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4A WISE COUNTY MESSENGER, Decatur, Texas, Wednesday, October 24, 2012 OPINION EDITORIAL NISD has earned the voters’ trust Each election cycle, we are treated to a new set of “promises” by candidates. And then, usually four years later, the candidate and his or her opponent debate how well those promises have been kept. The promise-keeping success rate is usually nothing to brag about. Promises can also be made by school districts when it comes to bond issues. For instance, back in 2001, the Northwest Independent School District proposed a bond package with two propositions: the first was $162.7 million for campus renovations, additions and purchase of land for future school sites and the second was $19.5 million for a new stadium. Trustees at the time promised taxpayers that the debt service portion of the school tax rate would not exceed 33.5 cents per $100 valuation. The bond issue passed. Four-and-a-half years later, when it came time for the school district to put forth another bond issue, the promise had been kept. In fact, the tax rate had dropped by a penny-and-ahalf in the interim. The 2005 bond issue was for $224 million, with 80 percent of the bond package going toward building five new campuses including three elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. Once again, trustees made the promise that the tax rate would not exceed 33.5 cents. The bond issue passed, and the promise was kept. In 2008, voters were asked to approve a $260 million bond package for the construction of eight new schools, facility improvements, land purchases for future schools and new educational programs. Once again, the school pledged to keep the tax rate at 33.5 cents or lower. The bond issue passed, and the promise was kept. Now it is 2012. Eleven years after making a promise to keep the debt service portion of the tax rate at 33.5 cents, that’s where it remains. For those keeping score, that’s nearly threequarters of a billion dollars — yes billion, with a “b” — in projects funded without an increase in the debt service portion of the tax rate. Along the way, the school district has also worked to be as efficient as possible in order to save money where it could. Some of those savings turned into extra projects, such as construction of Northwest High School’s indoor practice facility and additions to Justin Elementary and Gene Pike Middle School as part of the 2001 bond package. Now the district is asking voters to approve a $255 million bond package that will include construction of a new high school and middle school, a building addition at Nance Elementary, improvements to numerous schools and technology upgrades district-wide. In order to fund these projects, the district is proposing a 7.75-cent increase in the tax rate, to 41.25 cents. For the owner of a home valued at $100,000, the estimated impact would be $6.46 a month, or $77.50 annually. It’s hard to ask voters to approve a tax rate increase, especially as economic conditions continue to struggle to return to pre-recession levels. But in Northwest’s case, growth dictates it. The school district is one of the fastest-growing in the state — second only to Frisco. In the past 10 years, enrollment growth has ranged from 8 to 19 percent per year. Since 2002, district enrollment has nearly tripled — from 6,200 to nearly Continued on page 5A YOUR VIEWS SQUARE TALK People, found on the Decatur Square, share their thoughts. WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU HEARD THAT BIG TEX HAD BURST INTO FLAMES, AND WHAT DID IT MEAN TO YOU? “I was at work. One of my clients told me. I just ... I thought that was pretty sad because I know he’s been around. I remember him as a kid.” — Evette Motley-Pack, 35, of Rhome “I was down in the basement of the courthouse. It’s just one of those things that happens. It didn’t make me sad.” — Jesse Hollingsworth, 67, of Chico Lots on the line in election The time to vote in the presidential election is upon us. Citizens, please take the time to seriously consider what is at stake in this election, for this year the stakes are very serious. This is more than the usual partisan election; this election is about the future of each of us. It is about the future of our children and grandchildren. It is emphatically about the direction this country will take in the “I was at our church. We were