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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 1976)
>und | e.” ■xistenee,! s '> is dei Cbe Battalion Vol. 68 No. 127 College Station, Texas Wednesday, June 16, 1976 Wednesday, June 16, 1976 istad fifjjj, /’>{ abitatoftl nc| antin l ), tb the[ of the ri, d by (he ollege Station fiscal budget ihows 20 per cent increase By JERRY NEEDHAM Battalion Editor The proposed 1976-77 budget for the ity of College Station was submitted to lie City Council by City Manager North lardell yesterday. Proposed budget expenditures for the ext fiscal year total $7,481,420. This rep- esents a 20 per cent increase over the urrent fiscal year’s budget, and a 63 per ent increase over the fiscal year 1974-75 nidget. The Council has scheduled a public earing on the proposed budget for the egular Council meeting on June 24. Ed Sherrill of Sherrill’s Ambulance Ser- icelnc. was unanimously granted a per mit by the College Station City Council last week to continue operating his ambu lance service in the city. Bill Thornal of Mid-Tex Fire and Safety in Bryan had also applied for a permit, but the Council tabled his application until studies are completed on the feasibility of allowing two ambulance services to oper ate within the city. Sherrill also was granted a permit by the Bryan City Council last week. The Bryan Council denied Thornal a permit to oper ate an ambulance service in that city. Sherrill has operated his service in Bryan-College Station since March 1974. Thornal told the College Station Coun cil that he didn’t receive a permit in Bryan because of Sherrill’s statement that the Hensel Park goes to the dogs on Dog Day Saturday The Humane Society of Brazos County presents a Dog Day After noon on Saturday, June 19, when they sponsor their First Annual Mutt Show at Hensel Park on S. College Avenue. All dogs of any make, model, shape, or size are invited to enter intoacontest to be judged in numer ous categories. Special ribbons will be awarded for Miss and Mister Dog Day Afternoon, Best Personality, Doggiest Dog, BestTrick, Bt^st Sing ing Dog, and Best Bi-Centennial Costume. And McDonald’s gift cer tificates and ribbons will be awarded to winners in many other categories. Refreshments will be available. Richard Moore of KTAM-radio will emcee the events and announce winners. Registration for the contest begins at 2:00 p.m. and judging will start at 3:00, or entry forms may be obtained before Saturday at some 7-11 and U-Tote-M stores. A registration fee of 50 cents is required for each dog, and all contes tants must be restrained on a leash. present service is losing money. Thornal argued that service would im prove because of competition if two ser vices were operated in the city. “Bryan-College Station can’t support two ambulance services,” Sherrill said. “As it is I have $18,000 in unpaid ac counts.” An intergovernmental committee, composed of representatives from Bryan, College Station and Brazos County, had earlier recommended that only one permit be issued. College Station Mayor Larry Bravenec, a member of that committee, said the committee felt that with the community averaging only three and one-half calls per day, two ambulance services couldn’t work. Bravenec said that all known complaints concerning Sherrill’s service were investi gated and that by and large, the commit tee found them unfounded. He said he felt Sherrill’s problem was principally one of public relations rather than grounded complaints. Thornal said he was prepared to offer full ambulance service to the community if granted the permit. The Council voted to spend approxi mately $4,500 of the hotel-motel tax fund for advertising College Station through the East Texas Chamber of Commerce. According to state law, at least one-sixth of the hotel-motel tax collections must be used for tourist promotion. In other action, the Council approved the first of three required readings of an ordinance extending the franchise for Midwest Video and appointed Nelson Durst as city auditor. New Fountain Cooling their heels in the newly-activated foun tain in North Mall are students Lesla Andrews (left) and Kathy Eitel. The fountain, which fea- Photo by Steve Goble tures waterfall-type arrangements, was acti vated Monday, providing a moist oasis in an otherwise barren part of the campus landscape. Summer degree applications due Friday, June 18, is a key date for Texas A&M students expecting to graduate this summer. Degree applications are due by then, reminded Robert A. Lacey, registrar, and commencement is Aug. 13. Degree application is a student respon sibility. The entire procedure is completed in the Richard Coke Building. Students first pay an $8 graduation fee at the Fiscal Office. Undergraduates then present the fee receipt in room 7. Graduate students report with the receipt to the Graduate College, 