NEWS
Bowie approves testing for possible solar array sites
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
The City of Bowie will take the next step in pursuing the development of a two megawatt solar array on a piece of city property by approving geotechnical testing on three potential sites.
The city council Thursday voted to enter an agreement with D&S Engineering for the testing. Last month city officials met with five developers to tour the sites with no specific site earning the majority interest of the companies. City Manager Bert Cunningham said the tests are expected to run about $21,500, with additional costs for other tests if they are needed.
Councilor Craig Stallcup suggested they require the selected developer to reimburse at least the cost for one site when they create an agreement. The city manager said he did not think they would be disagreeable with that stipulation, however, it could also impact the final power purchase agreement.
The City of Bowie obtained an amendment to its bulk power contract with Bryan Texas Utilities a little more than a year ago that will allow the city to get two megawatts of its power from another source other than BTU. The advantage to any power obtained from this source would be the lack of transmission fees on that two megawatts.
In addition the energy could help reduce the city’s peak demand. Distributors are charged a peak rate based on annual calculations from the four prime months, typically June to September, which also is the peak for solar production.
Read the full story in the weekend News.
NEWS
National Weather Service forecast
Ice Potential & What to Know:
– Impacts will vary over SHORT distances due to different precip types/amounts.
– Travel will be MOST impacted Thu night- Fri morning. Any water on the roads will freeze!
– Most likely ice is up to 0.15″, with a 10% chance of 0.25″.
While we are forecasting a mix of precipitation, potential has increased for more icing. This is especially true along the corridor of orange on the map below, where totals up to 0.15 inches are possible. As mentioned above, there is a 10% chance of 0.25″ of ice. Continue to keep monitoring the forecast as updates come this way. Either way, travel will become hazardous through tomorrow morning. Conditions will likely deteriorate through tomorrow night into Friday morning.
NEWS
Winter storm watch issued by weather service
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch from late Wednesday through Friday afternoon for most of North Texas including Montague, Cooke, Jack and Wise Counties.
The warning states heavy snow and mixed precipitation are possible with total snow accumulations between three and six inches and ice accumulations around one-tenth of an inch possible.
Roads and especially bridges and overpasses will likely become slick and hazardous. Travel will be difficult to impossible states the report and hazardous conditions could impact the Thursday morning and evening commutes.
Winter precipitations is forecast to start early Thursday morning and increase in intensity and coverage through the day Thursday and into Thursday night before tapering off during the day Friday.
NWS officials said the greatest uncertainty in the forecast is snowfall amounts across the west and northwest counties where accumulations may be lighter than currently forecast. The map shows Montague County located in an area forecast to get 3-6 inches of snowfall. As the storm moves south it turns more to ice.
Preparedness action include monitoring the latest forecasts and updates on the weather situation. Persons should consider delaying travel during this time.
If travel is absolutely necessary consider taking a winter storm kit along with you including tire chains, booster cables, flashlight, shovel, blankets and extra clothing. Also take water, a first aid kit and anything else that would help you survive in case you became stranded.
All 12 Texas Department of Transportation maintenance offices spent Monday pre-treating bridges and overpasses with brine in the Wichita Falls District. Crews in the largest cities sprayed brine on secondary highways and roads first before moving onto the primary freeways. Employees transformed more than 86 dump trucks into snowplows and adding brine tanks and sand spreaders.
Tuesday was spent laying down brine on all primary high traffic roadways and making more brine for the holding tanks and tanker trucks.
Motorists can obtain travel information, road conditions and see 15 Wichita Falls traffic cameras and 1 Vernon camera by visiting DriveTexas.org or calling (800) 452-9292. Traffic cameras are also at TxDOT.Gov. You also can follow the Wichita Falls District on its Facebook page.
If you experience an emergency on the road, call 9-1-1 for help and stay buckled up inside your vehicle.
NEWS
Schools to close on Thursday
The following school districts have announced they will be closed on Jan. 9 due to concerns about the forecast for a winter storm. This list will be updated as information is released or provided to The Bowie News.
Bowie ISD
Gold-Burg ISD
Montague ISD
Nocona ISD
Prairie Valley ISD
Saint Jo ISD
NCTC campuses Thursday and Friday
Forestburg is already out for the county show Thursday and Friday
Bellevue School will start at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
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