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Big crowd talks ER, hospital in Bowie

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By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
About 200 people filled the Bowie Community Center Wednesday night for a town hall meeting about the need for a hospital or emergency room in Bowie.
This session was organized after the unexpected Oct. 6 closure of the Faith Community Emergency Room in Bowie just two weeks shy of the one-year anniversary of its opening.
Bowie was without a local hospital since early 2020 when Central Hospital closed after just a few years of operation. Central purchased the Bowie Memorial Hospital property after BMH closed its doors on Nov. 16, 2015 after nearly 50 years of operation.
Wednesday’s meeting was filled with a variety of citizens including many seniors, families and local business people. Melody Gillespie served as moderator for the meeting, assisted by Jennifer Tellef and Robert Ragsdale.
Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham also participated in the discussion, but noted he was there as a citizen supporting the pursuit of a hospital or ER, and the city could not be involved.
Gillespie, a local realtor and chairman of the county Republican Party, explained this is a grassroots movement and she anticipates possibly three meetings to determine the desire to pursue the creation of a taxing hospital district to support a medical care center. A tentative meeting is set for Nov. 19 with details coming later.
“This is a meeting to hear from you. I have a few rental properties and understand the concern about taxes. We are faced with a dilemma. This isn’t just about Bowie. I don’t live in the city limits, but it is about a lot of people in this area,” said Gillespie.
The moderator added she knew very little about a hospital district when she was asked to do this, but she began researching and found it is an entity run by the people in its boundaries through an elected board.
Cunningham, who helped organize this meeting, thanked the large group for coming out. Looking back to 1966 when the original hospital authority was formed and BMH was built it operated successfully for many years, but he said changes in federal government funding and reimbursements changed the way hospitals were able to operate.
“We could berate those operations or the ones that followed, but it won’t serve a good purpose. I believe we need to form a hospital district, we need to be in control of our own destiny. We need to be able to enact taxes. You can’t run a hospital in this country without a subsidy or tax,” explained Cunningham.

Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.

Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham welcome the large crowd to Wednesday’s community meeting to discuss a possible hospital district. (Photos by Barbara Green0
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Amon Carter Lake Board to meet

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Members of the Amon Carter Lake Water Supply Corporation will meet at 6 p.m. on May 26 in the office at 607A Lindsey for a monthly meeting.
Items on the agenda include a consent agenda and minutes and financials. Possible discussion/action may be considered on the following topics: Treasurer’s report, review of finance and current loans; president’s report as to the written agreements with contractual employees; consider current water rates and a possible increase; and review of expenses and areas that need amendment.
An executive session may be entered to discuss personnel issues.

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Saint Jo City Council hires fire marshal

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The City of Saint Jo has a new fire marshal as the city council made the appointment during its May 13 meeting.
Gary Hines, a retired professional firefighter and certified fire investigator, will take the position. City Secretary Debbie Dennis said the post is required by ordinance but has not been filled for a long period.
The council set dates for a budget workshop for 2 p.m. on June 14 and 2 p.m. on June 28 for the ordinance workshop, as the council works to update its rules.

Aldermen gave their support to a proposition by Councilman Jack Dunn who is asking the Legislature to allow Texas’ smallest cities, those with 2,500 or few in population, to receive an additional share of sales and use tax. He would like to see the funds used in these communities to repair and replace aging infrastructure without new taxes or reliance on state grants.
In letter to State Rep. David Spiller, whom Dunn will meet with on June 1, the alderman explains much of the state’s 6.25% share generated locally flows into general funds and is spent on other priorities. He would like Spiller to author this legislation. Dunn gave the letter to the council along with a powerpoint on the plan.
“A single water treatment plant upgrade or sewer rehab carries massive, fixed costs that do not shrink with population size. These communities, often with only a few hundred or a couple thousands residents, simply cannot spread those costs across enough ratepayers or a broad tax based,” the letter states.
Dunn suggests a “graduated sales tax retention policy:” 1% additional share for cities with 2,500 or fewer residents; .75% for those 2,500 and 5,000; and .50% for cities between 5,001 and 10,000. It would be dedicated to infrastructure. Dunn says the overall statewide fiscal impact would be negligible, but could help sustain small, rural cities.

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City of Nocona buys water storage tank, review dam repair

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The Nocona City Council approved a bid for a new 203,000 gallon capacity tank for potable water at the water plant and learned a slide repair to the lake dam is going to be pretty costly.
At its May 12 session the council received three bids on the tank and went with one from Tank Depot of Cleburne for $193,923. It is for a a 217,600 gallon tank usable for 203,000 gallons. The price could change slightly since it was based on estimate freight costs.

Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.

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