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December 19, 2018 | P
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Hereford BRAND Volume 118 | Number 47 WHAT'S INSIDE
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Water district afoul of state laws
By John Carson BRAND Managing Editor
Cake spans Christmas for generations Page 5
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Allegations and accusations of improprieties concerning Deaf Smith County Fresh Water Supply District No. 1 – locally known as the San Jose Water Authority – appear to have basis after a district official repeatedly violated state laws Monday. The violations came when requests to see meeting agendas, meeting minutes, budgets, public hearing notices and budget audits – among
other public-record information – called herself “just an employee” on were denied and stonewalled. five separate occasions. The requests were made to The violations of state laws Mona Hernandez at the disstem from there being no aptrict’s 116 Domingo office in parent public records accesthe San Jose community. sible at the water district ofAfter identifying herself as fice. the water authority’s direcFormed in 1979 under tor for more than 20 years auspices of the Texas Water during an October interview Code, as a fresh water supwhile a Democratic candiply district, DSC Fresh Water HERNANDEZ date for Deaf Smith County Supply No. 1 is defined in Judge, Hernandez denied she Section 53.088 of that law as was director Monday and specifically “a governmental agency, body politic
and corporate.” The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which oversees water districts, defines them as “a local governmental entity.” According to Kayleigh Lovvorn of the Texas Office of the Attorney General, any entity described in state law – whether Water Code, Administrative Code or Government Code – as a “governmental agency”
Center funding approved
Grapplers earn split with visiting Amarillo Page 7
By John Carson BRAND Managing Editor
Whitefaces hot, cold at Childress tourney
in November’s passage of a school bond. Still needing to address a district full of pressing facility needs despite failure of those bonds, HISD
Getting an apropos bang for its shortened holiday buck, the Hereford City Commission fired off a pair of resonating salvos in a quick gathering Monday. Normally a fast meeting with a short agenda of more-than-usual mundane items, this final regular meeting of the year was fast with a short agenda, but carried pop like a cork from a champagne bottle. Topping the list was commissioners making official a process that began nearly 18 months ago when they approved a resolution to provide $4 million in city funds for construction of a new civic center on West 15th Street. Originally proposed in July 2017, the civic center was progressing when officials put brakes on the process due to public “pushback” over a variety of concerns about the facility from cost to design to location to people not being asked for input. Because of the backlash, city officials decided the put the question to a non-binding referendum vote in November. The call for that vote also affected the Hereford Economic Development Corporation (HEDC) Board of Directors, who repeatedly delayed and tabled a vote on approving $2.5 million of HEDC funds for the project. Citing a fear of public reaction should they take a vote, HEDC board members agreed to hold off voting on funding until after the election. Voters approved using $4 million of unencumbered city funds and $2.5 million from HEDC’s $5.2-plus million fund balance to build the center by a 1,485-1,271 margin. Included in the funding resolution is a specific “request” to HEDC that it “contribute” no more than $2.5 million to the project. Additional language states the HEDC funds
PLEASE SEE HISD | 10
PLEASE SEE CITY | 10
Page 7
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PLEASE SEE AFOUL | 6
In a before and getting-close-to-after take on the renovation at Tierra Blanca Elementary School, HISD Superintendent Sheri Blankenship said the work elicits a “wow” after having seen, above, the building gutted and, below, with sheetrock now hung in that same area. HISD photos
‘Behind-schedule’ work ahead of projection
By John Carson BRAND Managing Editor
In an ironic turn that is rarely seen in such situations, Hereford Independent School District (HISD) has a major construction project that is – or is not – behind schedule, depending to whom one speaks. The HISD Board of Trustees was delivered the somewhat confusing news during an update from Superintendent Sheri Blankenship on the district’s $4.75 million renovation of Tierra Blanca Elementary School (TBES) at Monday’s regular meeting. “We’re very excited about what is going on over there,” Blankenship said. “[Builders] say they are two or three weeks behind, but it looks they are ahead of schedule to me. Tile is going onto the walls, and sheetrock is up. “Having seen the building gutted to now is wow. They say they are going slow, but things are going well.” The difference lies in whether the answer comes from HISD officials or construction officials at TBES. According to Blankenship, construction officials are running that two-three weeks behind on their scheduled completion date in May. Even any lost time cannot be made up in the coming months, missing that completion date by three
weeks more than meets HISD projections. “If the work is not completed until two weeks after the projected completion, that still puts it well ahead of our schedule,” Blankenship said. “We
were expecting it to be complete for the start of the 2019-20 school year in August.” The project is a direct result of failed bond issues in 2015 and 2017, and likely to have a played a hand
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