Thursday's Internet Edition, September 09, 2010.
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Council Accepts Housing Proposal..........City Council voted unanimously to accept a proposal from El Paso based Huntington Group to build and market homes here.
Mayor Ben Flanagan appointed as Municipal Judge............City Council expressed hope that this move will insure that city codes are enforced.
Frontier Days Starts With Big Bang..........A great big fireworks display was sponsored by several local businesses. It was equal to what you might expect in a large city and was enjoyed by a huge crowd of spectators.
Lomax Station Closes............A two-generation family business closed its doors on June 27th. It has occupied a prominent corner in town since 1942.
JULY
City and County Need To Seek Oilfield Services.........Paul Blankenburg of Blue Quail Oil & Gas Consulting stresses the need for our town and county to pursue oil and gas exploration companies to locate here and gave examples of other West Texas towns who are doing much better than Van Horn because they are going after that business.
Bentonite to Revive American Talc’s Milwhite Facility............In the past nine years, American Talc has been consolidating its talc position to become Texas’ only producer of talc. With that consolidation, American Talc purchased all facilities around Van Horn, including the Milwhite plant, which was shut down for a while. The plant is going to be revived, not as a talc processing facility, but to process bentonite.
Local 4-H Youth Compete at State........Hard work paid off for Desirae Brewster, Junior Carmona and Ricky Shelley when they received 4th Place in the Team Penning event at the State Meet. Seventy-seven teams participated.
AUGUST
Council Creates Comptroller Post.............City Council members were unanimous in citing a need for a system of checks and balances within the city. They named Fran Malafronte to be responsible for monitoring all income sources, expenses and billing in both the gas and water departments. She will report directly to the Mayor and Council.
City To Buy Gas From MuniGas..............City Council voted to enter into a natural gas purchase contract with MuniGas of Houston.
Van Horn icon “Chuy” passes away...........Chuy Uranga died Aug. 9th as a result of an automobile accident. He was known and loved by many as a benevolent person and as the owner of Chuy’s Restaurant, which he and his wife, Mary Lou, started here in 1959.
School District is Academically Acceptable............TEA released accountability ratings for school districts. Although district-wide our schools received Academically Acceptable, the high school was rated Academically Unacceptable.
Commissioners Set Tax Rate............County Commissioners, not wanting to raise taxes, had to squeeze pennies to get the budget trimmed in order to balance it with expected revenue, and set the tax rate at the effective rate of .70984 cents per $100 of taxable evaluation.
Trustees Approve Deficit Budget...........Faced with declining revenues and rising costs, school district trustees approved a budget with a deficit of some $375,000. The deficit would be taken from the fund balance but board members vowed to look at the budget closely to see what areas could be cut. It was noted by Dr. Carr, a hired consultant, that 88% of school districts across the state were facing this situation.
TxDot Pledges Highway 54 Priority..........Mayor Ben Flanagan reported that he and EDC Director Jeff McCoy had met with TxDot’s District Engineer, who pledged to keep the promised work on Highway 54 a priority. They plan to install sidewalks, curbs, and gutters.
Council OK’s Boys & Girls Club Agreement............City Council assured the newly organized board of the Boys & Girls Club that “We are not going to let the club down.” A contract will be drafted similar to Edinburg, TX so that the club and the city can continue to expand on services to local kids.
SEPTEMBER
Council Hears Proposal for Water Tank..........City fathers heard another proposal from engineering firm Mas & Associates of Pecos to put the west end water tank back into service. The work is critical because Hampton Inn cannot be completed and opened until this problem is solved.
Methodist Church Celebrates 100 Years............First United Methodist Church is celebrating its 100th Birthday. It was organized in the Fall of 1908, with the first church building finished in 1909.
Water Line is Finished............The new water line from the airport into town has been finished and pressure tested and is ready to be tied into the city water system.
Dr. Friday Joins Hospital Staff............Dr. Alfred Friday is a new physician at the hospital. He is an emergency medicine specialist and will be on-call in the hospital’s emergency room, as well as sharing hours with Dr. Thomas at the Rural Health Clinic.
