NEWS
Commissioners to consider burn ban
Despite a hefty rain earlier last week, the daily triple digit temperatures are leading Montague County officials to consider a ban on all outdoor burning.
The commissioner’s court will meet at 9 a.m. on July 9 with a burn ban one of the topics on the agenda. Rainfall amounts ranging from a half-inch to almost five inches across the county on July 1 gave the ground a good soaking, however, 100-degree plus days and wind can take all that away pretty quickly.
The sheriff’s office will provide an update on the K-9 unit, which went to work several months ago and has been responsible for several large drug busts.
The court will consider a request for a part-time investigator in the district attorney’s office, which also is on the same agenda as a budget workshop. Two week ago things got quite heated between Commissioner Roy Darden and District Attorney Casey Polhemus, as she presented her budget requests and he questioned the prosecution or lack of prosecution cases he said was being closely watched by the citizens.
Other topics on the agenda will be: Mitigation plan update; monthly veteran’s service office report; consider advertising for gravel bids; requests by precinct two to enter the Josh Swint property on Hopewell Road and precinct one to enter the Mark Null property on Greenwood Lane; consider changing the name of Ford road in precinct one and make it a continuation of Dye Mount Road; consider unanticipated revenue from the sale of equipment in precinct one; and memo of understanding between the county and the Helen Farabee Centers.
The second community meeting on needs for an emergency room or hospital in Bowie is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Bowie Community Center.
This is the second meeting to discuss these needs following the closure of the Faith Community Health Center emergency room on Oct. 6, just shy of a year of operation. More than 200 people attended that first meeting, where discussion centered on the creation of a taxing district to support any sort of medical facility.
Citizens in the Bowie area are encouraged to attend and take part in these discussions.
The Bowie City Council has moved its Nov. 18 meeting to 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 where three new council members will take the oath of office.
Councilors include Laura Sproles, precinct two, Brandon Walker, precinct one and Laramie Truax, precinct two. After the votes are canvassed and the oaths given, a mayor pro tem will be selected.
The new members will jump right into training as City Attorney Courtney Goodman-Morris provides an orientation and discussion of duties for council members.
City Manager Bert Cunningham will make his monthly report on the following topics: Nelson Street, which opened last Thursday, update on the sewer line replacement project, substation transformer placement and information on medical companies.
A closed executive session on the Laura McCarn vs. City of Bowie lawsuit is scheduled. The suit arose in November 2022 when the city broached selling some 25 acres it owns on Lake Amon G. Carter, originally part of the land purchased for the 500-acre Bowie Reservoir completed in 1985.
McCarn challenges the ownership of the property stating it should revert to the original owners since it was not used for the lake.
This 24.35 acre tract is located at the end of Indian Trail Road surrounded by the lake and the Silver Lakes Ranch subdivision.
One of Bowie’s major thoroughfares, Nelson Street, was reopened Thursday after one busy block has been closed since August 2021 when a section of the street failed.
Construction finally came to an end on Thursday when the street, including the Nelson and Mill intersection were reopened. Mayor Gaylynn Burris, City Manager Bert Cunningham, Councilors TJay McEwen and Stephanie Post, Engineer Mike Tibbetts and Public Works Director Stony Lowrance met at the site Thursday morning and removed the barricades. It only took a few minutes for vehicles to start arriving and drivers were excited to go through on the new roadway.
This section of Bowie has endured flooding and drainage problems for many years and in the summer of 2023 the city council finally bit the bullet and sought bids for the repair work expected to top $3 million. In August 2021 a one block section of Nelson was closed when a large sinkhole appeared on the north side of the street. Traffic had to be diverted including all the school traffic flowing from the nearby junior high and intermediate.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo – (Left) Mike Tibbetts, engineer with Hayter Engineering, talks with Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham as they look over the massive drainage project on Nelson Street.
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