209. INDEX Columnist Broder examines Jimmy Carter’s campaign philosophy. Page 2. Major construction on the A&M campus should be completed soon. Page 6. $12.9 million bond issues approaching By JERRY NEEDHAM and RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN Part 1 of a 2-part series The City Council of College Station has for a $12,873,000 capital improve- lents bonds issue on June 29. The issue will contain 9 separate items, Mngresidents to vote for or against any m. The issue was worked on by a Capital nprovements Committee composed of 18 ollege Station residents and the City ouncil. The process began in October 175 and ended with the items presented n the ballot. An explanation of the first four items on leballot follows here with an explanation fthelast five items and the effect on the ixrate forthcoming next week. Absentee voting ends at 5 p.m. June 25. he polling place is the College Station lityHall, 1101 S. Texas Ave. The hours for bsentee voting are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. londay through Friday. Propositiorl 1 Proposition 1 on the ballot will be ibeled street improvements. The proposi- oncalls for the expenditure of $360,000 to eased for street improvements, construc- on of sidewalks and bikeways near bools, and the installation of traffic signal ghts. Councilman and Capital Improvements bmmittee Chairman Gary Halter pointed lit that the following breakdown of the mds within the proposition are not spe- ific but are approximate amounts to be xpended for each item. He said the item- y-item breakdown will not be included on le ballot. Funds for the installation of two traffic signal lights are provided for in the proposi tion. These would be located at the inter section of Jersey and Dexter streets and Highway 6 and Southwest Parkway. Halter said the city already has the traffic lights in storage. The estimated installation fee for the lights is $10,000 each. Traffic signal lights are also being in stalled at Highway 6 at Holleman Drive, Tarrow Street at University Drive and FM 2154 (Wellborn Road) at Jersey Street. Halter said these three signals are being paid for by the Texas Highway Department and are not included in the bond proposal. Proposition 1 also would provide $130,000 for the construction of sidewalks on major streets near College Hills Elementary and South Knoll Elementary, and for the implementation of a bicycle path system to serve all the schools in the city. The city is proposing to pay all the costs of the sidewalks because the walks would help insure the safety of children near the schools. There would be no assessment made on the property owners for the sidewalks. The city’s proposed bicycle path system would conform basically to a study con ducted by the League of Women Voters during the past year. Halter said. These bikeways would consist of signed routes, striped lanes where necessary and an offstreet path system. Halter said some existing bikeways would be improved while others would be established. (Please see map at left.) The improvement of Holleman Drive from Wellborn Road to Winding Road would receive $100,000 under Proposition 1. The total estimated cost of the project is $340,000. The remaining cost of $240,000 would be paid by the state of Texas. The city has designated Holleman Drive as a major street. This means the street carries more city-wide than local traffic. Halter said. In such instances, the state will pay for street construction if the city pays for right-of-way and curb and gutter. The last expenditure included in Propo sition 1 is $110,000 for the city’s share of costs for construction of streets in new sub divisions. Halter said that under existing city pol icy, developers pay for all streets used to serve their subdivisions. But when the city wishes to install streets wider than that required of the developer, the city pays for the additional width. Halter pointed out that the city’s additional width comes out of the middle of the street (pavement only) as the developer is required to pay the more expensive costs of curbing and guttering plus pavement of the original width. This policy helps eliminate future traffic problems in areas where continuing de velopment requires traffic flow through an already-developed area. Halter said. Proposition 2 Proposition 2 calls for the expenditure of $470,000 for a fire substation, new police station, general warehouse, maintenance building and storage yard and expansion of the existing fire station. Under the proposition, the existing building at 1207 S. Texas Ave., which now houses both the police a.nd fire depart ments would be converted exclusively to a central fire station. The cost of the expan sion would be $175,000. The city does not propose to move the fire department because of its central loca tion. Any loss in response time would cause fire insurance