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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1976)
Weather stor ed as, :e m tliei rjll 1,1 norinai, av ailabl eil P Ur p°ses, j, Partly cloudy, quite warm and humid today and tomorrow. High both days in lower 90’s, low in mid 70’s. Widely scat tered showers and isolated thundershowers in the after noon hours with a 10 per cent probability for any one point. n service si uiuin ‘use 1 ! Cbe Battalion Vol. 68 No. 128 College Station, Texas Wednesday, June 23, 1976 rs. 1T,en t is Dlgj i l s The traditional small-town America practice of rolling up the sidewalks came to the campus Tuesday as artisan Dan Mallory plied his trade in front of the MSC. Bond issues important to city By LEANN ROBY, RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN and JERRY NEEDHAM Part 2 of a 2-part series A $12,873,000 capital improvements bonds election has been slated for a June 29 vote by the College Station City Council. The first four items on the nine-item bal lot were presented in last week’s Battalion. Residents can vote for or against any item on the ballot. Absentee voting ends at 5 p.m. Friday. The polling place is the College Station city hall, 1101 S Texas Ave. The hours for ab sentee voting are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. See related editorial. Page 2. Only the first four items on the nine-item ballot would affect the College Station tax rate structure. College Station s present effective tax rate per $100 of value is 34.4 cents. If all of the first four propositions pass, the effec tive tax rate per $100 of value would in crease by 13 cents, raising it to 47.4 cents. The actual tax rate in College Station is 43 cents per $100, but is based only 80 per cent of the fair market value. The effective tax rate per $100 is computed by taking 80 per cent of 43 cents. To a property owner with a home ap praised at $20,000 on the city’s tax rolls, this would mean an increase in taxes of about $20.80 a year. The city has computed that for each one million dollars worth of bonds passed (of the first four items), taxes would increase about six cents per $100 of property on the tax rolls. The tax increase would not go into effect until January 1978, when the first bond payments would become due. City officials have pointed out that even with a 13 cent tax increase, College Sta tion’s effective tax rate would still he lower than other Texas cities with similar popula tions. Some of these cities with their present effective tax rate per $100 of value follow. Deer Park 52.21° Bellaire 53.83° Huntsville 60.00° Lufkin 72.50° Conroe 75.00° Freeport 91.80° Bryan 49.50° All of these are present effective tax rates which may rise in the near future because city budgets are now being considered. College Station’s proposed record budget of $7,481,420 for fiscal year 1976-77, ex pected to be approved tomorrow, does not include a tax increase for the next fiscal year. The remaining five items on the ballot will not increase taxes, but will be paid out of revenues generated by the city. Proposition 5 Proposition 5 on the ballot authorizes $2,475,000 to be spent for water system improvements. As a part of the move toward indepen dence of municipal services, the city pro poses to drill two additional wells, build a pump station and install the transmission lines necessary to supply the city with its own water source, according to George R. Ford, director of public works 1 College Station presently uses about four million gallons of water per day. The new well on University Drive, completed last December, has a maximum production capacity of 700,000 gallons per day. The two proposed wells will provide a total capacity of about seven million gallons per day. The transmission line will be able to handle up to nine million gallons per day. Additional wells could be drilled as needed to use the extra capacity. The new wells will probably be located in the Texas A&M annex area northeast of the city limits where Bryan Air Force Base used to be. Ford said that the exact location has not yet been pinpointed. The reason for the proposed sytem is purely a matter of economics, he said. “Making these improvements is far cheaper than continuing to buy from Bryan.” “College Station presently buys water from Bryan for 38.5 cents per 1,000 gal lons,’’ Ford continued, “and Bryan’s new proposed rates are 41 cents per 1,000 gal lons. If we drill these wells we may wind up with 30 cent water, and that is a significant difference that our citizens would certainly benefit from.” Ford said that College Sta tion has always bought water from Bryan and has previously supplemented that supply with purchases from A&M. The city has applied for matching funds for the project from the Economic De velopment Administration; if the grant is approved, the cost to College Station will be only $1.2 million. However, due to the uncertainty of the grant, the city has asked for the full $2.4 million in bonds. With EDA funding, the cost per 1,000 gallons Pres. Williams resting at home Texas A&M University President Jack K. Williams has been dismissed from Methodist Hospital in Houston and is now convalescing at home. Dr. Williams is recovering from a myocardial infarction sustained after he en tered the Houston hospital May 31 for a series of heart-related tests. His recovery progress is described as “quite satisfactory.” will be less than 30 cents; without the matching funds, the cost will be 35 cents. Primary public works projects are de signed not so much to lower the rates, but to insure that they do not get any higher. Ford said. “And that will certainly happen if we make this change,” he said. “If people want to insure themselves that we ll have an adequate water supply at the least dollar value, then I suggest that they vote yes on Proposition 5. The economic factor is such that I don’t see how anyone could not vote for this issue.” Proposition 6 Proposition 6, which is divided into three parts, concerns sewer system im provements in the amount of $2,050,000. The first part of the proposition deals with an addition to the present waste water treatment plant located southeast of the city. College Station presently houses a 2.1 million gallon per day waste water treat ment plant, which according to Ford, is critically near capacity operation due to the growth of the city. The proposed addition, a 2 million gallon per day plant, would almost double the capacity of the present plant and assure adequate service for the population. Ford said that the Capital Improvements Committee considered obtaining a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for this project, but due to the EPA’s current procedures, it would take almost three years from the time of application until the addition could be con structed. Ford estimated that the plant addition would adequately supply the city through 1990. 