preparing for a chuckwagon dinner, a banquet for the kids. I heard about it from some of the other people talking about it. I thought it was terrible. I think it’s kind of sad.” — Donna Geeslin, 53, of Chico “I guess I’m out of the loop. I haven’t heard that Big Tex burst into flames. I guess that was just here recently? ... Well, I guess when I heard it I was on the Square answering this question. That’s wild. We showed cattle at the State Fair for years, but that’s wild. — Mike Moyers, 55, of Bridgeport YOUR VIEWS next years. Currently, the federal government is spending $50,000 per second more than it takes in! This cannot be ignored; it must be addressed. Along with greatly increased debt, the past four years have seen creeping socialism and eroding constitutional rights. I believe this is still a Christian nation, and if every Christian would vote for the candidate whose party platform most closely represents Biblical values, we could Continued on page 5A OUR VIEWS Decatur’s regulations could use a lot more ‘user-friendly’ By ROY EATON A word of unsolicited advice for the Decatur Planning and Zoning Subcommittee members who are now doing a new 161-page zoning ordinance for the city. Be very careful of the danger of unintended consequences. In today’s political climate there is a popular uprising against layer after layer of government regulations. That is a huge danger for those studying these proposed regulations. New regulations are not the intention of Decatur Planning Director Dedra Ragland. In a memorandum to the subcommittee, Ragland said the goal is to make the document more “user friendly” and to “increase the ease of navigation” for those who must work with it. It’s important to note that this document does not pertain to the city’s building codes, an often baffling set of rules enforced by Ragland’s department through the EATON city’s building inspectors. In addition, Ragland also oversees the city’s food inspectors, whose job it is to inspect restaurants and grocery stores for compliance on sanitation issues. Those inspectors also occasionally show up at public functions to make sure the barbecue and or hamburgers are cooked to perfection. Justified or not, Decatur has the reputation of being a hard place to do business. In an interesting twist, the “big box” retailers who come to town seem to have no problem with the local regulations, but local business and homeowners become very upset with what they consider the confusing maze of regulations. It’s important to remember that the Decatur City Council has adopted a version of a national building code that is used by cities all over the nation. It is also used by the city of Bridgeport and perhaps other Wise County cities as well. That being the case, why does Decatur have the reputation of being “hard to do business with” and Bridgeport does not? Beats me, but perhaps some attitudes need work along with the zoning ordinance. Ragland said in her memo to the subcommittee that the document they are studying is a “complete re-write of most of the ordinance, rather than updating individual sections.” That sounds like a good idea — clean up the whole mess at one time, not just piecemeal. Even the definitions section has been updated and reorganized to be more “user-friendly.” Apparently also on the table is an effort by Main Street Director Frieda Haley to develop new building and design standards for the downtown historic area. The impetus for that was a debate over the color of yellow paint on a downtown building. The property owner voluntarily repainted the building, but Haley said she needed an ordinance to protect the historic district. If something like that comes into the current ordinance somewhere, that’s one thing. But the last thing we need is another sanctioning body, other than the Planning and Zoning Commission or the Zoning Board of Adjustment, with its finger in the pie when business owners are trying to get something done with their buildings. I hope the Decatur City Council will take time to study the proposed re-write of the zoning ordinance once the subcommittee and P&Z are finished with it. The tradition of saying “the P&Z approved it, so we should also” is not sufficient for such a wide-ranging “redo” of how land is used and private property is regulated in Decatur. Roy Eaton is publisher of the Wise County Messenger. Email him at reaton@wcmessenger.com.
