Saturday's Internet Edition, July 31, 2010.
For Jubilee 2010
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- This is the week! Perhaps it is the most anticipated week in at least 5 years. The town is expected to fill-up as folks flock “back home.”
Jubilee 2010 kicks off tomorrow as a host of Van Horn exes arrive in town to celebrate their roots and heritage.
Get ready to renew old friendships, re-live old memories, make new ones and just have a wonderful time visiting the place we all called, or do call home.
Reunion Committee member Lyndon McDonald told the Advocate that he thinks the event will definitely be one of the best. “I’ve heard of lots and lots of folks commenting that they are coming this time,” he noted.
Registration will be held at the Van Horn Convention Center all day tomorrow and then things kick off with a reception, hosted by the Van Horn Chamber of Commerce, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m., at the CCVB.
At 9 p.m., folks will gather at Eagle Field for a Memorial service, before heading over to Veterans Memorial Park for the 10 p.m. huge fireworks display, sponsored by the Town, Culberson Hospital, American Talc and Connel Oil, It will be put on by Rodney Amonett and his crew from Abilene and is expected to be as good or better than last year’s.
For early risers, the Van Horn Rotary Club is hosting a Pancake Breakfast at the Convention Center from 8 a.m until 10 a.m. Saturday morning.
For those who like to run, the local Girl Scouts are hosting a 5K Run or a 1K Walk at 8 a.m. Saturday. It starts at Eagle Field for those interested.
If golf is your thing, then you’ll want to be at Mountain View Golf Course by 9 a.m. to sign up. Tournament tee-time will be 9:30 a.m.
At 11:30 a.m., the 4-H will be serving up a Bar-B-Q dinner at the Convention Center. They’ll continue serving until 2 p.m.
And, our new hospital addition is now complete and the hospital is holding an Open House for the new facility from 1:30 p.m. until 6 p.m. You won’t want to miss seeing how this addition has modernized and upgraded our local hospital.
The Clark Hotel Historical Museum will be open from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Friday and from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday for visitors to have their pictures taken at the histroic hotel and museum. They’ll also be serving up drinks and cookies to museum visitors.
At 2 p.m. on Saturday, those who’d like to stroll down memory lane can gather at Van Horn High School to recall events from your school years. There will also be ice cream on hand for all visitors.
And who won’t want to attend the 3 p.m. Pep Rally at the High School Gym. You’ll have an opportunity to re-live your high school days in a big way.
And then, you’ll have some time on your hands to just visit with one another or take a look at the Van Horn Cemetery, Clark Hotel Historical Museum or whatever between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Saturday.
Then, promptly at 9 p.m., you’ll want to assemble at the Van Horn City-County Park where you can visit, dance and just have a good time until 1 a.m. You’ll be dancing to the sounds of Wayne West y Grupo Potrero at no charge to you.
Oh, there are a couple of requests for the evening event. Bring your own chairs or something to sit on, bring your own booze, and please, no glass bottles!
The dancing will be over by 1 a.m. Sunday morning and you’ll have time to get on back to your motel for some rest before heading back home on Sunday.
Have a fabulous time in the town that is so dear to most of you. And, make your plans now to attend the next Jubilee in 2015.
TxDOT unveils Highway 54 Beautification Project details
At Tuesday evenings Van Horn City Council meeting, Chris Weber, area enginer out of Alpine for the Texas Department of Transportation, appeared before council to outline the details of the Highway 54 Beautification Project.
The project, according to Weber, has been talked about for several years and now is coming to fruition. He told council that the plans have been prepared and cost estimates have also been prepared. TxDOT is estimating the the project will run $1.6 million.
It will entail placing curbs, gutters, sidewalks, ADA handicap facilities and a 2” asphalt overlay along Highway 54 (La Caverna Drive) from Broadway, north to the city limits.
Weber said that the project is expected to go to bid sometime in December with construction estimated to start in February of 2011. The project is expected to take between 10 months and a year to complete.
This was good news and was received heartily by council members.
Council went behind closed doors for a lengthy executive session on personnel matters and contracts.
Upon reconvening in open session, Alderman Mingo Corrales made a motion that Fran Malafronte was the city administrator and that all city staffers should report to her. The motion was seconded by Alderman Nuny Morris and carried.
Then council members took up the matter of the contract awarded to Techmojo last month for computer service. Apparently, when they awarded the contract, council did not look at the budget to see that they did not have enough funds in the budget to fund the $10,000 contract.
Additionally, Fran Malafronte reported that the computers being covered under the contract are not nearly worth what the contract is.
Whereupon City Attorney Steve Mitchell recommended that Malafronte get with Techmojo representatives to see what can be worked out. Action will be taken at a later meeting of council.
And, council took the following actions with regard to other items on their meeting agenda:
* Approved payment of monthly bills amounting to $111,125.15.
*Waived the green fees so that a new cheerleading group can hold a fund raising golf tournmanet on July 3rd.
* They also approved waiving swimming pool fees on Saturday, June 19th, so that kids can swim while their parents are attending Jubilee 2010 events. It was noted, however, that youngsters must be accompanied and supervised by an adult.
* Council heard Kay Carson, a resident who lives on La Caverna Drive, urge council members to mark La Caverna Drive with appropriate signs. Such signs are currently in the Highway 54 Beautification project.
* Adopted the Emergency Response Plan for the Water System as required. The plan was prepared by utility department staffer Grace Marta.
* Council members also nominated Lyndon McDonald to replace Don Collins on the Culberson County Appraisal Board of Directors.
* Council approved some $5,000 to be used for inventory stock at the utility department. Director of Municipal Services Israel Borrego additionally requested some $4,500 for a variable flow pump for the water system which serves Sierra Blanca. Council opted to wait until the next Sierra Blanca water system audit before going ahead.
* Council asked Fran Malafronte to prepare a written polciy regarding the submission of insurance claims. The request arose after Malafronte reported that the city had received notice about an insurance claim from Texal Municipal League that no one knew about.
* Council approved having the Direcotr of Municipal Services provide Attorney Steve Mithcell with the needed information to secure sanitary easements around city water wells as required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
* Council learned that Sharon Rust could no longer serve as municipal judge and they proceeded to appoint Richard C. Gomez to the position. It will run concurrently with the mayors term of office.
* Council nixed a request to install new carpet at the City-County Library due to a lack of funds. They did ask Administrator Malafronte to solicit bids and then they would go to the county to see if they can help with the carpet.
* They approved a request to order uniforms and supplies for the swimming pool as submitted by manager Yolanda Ortega. The amont was $225+/-.
* And, Administrator Malafronte reported that the city grant to drill a new water well had received an additional $90,000 and that council would have to next Monday to accept the added money.