rates to rise. This means the police department would have to be moved. The city is now below state insurance standards on the number of pieces of fire LEGEND mmmm m T*AVE XTJtt 9 SlGNALJr.ATZo7r *"•'•«»»»• tbike. -path S I X> E Vf A L K # SCHOOL. u/Asrncu/ATm -rncATnEur PAAAnr equipment it possesses. Halter said. The city plans to purchase this equipment, but additional space in a central fire station is needed to house it, he said. Full time fire personnel have increased from 4 to 22 since the existing fire station was constructed. Halter said. This 550 per cent increase was needed to insure adequate fire service and meet insurance standards. An additional $150,000 would be ex pended under Proposition 2 for a fire svb- station in the southern part of the city. Halter cites the city’s tremendous growth in that direction and the need to insure a good response time to all the residents as the reasons for building this facility. In order to keep insurance rates down, a truck should be able to respond to a call within five minutes, Halter said. This fire substation would house two pieces of fire-fighting equipment (plus any of the county’s fire-fighting equipment), as well as three full-time personnel. College Station has a contract with the county to fight fires in the southern part of the county. A new police station to centralize all police functions, including Municipal Court and training, is included in this pro position. The estimated cost is $350,000. Halter cites a personnel increase of 35 per cent since 1969, from 6 to 27 policemen as the primary reason for this proposal. The last expenditure under Proposition 2 is $295,000 for a general warehouse, maintenance building and storage yard. The present city warehouse facility is very inadenuate as it consists of a 2300 square foot building with a garage that al lows maintenance of only one vehicle at a time. Halter said. College Station is now leasing storage space at a commercial stor age facility in addition to storing materials at the old city hall on Church St. Halter said that a careful study has been made of the city’s present maintenance and storage facilities with projected future needs, and this indicates a need for approx imately 20,000 square feet of building space on a 10-acre site. More maintenance space will allow the city to do much of its own equipment maintenance. Halter said. Proposition 3 College Station’s rapid growth has far exceeded expectations and the result is that the city hall, built in 1969, is now too small, North Bardell, College Station city man ager, said yesterday. Proposition 3, of the bond election set for June 29, would authorize $360,000 for ex pansion of the present city hall. The amount would cover the cost of all additional office furniture and equipment needed. The 7,440 square feet expansion would almost double the size of the building. It would provide space for a city council chamber, a conference room, offices for planning and building inspection, storage, a reproduction room, a data processing room, a lounge, restrooms and mechanical areas. The mechanical areas would house heating and air conditioning units. The increased space is badly needed, because the population has doubled since the present structure was completed, Bar dell said. It took from 1938 until 1969 for the city to reach a population of 17,000; " since then, another 17,000 has been added. That is an increase more than four times the historical growth rate, the rate upon which the present building was planned. According to projections made by the city in March, 1975, College Station will have a population of39,500 by 1980, 45,000 by 1985 and 52,000 by 1990. These figures already appear too conservative, Bardell said. The demand for city services and utilities has increased accordingly, the city man ager said. Electrical usage for the first four months of 1976 increased 15.5 per cent over the same period of a year ago. The problem is compounded by new apartment complexes which use individual meters for each apartment, rather than one master meter for the entire complex, he said. To keep up with the growth, the city has increased its number of employes from ap proximately 80 seven years ago to 148 to day. Another 18 or 19 will probably be added this year, Bardell said. Although the city is planning to install a computer to handle billing for city services and will require fewer new employes in the future, most offices are overcrowded right now. The electrical superintendent and the water and sewer superintendent share a the same desk. Things may soon get worse; due to the workload, separate water and sewer superintendents will be needed, Bardell said. The Parks and Recreation Department, created since the city hall was built, oper ates out of one small office and there are no adequate offices available for building in spection