Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
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| Work on water project started.... City utilities workers are pictured putting in a tee at the airport to get the city’s new water line extension project underway. The permit to bore under FM 2185 has now been received and work to bring the water line into town should commence soon. (City Utilities Department photo) |
- Members of the Van Horn City Council met Tuesday evening with the city’s fiscal year budget uppermost on their minds since the city’s fiscal year started on April 1st.
Council members had conducted a couple of budget work sessions in order to get to the point of holding the public hearing on the proposed budget document.
Council, in the end, adopted a formal fiscal year budget amounting to some $4,316,912 of projected revenues and expense of some $4,263,277.
The budget breakdown by department or fund is as follows:
General Fund: $1,118,270.00 of income with expenses amounting to $1,113,676.00;
Water Revenue Fund: $895,150 of income with expenses pegged at $895,037;
Gas Fund: Income of $716,700 and expenses amounting to $716,692;
CCVB Fund: Income of some $331,500 and expenses of $330,892;
Golf Fund: Incomes of $161,500 with expenses coming to $161,466;
Library Fund: Income amounting to $95,600 and expenses of $95,520;
Street Fund: Income of $37,000 and expenses of $37,000;
Motel Tax Fund: Income of $414,000 with expenses totaling $414,000;
Main Street Van Horn: Income of $29,450 and expenses of $29,350;
Texas Mountain Trail: Income of $50,000 and expenses of $50,000;
Boys and Girls Clubs of Rural West Texas: Income amounting to $122,892 and expenses pegged at $122,109;
Interest and Sinking #2: Income of $77,600 and expenses of $76, 785;
Capital Projects: Income of $219,250 with expenses amounting to $218,750; and
Street Sales Tax Fund: Income of $48,000 with expenses totaling $47,000.
Council members, while talking money and budgets, also talked about making some changes at the Golf Course. The golf course has been a drain on city finances and council felt it was time for golfers to pick up the tab for a portion of what the city has been losing.
Accordingly, they made the following changes: Annual memberships will now run on a calendar year basis and any memberships started within the year will be prorated to the end of December.
They also increased the green fees for play on weekends and holidays from $10 to $12. And, they upped the cart rental fee to $9 for 9 holes and $15 for 18 holes.
And, before leaving the golf course, council members approved the lease/purchase of 12 more golf carts contingent on the city getting financed.
While they talked more money issues, council members approved, subject to inspection, the purchase of some pickup trucks from the Texas Department of Transportation list of surplus.
And they also approved the lease/purchase of a new vehicle to be used by city hall, CCVB and the Boys and Girls Clubs staffers.
While on the subject of the 2008 Community Cleanup, which is slated for this month, council members decided to do code enforcement work in-house and gave the present code enforcement individual 2 weeks notice.
They also talked about appointing a new Keep Van Horn Beautiful Committee and discussed other cleanup issues.
Under the subject item entitled “Policies”, council members decided that no city vehicles will go home at night except for the one driven by the on call individual.
One of the biggest things council did, was not to increase water, sewer, or garbage rates for this year.
And, before they adjourned the session, council members did go behind closed doors to talk about personal issues and the Advocate has no word on what may have been decided, if anything, at our press time.
Column One
By Dawn Simpson
Piano students of The Studio of Julie Casey will be playing in the Sonata/Sonatina Festival sponsored by the El Paso Music Teacher’s Association . Those participating are Deanna, Mikayla and Leilani Gilmore, Calise and Starvanna Cottrell and Nicole Campbell. I know they will all do a great job! This is the second year that her students have entered the Festival, and also played in the El Paso Zoo Elephant Festival and have taken Theory testing sponsored by the EPMTA.
Mrs. Casey has been a member of the El Paso MTA since moving to Van Horn and opening The Studio. The association has just been notified that they have been named the “Best of State” among MTA members in the state of Texas. El Paso was chosen from a field of five associations including Abilene, Arlington, East Texas and Richardson MTAs. Every association is encouraged to apply for this distinguished award which highlights the most active associations. Activities include holding festivals and local competitions, hosting teacher enrichment, providing community service, and giving public performances sponsored by the Association, as well as attending the state and national MTA conventions.
