NEWS
Bowie City Council meets on Monday night
The Bowie City Council will consider the second reading of the budget adoption ordinance and conduct the final public hearing on the proposed tax rate when it meets at 6 p.m. on Sept. 9.
After months of working on the budget the council approved its first reading at the Aug. 26 meeting.
This budget ordinance shows $8,251,643 in general fund allocations and $9,471,000 in the utility fund. The budget proposal includes several big ticket items.
There is a three percent pay raise for employees, a $700,000 loan that will be used to replace the 40-year-old fuel tanks ($250,000) at the airport and for a new UV system ($441,000) at the water plant replacing its 25-year-old system; and a fleet program to replace about a dozen vehicles across the city service at a cost of $108,000 a year projected to save the city about $133,000 in maintenance and purchase costs during the next three years.
A second public hearing on the proposed tax rate opens the agenda. The rate is offered at .5445 cents per $100 in property value compared to .5250 cents in 2018. The tax rate adoption is listed for its first reading in new business.
City Manager Bert Cunningham pointed out this tax rate increase is offset in the budget by a reduction in the small business commercial electric rate. For a customer with an average 2,000 kilowatt hours this will bring a reduction of about $14.40 per month and impact 656 meters in the system.
In new business an ordinance amending the subdivision rules will be examined. The planning and zoning commission has made a recommendation to make a change that relates to an owner conveying a portion of his land to an adjoining land owner in order to settle a boundary line discrepancy involving permanent structures which are encroached. The commission members believe this small change will expedite this process instead of requiring a full replat.
The final two items of new business is a resolution to nominate a candidate to the Montague County Tax Appraisal District Board and an ordinance amending the municipal budget for fiscal 2018-19 for specified funds, account and line item designations.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
A petition was filed mid-week with the 97th District Clerk seeking the removal of 97th District Attorney Casey Hall for “incompetency or official misconduct.”
The document was filed by Tim Cole, former DA and longtime area attorney, on July 17. Texas law allows any resident of the county where the allegations occurred to file such a petition on any elected official.
As of Friday noon, no judge had been assigned and Hall had not been served notice of the filing per the district court.
A recent example of this type of petition occurred in Clay County in January 2023 after Sheriff Jeff Lyde was arrested on charges of official oppression. Former District Judge Frank Douthitt filed that petition and the state was represented by Hall and the Clay County attorney Seth Slagle.
Casey Hall, DA for the three-county 97th District since 2016, was arrested on July 8 on a grand jury indictment for theft of property $2,500 to $30,000, a state jail felony. She was released on a $5,000 bond. The allegations stem from misappropriation of state grant funds with the investigation conducted by the Texas Attorney General’s staff.
Removal action
The removal action is directed to David Evans, judge of the 8th administrative judicial region, which has jurisdiction in this case. It seeks to have the officer removed for incompetency or official misconduct, acts or omissions while in the performance of her duties as the district attorney.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
A missing person’s alert has been issued for Bryce Dingler, who was last seen July 16 at his parents’ home in Nocona around 10 p.m. as he left going home to his apartment in Plano.
The 29-year-old is the son of Dr. Len and Waynette Dingler of Nocona. According to missing person circulars posted by the Clay County Sheriff’s office and Put Me First, Dingler’s vehicle, a 2015 white Ford F150 lifted with large tires and Dallas Cowboy’s star on the tailgate was found on the side of U.S. Highway 287 in the early morning hours of July 17. His ID and phone were left in the truck.
The initial SO posting stated Dingler was at the courthouse Tuesday to midday, and he told his parents that night was he was heading home to Plano. His family tried to call him throughout Wednesday, but he never answered. It states his last known location was near Butler Road, 1 mile west of Jolly on U.S. 287. Those with any information are urged to call the Clay County Sheriff at 940-538-5611. Case #24010013.
The Put Me First circular stated a license plate reader picked up Dingler’s truck around midnight in Plano. He was wearing a light color T-shirt, dark grey athletic shorts and tennis shoes. He has a left lower arm sleeve with pine trees, leaves and a wolf. He is 5-foot-6-inches tall, 135 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
It continues the truck was spotted July 17 around 6:30 a.m. on the westbound side of U.S. 287 by Duck Creek. Put Me First states Dingler had a “promising job interview” the day he went missing, noting this is “not normal behavior.”
As of 2 p.m. Friday Dingler was still missing.
The regular meeting of the Bowie City Council for July 22 has been cancelled. City Manager Bert Cunningham and Mayor Gaylynn Burris will be attending the Texas Public Power Association conference.
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