Neighbors to the South Need Help..........Presidio and Ojinaga are enduring very hard circumstances due to severe flooding. Prolonged rains inland in Mexico, and a reservoir filled to capacity caused Mexican authorities to begin releasing water into the Rio Concho River. That river joins the Rio Grande at the border and has caused severe flooding, with nearly 400 homes being affected.
Van Horn Takes Part in Celebration............Van Horn shared in the 150th Anniversary of the first transcontinental mail delivery by stagecoach, the Butterfield Overland Mail.
OCTOBER
Trustees OK Amended ‘No-Deficit’ Budget.........CCAISD board members were not happy about passing a deficit budget in August and asked Supt. Mancha to look at ways to whittle it down. He did that and stated, “This is a bare bones budget with no wiggle room.” It was noted that the desired 65% for instructional services was still not reflected in the budget.
Red Rock Ranch Tours Opens Office...........Darice McVay announced the opening of the office of Red Rock Ranch Tours in a renovated service station owned by her family for many years.
Thanks for the Memories...........The Class of 1958, and their classmates before and after, enjoyed a wonderful time in Van Horn during the Homecoming Weekend. Over 130 participated in the 50th Reunion.
Architectural Renderings Unveiled...........Members of the Culberson County Hospital Board unveiled the architectural rendering of the proposed expansion and renovation project. On Oct. 21st the CCHD closed on the sale of $700,000 of the $7.5 million bond issue approved by voters on May 10th. Remaining bonds will be issued early in 2009.
Conoly Family Donates to Foundation.........The Van Horn Foundation announced that it received it first significant contribution in the form of a donation of real estate (“The Castle”) from the John and Martha Conoly Family Trust.
NOVEMBER
Obama Wins............Barak Obama carried Culberson County in the General Election, along with the rest of the nation, to become our President Elect.
No TPBBT This Year.........Council members learned there will be no Trans-Pecos Big Buck Tournament this year. Gary Fuentes and Chanley Turner, who have been so devoted to carrying on this event since its beginning, will be unable to do it, due to work load increase in their office and the move of their office to a new location.
Lady Eagles Are Bi-District Champs.........Van Horn Lady Eagles Volleyball team earned the distinction of being Bi-District Champs.
Eagles Will Play Post-Season Game.........The Van Horn Eagles Football team, who are 3&1 in district play and 2nd place in the district, will face a play-off game with Stanton.
New Manger Hired For Shelter...........The reorganized Christian Shelter Board hired new managers, Suzy and Kenny King, and will reopen the Shelter hopefully by Dec. 1st. Much work is being done to clean the building up.
Council Approves Replat...........Representatives from The Huntington Group presented City Council with their final replat drawing of the Austin Heights Subdivision of four city blocks. The land was purchased by them from the city for the purpose of a housing development project.
DECEMBER
School Asks County to Partner............School Superintendent Mancha appeared before county commissioner to ask them to consider partnering with the district for the use of and control of Veterans Memorial Park Softball Field.
City Administrator Will Retire...........Becky Brewster, City Administrator, announced her plans to retire from the city in July, at which time she will have put in 30 years of service to the Town of Van Horn.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
January 8th - The Van Horn Junior High Eagle boys and girls basketball teams play Fort Hancock here today beginning at 5 p.m. Directors of the Clark Hotel Historical Museum Association will meet tonight at 6 p.m. at the Clark Hotel Historical Museum. Directors of the Van Horn Community Christian Shelter are slated to meet tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Shelter.
January 9th - The Van Horn Eagle JV girls and boys, and varsity girls and boys basketball teams will host the Balmorhea Bears today beginning at 5 p.m.
January 10th - Community Health Fair from 9 a.m. until noon today at the Van Horn Community Center.
January 11th - Attend the church of your choice.
January 12th - Culberson County Commissioners will meet this morning at 10 a.m. in the County Courthouse. The Van Horn Eagle Junior High girls and boys basketball teams play Marfa here tonight beginning at 5 p.m. Members of the Van Horn Lions Club are slated to meet tonight at 7 p.m. at the Sands Restaurant.
January 13th - Members of the Van Horn Rotary Club are slated to meet today at noon at Chuy’s Restaurant. The Van Horn Eagle JV girls and varsity girls basketball teams the Iraan Braves here tonight beginning at 5 p.m.
January 14th - Nothing scheduled at press time.