Chamber raises ... Continued from page 1A ceive the award on behalf of his family. Young, a Decatur native who went to work at James Wood Motors in 1986, fresh out of Tarleton State University, was serving as general sales manager for the Decatur dealership at the time of his death. He was honored for his work in organizing WC Challenger Charities, which has staged the J.W. Hart Professional Bull Riders Challenge at the Sheriff’s Posse Arena since 2004. That event has raised nearly $400,000 to benefit local organizations, including $224,000 to the United Way of Wise County. Saturday night’s festivities brought a little more to that cause, as the PBR donated a gift package to the Chamber auction that went for more than $3,000, which was split between the Chamber and Challenger Charities. The package includes a set of tickets for every night of the 2013 finals in Las Vegas, as well as lunch with J.W. Hart, one of the PBR’s founding members and a room for the stay throughout the finals at the MGM Grand Hotel, a leather coat with the PBR logo, and tickets for the PBR Challenger Event held every year in Decatur, along with a pass to a pre-event party with the bull riders. But Young also worked tirelessly for a variety of other causes, including the Wise County Youth Fair. He was president of the fair’s Champions and Blue Ribbon Club — another organization he helped create — at the time of his death. His wife, Donna Sue, and daughter Emily could not be on hand for the award presentation. Messenger photo by Joe Duty • Buy reprints at wcmessenger.com/reprints REMEMBERING ROY — Roy Young’s sisters (from left) Debra Walker of Decatur, Linda Young of Fort Worth and Barbara Ashcraft of Waco accept the 2012 Citizen of the Year award on behalf of his family at Saturday’s Decatur Chamber of Commerce banquet. Chamber Executive Director Misty Hudson and President Lisa Caraway (back) helped present the award. Auction bigger than last year Misty Hudson, executive director for the Chamber, said the live auction, conducted by Danny Whitehead of Weatherford, brought in a little over $33,000 — roughly $10,000 more than last year’s auction. When the totals from the silent auction and raffles are added in, the Chamber’s total take for the night tops $48,000, Hudson said. Lisa Caraway, Chamber president, said it was a “great event.” “With the economy the way it is, we’re very pleased,” she said. “We did a few things differently than we’ve done in the past — the photo booth, the area of baked goods that did really well. Then in the live auction, we had additional items added throughout the night, as generous people were willing to offer items, and we auctioned them and brought in additional funds.” One example was the two dozen Denny Deady cinnamon rolls. The rolls were originally purchased by James Wood and North Texas Bank, who split them up. Andrew Rottner donated the bank’s dozen back to be auctioned off again, with the proceeds to go toward the “Battle of Big Sandy” canned food drive, which will ultimately benefit the Wise Area Relief Mission (WARM). In the ensuing auction, Thomas and Terri Houchin paid $2,000 for half of the rolls and Brian Stephens of Stephens, Bastian & Cartwright bought the other half-dozen for $2,000. They wrote checks directly to the PTOs for the canned food drive, Hudson said. That money, along with sponsorships and table sales is not counted in the $48,000 total, Hudson said. The table and sponsorship money usually goes to pay for the Civic Center rental, food, beverages, the photo booth, race video rental, silent auction items and other miscellaneous costs of putting on the event. Counting baked goods, there were about 180 items in the silent auction, spread through three rooms in the Civic Center. Bidding opened at 5:30 in advance of the dinner and closed in stages throughout the evening. By the time it was over, most of the items brought more than their listed value. Caraway commended those in attendance for their generosity. “Anytime an event like this does well, it’s an indication not only of the generosity of our community, but an indication that the economy here is starting to recover,” she said. “We’re very fortunate here compared to many places.” The Chamber uses the funds raised through the annual event to fund its day-to-day operations, promote tourism, business development and economic growth. They also sponsor scholarships for Decatur High School graduates. WISE COUNTY MESSENGER, Decatur, Texas, Wednesday, October 24, 2012 Carey Williams served as master of ceremonies, and numerous volunteers helped with door prize drawings and organizing the horse racing event, the raffle, silent and live auctions and a Kentucky Derby ladies’ hat contest. Live auction items included ticket packages for the Cowboys-Redskins football game Nov. 22 and University of Texas-Iowa State game on Nov. 10. Bidders also paid a premium for ads in the Chamber’s 2013 business guide and the Wise County Messenger’s “All Around Wise” section. There were dining experiences including a steak dinner for 25, a cowboy breakfast for 25, a fish fry for 50, a barbecue for 50, an evening (including dinner) at the Decatur Fire House and of course, the Denny Deady cinnamon rolls. Also auctioned were jewelry, lawn equipment, a rifle, a Decatur High School autographed football and trips to tour plantations in Natchitoches, La., to the Winstar World Casino, and the Professional Bull Riding finals in Las Vegas. There