The Azle News

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Volume 63, Number 10

Azle News

Wednesday, August 20, 2014 W edd G ing

THE

uide 2014

www.azlenews.net

Volleyball season already off and running Page 11A

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts Page 1B

A Specia Bonus Sec l tion to Th

Wedding Guide 2014

Azle Ne e

Special Section

Springto The

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Downburst Winds

City eyes tiny tax increase Proposed hike is less than one cent by carla noah stutsman As tax increases go, the one proposed by Azle City Manager Craig Lemin in order to fund operations of the city for fiscal year 2014-2015 is a dinky one. At $0.0085 per $100 valuation, the proposed increase is less than a penny – 85 percent of one cent, in fact. The Azle city council will hold two public hearings – on Aug. 26 and Sept. 2 – at which citizens may provide input before a final budget and tax rate are adopted Sept. 9. While the city remains on a solid financial foundation, Lemin said in a letter to council members, the state of the economy as well as prolonged drought do affect the proposed budget. Lemin further said the proposed budget attempts to maintain current service and employee levels with minimal new programs created. It also continues a focus toward paying off all debt related to Cross Timbers Golf Course by 2016 – an important goal of the council. Highlights of the proposed budget include: • Funding for the 10-step employee pay plan. • Creation of an Economic Development Director position to be shared

with Municipal Development District. • Upgrade of two Library Assistant II positions to Librarian. • Purchase of a new cardiac monitor, three new police vehicles, a new mower, a transmission fluid exchanger, a portable sprayer for crack sealing, and a lift gate. • Capital projects include 15-inch sewer trunk line rehab, Stewart Street sewer line relocation, Sunset water line upgrade, and drainage projects on Ash Street and Golfers Way. • Street maintenance fund includes funds for reclamation of three roadways. • Continued updating of computer systems and software. • Completion of city-wide network. • Upgrade of high service pump at water plant. • No increase in water, sewer or stormwater utility rates. The numbers According to information contained in the budget, total taxable value of real property inside the city limits is $657,678,500 for 2014, an increase of $13,073,574 (2.02 percent) from the 2013 final total of $644,604,926. This increase includes $8,179,726 in new construction. PLEASE SEE HIKE, PAGE 2A.

Friends hold prayer vigil for Brandi Dickey by carla noah stutsman Central Park in Azle may look like a sea of pink Saturday evening, Aug. 23, as friends and family of Brandi Dickey come together to pray for the Azle native who continues her fiveyear battle with melanoma. Friends of Dickey, 32, have organized A Night of Love and Prayer for Brandi,

A powerful thunderstorm packing 65 mile-per-hour downburst winds slammed into Azle Saturday, Aug. 16 around 3:15 p.m. The storm dropped more than an inch of rain in some places; it also dropped a few trees, like this one near the corner of W. Main Street and Speer Street. Runoff from the rain filled bar ditches that flow into creeks that run into Eagle Mountain Lake. Photo by Carla Noah Stutsman

AISD board adopts budget, tax rate

and invite the public to gather in the park at 8 p.m. – wearing pink if possible – to show support and love for Brandi and her family and to offer prayer. Brandi, a 1999 graduate of Azle High School, is the daughter of Paula Thornton Pittsinger of Azle and Bubba and Pam Pennington Dickey of Springtown – all AHS grads, as well.

by carla noah stutsman When the Board of Trustees for the Azle Independent School District requested a $20 million bond package last year to finance a new competition gym, career and technology education center, and sprinkler system for Azle High School, Board President Bill Lane asked residents for “a couple of pennies” on the tax rate. But at its regular meeting Monday, Aug. 18, the board adopted the proposed budget for fiscal year 20142015 along with a tax rate that’s just one-and-a-quarter cent higher than the current rate. The budget adopted by the board sets forth projected total revenues of $51,791,055 against total expenditures of $51,671,469. The board adopted a tax rate for

Water Main Break

maintenance and operations (M&O) of $1.04 and a rate for interest and sinking (I&S) of $0.163 for a total tax rate of $1.203 per $100 valuation. Highlights of the budget include a 3 percent salary increase for all district employees, as well as special budget requests for HVAC repairs in the amount of $300,000; $40,000 for band instruments at Hoover Elementary and Forte Junior High based on increased enrollment; $35,000 for security upgrades/ surveillance cameras throughout the district; two new buses at a cost of $85,000 each; and $17,000 for the purchase of a new baseball scoreboard. Finance Director Monica Miller said the FY 2014-2015 budget increased a PLEASE SEE BOARD, PAGE 2A.

Rollover kills teen girl by carla noah stutsman Saturday’s intense thunderstorm proved deadly when a 13-year-old Palmer girl was killed in a one-car rollover on Farmer Road south of Azle. According to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner, Cassidy Breana Fuller, 13, was pronounced deceased at the scene in the 2600 block of Farmer Road at 4:04 p.m. Aug. 16. Fuller was a back-seat passenger in a 1994 Ford Explorer driven by Kristen Cherie Spencer, 27, of Willow Park, according to information received from Trooper Dub Gillum of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Gillum said Spencer’s vehicle carried three additional passengers: Christopher Lee Rose, 28, of Willow Park; and two juvenile females, aged A water main break caused an 80-foot gusher Aug. 19 on Highway 199 in front of The GEM. Cascad- 11 and 13, who were seated in the ing water drenched passing cars for almost 20 minutes until crews were able to get the flow turned off. back seat with Fuller. According to the report, Spencer Photo by Natalie Gentry

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This Week in Azle History

and Rose were wearing seatbelts, however, none of the girls in the vehicle were. Gillum said the Explorer was northbound on Farmer Road, also known as FM 3325 and may have hydroplaned due to a thunderstorm in the area. The SUV went off the right side of the roadway and rolled twice before striking a metal pole. All three back seat passengers were ejected from the vehicle. Both Spencer and Lee were transported to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth; the two surviving girls were taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth. All four are now reported to be in stable condition, although one girl did suffer incapacitating injuries. Gillum said speed as well as the wet roadway were listed as contributing causes of the accident.

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1 Year Ago Last August, longtime Azle Police Lt. Lee Blaisdell retired from the department after 23 years, moving to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.

36 pages plus supplements

$1 Azle, Texas 76020


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