Wednesday's Internet Edition, September 08, 2010.
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- Van Horn City Council members met Tuesday evening and learned that there are more woes with the city’s newest trash truck.
According to Israel Borrego, Director of Public Works, the newer trash truck has encountered another engine problem. In fact, it appears that the engine may have a damaged ring.
The rub, for city council members, is that the engine has not been in the truck a month. It was a new engine just put in the vehicle and now it has this problem. Oh, Borrego noted that it will be taken care of in warranty but it will cost the city over $500 to tow the trash truck to El Paso for the warranty work.
Council members told Borrego to tow the truck to El Paso for the warranty work since it is sorely needed here in Van Horn. In the meantime, Borrego noted that they are using the back up trash truck for trash pickups here.
Mayor Ben Flanagan reported that he had been in contact with Chris Webber, of Alpine, with regard to the Texas Department of Transportation’s planned work on State Highway 54.
Flanagan noted that Webber would like to meet with council and a tentative date in January was set for the meeting. Flanagan further noted that Webber told him that he hoped to be done with preliminary work by the end of March so that they can begin surveying for the project.
You may recall that the District Engineer for TxDOT has promised Flanagan that they will put in curbs and gutters along State Highway 54 with later work being planned for South U.S. Highway 90 and FM 2185.
Council members looked at finding a way to fund the Van Horn Community Shelter on a regular basis and determined that it was a public service providing a valuable service to the community.
Council members encouraged local citizens to sign up to make a donation which will be charged on their utility bill each month. The city will take those donations and send the Shelter a check.
Additionally, council members voted to fund the Shelter with a $300 per month contribution through the end of the city’s fiscal year which ends on March 31, 2009. That means the contribution for the rest of the fiscal year will amount to $1,200.
Robert Kinford came before council again to urge their support for his planned Cowboy Poetry Gathering to be held here in late February.
Kinford had a copy of an email he had received from Alpine’s Sul Ross State University which in essence said, “We’ve got no objections to your Poetry Gathering and we don’t think it will interfere with ours scheduled for the same time period.”
Kinford went on to ask council for the use of the Convention Center facility for the event and he told them that he already has commitments from 3 folks to participate.
Kinford will come back in January with more specifics and council, at that time, may allocate funds for advertising the event.
With regard to other agenda matters considered by council, the following actions were taken:
* Council heard a report from City Attorney Steve Mitchell regarding the exact procedure for the city to follow before they actually demolish a building and take a lien against the property of a citizen.
* Council passed a resolution which ratified the renewal of an existing back note with the Van Horn State Bank (now Western Bank).
* Council members heard Mayor Flanagan report that the Tran Pecos Big Buck Tournament is officially out of the question for this year. Flanagan noted that Gary Fuentes and Chanley Turner simply had to big of a work load with their jobs to devote time to the tournament this year.
Council members seemed to be in agreement that the city needs to work with Fuentes and Turner to get more folks trained for the event next year.
* Council next considered DirecTV service for the Mountain View Golf Course. Because it would be considered a commercial entity, the DirecTV service would run $106 for the 1st month and $92 for every month there after.
Council seemed to think that amount was excessive and asked Course Manager Raul Rodriguez to check with U.S. Cable to see what they would put the service to the golf course for,
* Council learned that Paul Blankenburg has resigned from the Van Horn Economic Development Corporation board of directors and the EDC board will provide council with a recommendation to replace him at the next council meeting.
* Council talked about the Storage building on the bank’s land across from City Hall. The bank’s builder is currently using the building but as soon as he is done with it the city will have to disassemble it and move it.
At this stage, Moises Badillo, a local contractor, interjected that “I believe you should give local a chance to do this rather than for the city to move it. You’re competing with private enterprise when you do it!”
Council asked Badillo to provide them with a price to disassemble and reassemble the building.
* Council members approved a purchase order so that the Director of Public Works could purchase some heavier duty tires for a city vehicle.
* And, Mayor Flanagan reported that he believes he has found someone at the Council of Governments who is willing to help the city with plans for a new landfill. He’ll provide the information as soon as he receives it. Flanagan noted, “There may be hope yet!
* After paying some late bills, council members went behind closed doors to hold an executive session on personnel matters.
Main Street, City plan holiday events
Several festive holiday events are on the community platter in the coming days. These events are designed to get an dkeep Van Horn in the “holiday spirt” throughout the coming weeks.
The first item of note for local businesses, organizations and individuals involves the community’s Annual Lighted Christmas Parade. The Parade is set for Saturday, December 13th beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The Parade, organized by the Convention Center, is acvtively seeking entries. They are encouraging entries to complete the entry form found on page 5 of this issue. Simply fill it out and get it in to the girls at the Convention Center. The sooner, the better!
And, entires will be vying for $500 prize money offered each year by the Van Horn Chamber of Commerce.
Second, the girls at the Convention Center are also seeking entries in the Residential Lighting Contest. Entries need to be submitted no later than December 19th in order to be eligible for judging and to be a winner.
The city has put up $500 in prize money which will be awarded to the top 4 winners in the residential contest. Contest winners will be notified on December 23rd. (See ad on page 5)
And lastly, Main Street Van Horn is seeking vendors to take part in the Christmas Show and Sell to be held before, during and after theAnnual Lighted Christmas Parade on December 13th. The event will be held in front of and inside of the Clark Hotel Historical Musem.
This will provide vendors with a great opportunity to showcase their food, crafts, art, baked goods and other products. Space is limited so vendors are encouraged to get their entry forms in as soon as possible for best showcasing.
Vendors need to know that it will cost $25 for vendor booth space and the spaces, inside the Museum, must be vacated by 11 p.m. They hope to have the vendor list complete by December 12th.
Vendors are asked to please complete the vendor application (found on page 4) and get it back to Jeff McCoy at City Hall, (432) 283-7494.
American Legio Post is looking for members so it can stay alive
On Saturday, 29 November 2008, Ruber J. Banks, Commander, American Legion Department of Texas, 16th District visited with members of Van Horn American Legion Post 508. The purpose of the visit was to talk to veterans in the Van Horn Post about getting back active in the community and renewing their membership.
At the present time the Post has a membership goal of sixteen members. There are six members who has paid their 2009 membership as of 01 December 2008. The membership dues are twenty six dollars ($26.00) annually. There are approximately one hundred veterans in the Van Horn area who are eligible to join the American Legion.
If any veteran want to renew their membership or join the American Legion, he or she can contact Mr. Robert Stuckey at the Clark Hotel Historical Museum or call him at (432) 283-8026. You can also contact me at (915) 821-1560 or (915) 799-8828. You can also e-mail me at rbanks@elp.rr.com. I am available to speak at functions in the community and at veteran forums.
“Remember, it is not the price you pay to belong to the American Legion, but it is the price you paid to be eligible to belong to the American Legion.”