was even a private night for 8 at Corinna’s Boutique. Email Bob at bbuckel@wcmessenger.com. NISD has ... Continued from page 4A take this country back. Then we could begin to work on the problems facing this country — the economy, foreign policy, etc. — instead of watching the mighty country our founding fathers envisioned slip away. Take the time to vote in this election for the Republican nominees, Romney and Ryan. Everything is on the line. Jonna and Jack Pigg King represents district well State Rep. Phil King has 5A 18,000 for the current semester. Enrollment is expected to grow by another 5,800 students in the next five years. In addition to planning for student growth, current facilities must also be maintained. Specifically for Wise County schools, Prairie View Elementary, Seven Hills Elementary and Chisholm Trail Middle School would receive technology updates and improved safety and security features such as updated camera systems. Seven Hills would also get a new roof, and Chisholm Trail would receive flooring, HVAC and a new roof. Northwest High School would see the same security and technology upgrades as well as flooring and HVAC replacements. And the new high school would help relieve crowding at NHS. Over the last decadeplus, Northwest ISD has shown it knows how to spend taxpayer money efficiently and wisely and has a firm grasp on student growth projections. Voters in turn have shown a willingness to support these much-needed projects. The projects included in the current bond package are needed to handle growth, maintain current facilities and enhance programs. That need, coupled with the district’s success rate at keeping its promise to taxpayers, leads us to recommend a “for” vote for the Northwest ISD bond issue. YOUR VIEWS Continued from page 4A represented our community’s values in Austin extremely well, and we need to re-elect him this November. Phil has been a tireless fighter for responsible government spending, lower taxes and regulations, and conservative family values since his first day in office. He knows that Texas is a model for the rest of the country because we have stuck to the ground rock principles that our forefathers laid out in the U.S. Constitution. We must have true conservative leaders in Austin like Phil King to keep Texas going strong. Please join me in supporting Phil at the polls. Sincerely, Bettye Parker Runaway Bay Here today... GONE tomorrow. Wise County Messenger Classifieds www.wcmessenger.com/class DECATUR Paving project draws rain on day one By BOB BUCKEL The city of Decatur’s big paving project on Hale, Miller and Church streets has been on the books to start Monday, Oct. 22, for months. So naturally, it rained that day. Public Works Director Earl Smith reported to the City Council at their meeting Monday evening that the project was pared back on Monday due to the rain — but about half of it still went down and the rest was due for quick installation over the next few days. “We cut our hot-mix order back, but we still got all the way down Hale and Miller, and we lack about two blocks coming back,” he said. “I drove it, and it drives good.” Smith’s report also included a big shout-out to his crew for their work repairing a leak in the city’s raw-water line from Lake Bridgeport on Sept. 20. The leak occurred at 5:15 in the evening, after city employees had already worked a 10-hour day, he said. Nevertheless, they worked all night to excavate and replace the leaking section of the line. The city had enough reserves that customers never noticed the break. “The Police Department came out and did some public safety for us because it was right on 380,” Smith said. “One side of the line had to be excavated by hand because there’s a fiber-optic cable running right beside this line. It was too close to get the bucket in. “Catastrophe averted,” he said. Planning Director Dedra D. Ragland updated the council on her department’s activity for August and September, which she said were “pretty slow” months. In August the city issued 71 permits, collecting $9,162 in fees for a total of $266,784 worth of work. In September, only 56 permits were issued, drawing a total of $6,963 in fees for $280,023 worth of value added to the tax roll. Those reports, delivered in the workshop portion of the council meeting, were the highlight of a short agenda. Once the regular meeting was convened, the council: appointed Cecil Le- Mond to the Planning & Zoning Commission for a two-year term to expire in October of 2014; voted to skip their Nov. 12 meeting, since it falls on the Veterans’ Day holiday, and just handle the entire month on Nov. 26, a Monday; accepted the city’s quarterly investment report; and held an executive session to go through the formal evaluation process for City Manager Brett Shannon, an annual exercise. Email Bob at bbuckel@wcmessenger.com. Raffle, T-Shirts & Costume Judging
Page 1 and 2: MIDWEEK EDITION Local registered se
Page 3: COUNTY CLERK RECORDS Marriage Licen
Page 7 and 8: Playing together ... Continued from
Page 9 and 10: FOOTBALL Grudge match turns playoff
Page 11 and 12: 12A WISE COUNTY MESSENGER, Decatur,
Page 13 and 14: A PART OF THE WISE COUNTY MESSENGER
Page 15 and 16: Decatur, Texas, Wednesday, October
Page 27 and 28: MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE ® EQUAL H
Page 29 and 30: ALL AROUND WISE • A PART OF THE W
Page 35: Also inside this Midweek’s WISE C

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