Countyrecord issue081915

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Published for Orange Countians by Orange Countians

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County Record

TheRecordLive.com

Vol. 57 No. 16

The Community Newspaper of Orange, Texas

Week of Wednesday, August 19, 2015

County adopts 2015 tax rate David Ball

For The Record

The Orange County Commissioners Court approved their proposed tax rate for fiscal year 2015-2016 at their meeting on the afternoon of August 17. County Judge Brint Carlton was absent from the meeting. Jody Crump, Precinct 4 commissioner, said the court has had “many, many discussions” on the tax rate and arrived at the following numbers: Non-Restricted Funds had a total of $4,026,543, Total Operating Revenues had a total of $42,938,883, Total Operating Expenditures had a total of $46,738,373 and Ending Cash & Investment- General and Specific Purpose had a total of $227,053. A 2015 proposed Tax rate of $.5440 per $100 of value was adopted. Commissioners said they cannot go over that number, but they can go under that number. A proposed 2015 Rollback Tax Rate of 4.567952 per $100 of value was adopted. Crump said the Rollback Rate is the maximum tax rate.

Consequently, two public hearings were set for the proposed Tax Rate. The first will be at 1:30 p.m. on MonCrump day, August 31 in the Orange County Commissioners’ Courtroom. The second public hearing will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, September 10 in the commissioners’ chambers. Certain substance abuse treatment services were declared to be professional services by the court within the scope of the Texas Local Government Code. The services are provided to probationers supervised by the Orange County Community Supervision and Corrections Department. Jayme Culbertson, adult probation director, said the department uses two different vendors. Culbertson became director on June 15. She has been with

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BC ok’s proposed budget and ad valoren tax rate David Ball

For The Record

It was the Bridge City City Council’s turn to adopt a proposed 2015-2016 budget and ad valorem tax rate at their regular meeting on the evening of August 18. The council first held a public hearing on the budget and on the proposed budget and ad valorem tax rate. It was worded: “This budget will raise more total revenue from property taxes than last year’s budget by an amount of $158,633, which is a 11.15 percent increase from last year’s budget. The property tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year is $12,678.” Likewis, “City Council to hear and consider public comment regarding the proposed ad valorem tax rate for the 2015 tax year for the city of Bridge City, Texas, levied as follows”:

$.22640 per $100 valuation- Interest and Sinking Fund $.27280 per $100 valuation- MainteRoccaforte nance and Operation Fund $.49920 per $100 valuationTotal Tax Rate No residents addressed the council during the public hearing. During the reports session of the meeting, Mayor Kirk Roccaforte said the property behind Bridge City State Bank owned by Dr. David Olson at FM 1442 and Ferry Road, was just being cleaned and leveled out. “I think it’s looking really nice,” he said. “There’s nothing in the works. I’m hoping there’s something nice coming in. We’re not hiding anything

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The Rev. Sinclair Oubre, right, and Dr. Shawn Oubre, city manager for Orange, haven’t worked in the same city for nearly 20 years. That changed this summer when Sinclair was appointed pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Orange. Both men reflected on growing up together and their careers. RECORD PHOTOS: Lawrence Trimm

City of brotherly love David Ball

For The Record

The Rev. Sinclair Oubre and Dr. Shawn Oubre grew up in Port Arthur and worked in that city together earlier in their careers. Due to circumstances the brothers were separated with Sinclair staying in Port Arthur and Shawn working as the city manager for the city of Orange. But fate would have it the brothers would work together again in the same town after being apart for nearly 20 years. Sinclair was appointed in July as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Orange, joining Shawn who has been in Orange for a decade. The last time was the late 1990s. Shawn was working for the Groves Police Department and Sinclair was working for the Port Arthur International Seafarers’ Center and as diocesan director for the Apostleship of the Sea among other endeavors. Their paternal side of the family, the Oubres, originally hail from around St. Martinville, New Iberia and along the Mississippi River in Acadiana in South Louisiana. The family began arriving in Port Arthur during the 1930s and 1940s, Sinclair said.

One of their ancestors on the maternal side, Thomas Sinclair, came from Sumner, Georgia near the area where Thomasville Furniture was made. He would work picking peanuts and working in a lumberyard. At age 16, he followed Horace Greely’s advice and headed west for more opportunities. He worked on a Standard Oil pipeline in Bunkie, Louisiana in the 1920s. He married there and moved to Port Arthur for work. “There was a massive migration to Port Arthur to build refineries,” Sinclair said. Their grandfather poured the concrete slab at Neches Butane. His last project was pouring the slab for the rectory at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Port Neches. Their father worked as a cabinet maker. Sinclair said their father was constantly working. “It was cabinet making Oubre style,” Sinclair said. He would build the cabinets for homes. Sinclair and Shawn were also enlisted to work on the assembly line, offloading lumber and whatever else needed to be done.

Orange city manager Shawn Oubre relaxs for a conversation with his brother Sinclair Oubre. RECORD PHOTOS: Lawrance Trimm

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The Rev. Sinclair Oubre was appointed in July as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Orange.

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Orange County school districts gearing up for new year David Ball

For The Record

Time is winding down. Monday, August 24 is the start of a new school year in Orange County. Students, parents, teachers and staff are getting ready in hopes of a great and productive year. The superintendents of the four school districts: Bridge City ISD, West Orange-Cove CISD, Orangefield ISD and Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD

gave their thoughts on what this upcoming school year will bring. Bridge City ISD Mike King, superintendent, said Bridge City High School will welcome a new principal, Elisha Bell. Prior to this she was an assistant principal at Bridge City Middle School. “She brings a lot of experience,” King said. The projected enrollment for

the district is 2,800 students, Enrollment has been up the last several years. State testing was also a success districtwide. “We always do very well. They exceeded our expectations. It was a great year. The kids continue to perform well,” he said. King added everyone is “very excited abut the start of the school year with much work to complete this week for teachers. There will be an inservice

Cardinal Conference starting Wednesday and also six hours of teacher training at BCHS from in-district and out-of-district personnel. “We expect our students to excel in all classes and in extracurricular activities,” King said. “What judges a successful school district is not one day of testing.” West Orange-Cove CISD Some of the changes for this

year from last year is as follows: In 2015-2016, WOCCISD will provide transportation for WO-S High School students enrolled in dual enrollment courses at Lamar State College-Orange; tuition will also be paid by the district, according to Superintendent Rickie Harris. Glenetta Henley is the new West Orange–Stark Elementary School principal. She has been an educator for 29 years, 21 of those years in Northside

ISD in San Antonio. Most recently, Henley served within Beaumont ISD. She has been a resident of Orange for eight years. Curriculum Director Dr. Wayne Guidry will be taking on the new role of executive director of operations. He will oversee maintenance, transportation, food service, testing, accountability, and federal programs.

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