NEWS
Several Bowie City Councilors came ready for battle Tuesday night, loaded with copies of past budgets and stacks of questions as the first budget workshop was conducted.
It was a lengthy evening lasting five hours as the council went through the budget, department by department. City Manager Ricky Tow, going into his second budget season, presented a preliminary budget that totals $19.2 million for utility and general fund operations. The formal budget presentation will be made July 15.
Tow called the proposal “conservative to tight,” but after Tuesday’s initial outing, he anticipates further cuts and adjustments. The only action taken at the workshop was to eliminate the category of employee listed as part-time with benefits, which will save approximately $7,400 a year per employee.
Councilor Arlene Bishop, who returned to the council this past May, was one of the most vocal at the workshop looking through a large stack of past budgets and paperwork for her questions. She clearly was at odds with Councilor Laura Sproles as the two verbally sparred throughout the night.
Bishop asked lots of questions on topics ranging from uniforms and license tests, to overtime costs. At the midway point, Bishop told her fellow council members they need to find $120,000, which is the amount of revenue the budget proposal will lose if the petitions seeking to rescind the Oct. 1 water and sewer rate hikes hold any sway with the city council.
Petitions are being circulating asking for the change in rates and they could be presented to the council next week. However, unless the city opts to rescind the rate increases or conduct an election on the issue, the petitions are merely a show of support to leave the rates at the present level.
When the need to cut that $120,000 was raised, several council members commented together, not necessarily it would be up to the council.
While discussing general fund revenue, Councilor Sproles, who also chairs the city’s Hotel/Motel Tax Board, urged the council to make changes in the dispersal of the HOT funds.
Read the full story in your weekend News.
The Montague County Animal Shelter is taking shape with a main kennel almost complete and a portable building place this past week to serve as an office.
It was 10 months ago the county commissioner’s court approved the project using some Senate Bill 22 grant funds in the sheriff’s office and county funds or the project. Sheriff Marshall Thomas included one new deputy position and a pickup for animal control in the grant budget.
The overall project was estimated to run anywhere from $185,000 to $200,000.
There are three animal shelters that operate in Montague County in Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo. Only Bowie is city operates, but all three operate with an active volunteer 501c3 group.
Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.
Pictured – HVAC was installed in the new animal shelter kennel building recently. (Courtesy photo)
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
It took members of the Bowie City Council less than 20 minutes to handle their brief agenda of business on Oct. 28.
There were infrastructure project reports, the quarterly hotel/motel tax report and resolutions connected to grant applications.
City Manager Bert Cunningham said he does not anticipate the contractor for the Nelson Street project to complete the remaining work by the Oct. 31 deadline. If that happens, the city will start assessing the $700 per day penalty allowed through the contract.
The nearly $3 million project hit the one-year mark, which also was the approximate completion time pending weather; however, MX Construction of McKinney has delayed completion of several areas and made errors that had to be corrected. The company also requested about one month ago “rain days,” which occurred early in the project.
Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.
After nearly several months of virtually no significant rainfall and a growing drought, Montague County and North Texas finally got some decent rainfall during the weekend and on Monday.
While thunderstorms threatened Saturday heavy thunder and wind did not come until Sunday night. Monday morning there was a severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado watch for the county, and both were cancelled late in the morning.
There was no damage reported to local officials around Montague County, with some reports of low-lying flooding and some downed limbs.
Clay County Judge Mike Campbell reported Sunday “a small, but powerful tornado,” hit an area from Farm-to-Market Road 171 to Carpenter Road near Byers.
Rainfall reports in the county range from eight inches around Nocona and 5 inches in Bowie.
Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.
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