NEWS
Bowie City Council pushing to reopen economy earlier
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
The Bowie City Council wants to get the local economy moving again and would like to jump right into phase two of the governor’s plan due to the low number of active COVID-19 cases.
Councilors debated the issue during its Monday night meeting. Mayor Bill Miller said we have to “open up our country,” and invited State Sen. Pat Fallon to comment via the video conference link.
Fallon said one death is too many, but at this point the predictions for much higher deaths and hospital needs have not come to pass in Texas so he believes it is time to start reopening.
“We have 21,000 hospital beds reserved for COVID-19 patients, 1,550 are occupied. We have capacity. Anyone who needed a bed or a ventilator had one. We are okay on personal protection equipment for medical personnel, but we are running low on gowns. Texas is one of the the least hit as the 40th high state with confirmed cases and 41st in deaths. We hunkered down, but it is time to get out of the foxhole and keep moving,” said Fallon.
He was enthusiastic about the governor’s plan, but said he would have liked to have seen it go a bit further adding they have a lot of questions to clarify. Governor Greg Abbott outlined his plan in a Monday press conference with phase one allowing all retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls to reopen May 1 at 25 percent capacity.
This plan also outlined protocols for certain counties with five or fewer lab confirmed cases of the virus. Those counties may on an individualized basis, increase occupancy limits up to 50 percent for those retail categories listed in phase one. Montague County falls into this category and could jump immediately into phase two.
Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.
City of Bowie officials were on hand to inspect the emergency electrical generators that were delivered last week.
Mayor Gaylynn Burris and City Manager Bert Cunningham inspected one of three emergency electrical generators purchased as part of an ongoing Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant. They also talked with Jay Evans, head of the city electric department, and Jerry Sutton, director of the water treatment plant about the next step for installation of the generators.
This grant provides funding for one 150 kW and two 250 kW generators for use at the water treatment plant.
Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.
City Manager Bert Cunningham and Mayor Gaylynn Burris talk with the electric and water department staff about the new generators. (Photo by Cindy Roller)
No action was taken on a legal issue after members of the Bowie City Council met in a called closed session at 4 p.m. on July 12.
City Secretary Sandy Page said the council met for almost one hour for “consultation with attorney – Midwest Waste Services LLC vs. City of Bowie.
This lawsuit goes back to August 2019 when Midwest sued the city for its action requiring those who receive city water outside the city limits to use the designated waste collector, which is Waste Connections. This was shortly after the city signed a new long-term contract with WC.
The suit was dismissed in June 2020 on two points in the suit, but City Manager Bert Cunningham said a third point remained in mediation.
The Department of Public Safety has provided information on an auto vs. motorcycle accident that reportedly occurred on July 4.
James Lee Hilton, Nocona, was driving a 2019 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and Daniel Parra, Chico, was driving a 2018 Ford Fiesta. Both vehicles were north on State Highway 101 outside Sunset with the motorcycle behind the car.
Parra was attempting to turn left on Farm-to-Market Road 2265 when the motorcyclist attempted to unsafely pass to the left states the report. The bike struck the left side of the Fiesta. Both vehicles came to rest off the roadway on the northwest corner of SH 101 and FM 2265.
Hilton was transported to Denton Medical City with
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