officials. Meeting space for city staff and citizen committees and boards is inadequate and becoming more of a prob lem. In the event the bond issue fails to pass, the city may have to consider leasing additional office space, Bardell said. Col lege Station already leases storage space at a commercial storage facility and the old city hall, located on Church St., is being used for storage. Proposition 4 Proposition 4 would provide for im provement of parks in the city in the amount of $423,000. Bee Creek Park would receive the most funds under the proposition with $144,000. Parks and Recreation Director Paul Wojchichowski said yesterday, “We have some really fine facilities at Bee Creek, but it’s only half developed. We need to go ahead and spend another $100,000 there and finish it up. We have a fine ballfield there, and no road to get to it.” Wojchichowski said that $415,700 has al ready been spent on the park with half the money coming from the federal govern ment. The 43-acre park now has four tennis courts, a swimming pool and one ballfield. The bond proposal would provide four more tennis courts and an additional ballfield. It would also provide for a trails system (access, bicycle and nature), pond im provement, foot bridges for access from the south, restroom facilities, group picnic shelter, parking areas and road construc tion, and a small maintenance storage building. The Oaks Park at Highway 30 and Stal lings Road would receive $54,000. The seven and one-half-acre park is presently undeveloped. “We’ve had a lot of appeals to develop Oaks Park,” Wojchichowski said. “It has been dedicated for six or seven years and no development has been done there,” he said. Plans for the park under the bond propo sition call for two tennis courts, picnic sites, foot bridges, water lines for drinking foun tains, restrooms, a group picnic shelter and trails or walkways, Wojchichowski said. The Anderson Ridge Park, located off Holleman Drive and Anderson Street would receive $35,000 under the proposed bonds issue. This would provide the unde veloped five-acre park with a lighted ballfield, playground, picnic sites and walkways. The 16.1-acre Thomas Park would re ceive $130,000 for improvement and de velopment. The two existing tennis courts would be improved, along with the construction of two more courts and landscaping. The major expenditure at Thomas Park would be the construction of a neighbor hood swimming pool (about the size of Bryan Municipal Pool) costing approxi mately $80,000. Wojchichowski said that the Bee Creek swimming pool, the only pool the city now has, is averaging between 500 and 600 per sons a day during public hours (1 p.m. to 9 p.m.) and 1500persons a day total (for swim teams and instructional programs). The Wayne Smith Park, located at Luther and Montclair streets, would re ceive $20,000 to pave the parking areas, the area around the bleachers, restrooms and concession stand. Other work that would be done there is the improvement of the existing bleachers and playfield and the renovation of the lighting system. Wojchichowski said this park is 15 to 20 years old and is in bad need of improve ments. The last $40,000 of the proposed parks bonds item would go to the Lincoln Center Park. This money would be used for build ing improvements, paving parking areas and developing playground areas. The city now owns only three or four acres of the eight-acre park, but has reached a tentative agreement with the A&M Consolidated School Board, which owns the rest, to buy the remaining land. “Were behind in development of the parks,’’ Wojchichowski said. “The Parks Department didn’t even exist just over four years ago. Everyone depended on the Uni versity. “There is no doubt that we need this money. Well be in pretty good shape if the bond issue passes, but it certainly won’t put us in any extravagant shape, by any means,” he said. Wojchichowski said the city staff plans to do a lot of the park work if the bond issue passes. He said there is still a possibility of re ceiving federal funds for some of the de velopment. The city will apply for federal assistance, and if it is received, the city would not have to sell all of the parks bonds, he said. Williams improving Dr. Jack K. Williams, president of the Texas A&M University System, “is con tinuing to improve,” according to Mrs. Nelda Rowell, assistant to the president, who talked with Mrs. Williams this morn ing. Williams is recovering from a heart at tack that he suffered shortly after entering Methodist Hospital in Houston on May 31. Williams had gone to the hospital for a series of tests and a period of rest. Rowell said there is “no definite word on when he will be released other than what the doctors said last week.” Roger Miller, assistant to the president, last week said that doctors expect Williams to remain in the hospital at least two weeks.