Mrs. Casey opened The Studio here in Van Horn in January of 2006. Prior to that she had been teaching piano for 8 years. She received her Bachelors Degree in Sacred Music from Pensacola Christian College and holds a Masters Degree in Classical Piano, also from Pensacola.
Van Horn is fortunate to have a piano teacher with this background and of this quality.
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I learned something about the Boys & Girls Club this week which impressed me. I knew that they helped the kids who go there after school with their homework and some tutoring, but they do more than that. On Tuesday and Thursday from 6:00 to 8:00 PM they are offering TAKS Math tutoring for 8th graders. This is a critical test for that grade and any 8th grader may come, even if you don’t normally go to the Club after school. The volunteers helping out are employees of the Club, Melinda and Chasity, as well as Gracie Fuentes. Thanks for providing this valuable service.
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Unfortunately, Van Horn is about to lose Kristen and Matt Fink. Although we are excited for them, San Antonio’s gain will be Van Horn’s loss. Kristen has been a PA at the Van Horn Rural Health Clinic since October of 2004. During this time Matt has been taking Pre-Med courses at UTEP and applying to medical schools. He has been accepted at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Medicine. Kristen will be rotating between Methodist Children’s Hospital and Christus Santa Rosa Hospital.
Our very best wishes to the Finks. They have enjoyed their time in Van Horn, so who knows, maybe we’ll get them back someday.
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It was great to meet Dr. Mancha and his sweet family last Wednesday evening. After hearing from him and learning more about his background and his goals for CCAISD we are even more excited about the future of our school district as we work together under his leadership. Thank You, for coming to our small town. I know that with your help we can make this an even better place to raise our children and grandchildren.
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Someone asked me once why I didn’t do a column on gardening. If you know me very well you know that working in the yard is one of my favorite things to do. In fact I get so excited about it at this time of year that I have a hard time wanting to come to work. You know that saying, “I’d Rather Be.........” Well, ‘I’d Rather Be Gardening”.
However, all I know about it has just come from ‘trial & error’. If I plant something one year and it does well, then I keep it. If I really want it in my yard, I might even try it twice. But after that and it still doesn’t seem to want to thrive in our desert climate here, I don’t waste my money. One good guide to go by is - if you don’t see it in a lot of yards here or in El Paso, even if you see it in a nursery for sale, then you probably don’t want to bother with it.
But there are more things than you might think that do well here, especially if you are willing to water. In the next few weeks I’ll mention some of the things that have done well for me and a few things I’ve learned about gardening. The people that remember my Mom and Dad think that it must just come naturally with me. But it’s not that simple. Even though they had a pretty yard and did lots of vegetable gardening, green thumbs are not inherited. You just have to learn it by doing it. But there’s a lot of joy in the doing!
The first thing I would tell you is - don’t plant anything without preparing the soil first. That’s the most important thing I’ve learned in the years I’ve been gardening. You’ll be money ahead if you purchase lots of compost and/or steer manure to mix in the soil. Whether you are planting landscape shrubs, bedding plants, trees or a vegetable garden, everything will do much better if you amend the soil with that good rich stuff first.
So get outside and start digging. It’s good for your soul, and Van Horn will be the prettier for your labor.
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A personal note to my granddaughter, Starvanna. Have a wonderful trip to Washington, D.C. We’re proud of you! I know you will learn a lot about this wonderful country while there and have a greater appreciation for its founding fathers and our democratic form of government. We look forward to sharing it all with you when you return.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
April 3rd - Members of American Legion Post 508 are slated to meet tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Clark Hotel Historical Museum. Members of the Van Horn Volunteer Fire Department are scheduled to meet tonight at 7 pm. at the Firehouse.
April 4th - Nothing scheduled at press time.
April 5th - Van Horn Eagle track teams will compete in the District Track Meet today in Crane.
April 6th - Attend the church of your choice.
April 7th -
April 8th - Members of the Van Horn Rotary Club are slated to meet today at noon at Chuy’s Restaurant. The Van Horn Lady Eagle softball team is slated to play the ladies from Crane here today at 5 p.m. The Van Horn Eagle varsity an dJV baseball teams are slated to play Kermit today in Kermit beginning at 4 p.m.
April 9th - Nothing scheduled at press time.