters concerning all utilities."
panel wouId act as an ad-
sory y committee, informing the
council of citizen complaints and
recommending actions the coun-
cil could take.
McGraw suggested that the
panel should not only contain
utilities experts but consumers of
utilities as well. The council ac-
cepted his suggestion and unani-
mously approved the organization
of the committee.