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. However, these figures already appear too conserva tive, according to North Bardell, College Station city manager. “For the growth period we are trying to adjust toward,” Ford said, “anything less than a 2 million gallon per day addition would not be justifiable.” The proposed addition will cost approx imately $1,600,000. In the warm glow of twilight the halls of Texas A&M resound with cheers of, “Go, team, go!” voiced by fresh-faced young girls in short skirts. The weathered pave ment of Henderson Street, accustomed to the sounds of marching combat and cowboy boots, bravely withstands the measured tread of dozens of high-stepping, marching drill teamers and the dull thud of an occa sional dropped baton. For the sixth consecutive year Texas A&M’s Department of Health and P.E. is hosting its Halftime Activities Camp, pro viding technical instruction and generating spirit for the 230 campers enrolled in the program. The students attending the camp, whether they come to improve their yel ling, twirling or high kicks, have one com mon denominator: they all must endure hours of hard work. Mrs. Kathryn Fain, who has been direc tor of the camp since she organized it in 1971, says that the campers must report for morning warm-up exercises by 7:20 a.m., when they participate in a short exercise class to “work up their appetites.” After eating breakfest in Sbisa Dining Hall, the campers report to their assigned classes, which range in size from several to several dozen students. The students The second part of Proposition 6 con cerns the city’s share of required oversized lines in new subdivisions. It has been the long standing policy of College Station to require all subdividers to pay for both water and sewer lines installed in their subdivisions up to and including an eight- inch diameter line. Where the city requires installation of lines larger than eight inches in diameter. College Station pays the difference in price between the larger size pipe and the eight- inch line. This policy has allowed the ex panding city to build its collection system at minimal cost. The $90,000 allotted for this part of the proposition is for future projects. Ford said. In the past, he said, the money for the oversized lines has come from the city’s general fund. “It’s difficult to budget money for that purpose, though,” he added, “because we can’t tell how much the city will expand in any given year.” Ford said there is no way to estimate how long this fund will last since there is no way to determine the city’s growth and de velopment. The final part of the proposition concerns a new sewage line to be added in the Carter Creek area. The proposal allots $360,000 to build an interceptor sewer which will run from the waste water treatment plant north to FM 60 (University Drive) and then west to serve the undeveloped area that sur rounds the Fed-Mart tract. “There is a lot of good property around Fed-Mart that could be developed if it had adequate sewer service,” Ford said. “This part of proposition 6 would insure de velopment in that area by aiding housing, commercial industry and other zoning hab itats that are in close proximity to the Uni versity.” City officials have said this proposition will not raise taxes. Propositions 7 & 8 Propositions 7 and 8 involve the largest amount of funds proposed on the capital improvements bond issues. These two propositions would provide $5,725,000 for improvements to the elec trical system. spend the entire day practicing, with short breaks for meals and occasional rest periods. They are kept busy until 10:30 p.m., and are expected to be in bed with the lights out by 11:15 p.m. “Few of them make it by then, but as long as they’re quiet we don’t mind,” Fain said. “You can walk by here at four in the morning and there’s bound to be one or two lights on. Some of these country girls are pretty fit and it takes a couple of days for them to get worn down,” she added. The girl campers, who are staying in Moses Hall on the north side of the cam pus, have their own private security guard, a Baylor student who plays the guitar for entertainment during the day and patrols the dorm area at night. So far the camp has had no security problems, but the staffers are worried that publicity will “draw out the local boys on their motorcycles and mini-bikes.” This year the male campers are staying in Hughes Hall. There are only nine of them - one boy feature twirler, five drum majors and three boy cheerleaders. The participants range in age from 8 to 18; most of them are enrolled in Junior High or High School. The youngest camper, little blonde Barbie Wedgeworth, twirls competitively and attends twirling camps to get the jump on her future rivals. The electrical system improvements issue is split into two propositions because of the two types of bonds which are in volved. Proposition 7 calls for the sale of $2,725,000 in general obligation bonds which are backed by tax money but will he paid out of revenues. Proposition 8 calls for the sale of $3,000,000 in revenue bonds which are backed by revenues and will be paid out of revenues. Revenue bonds are desired over general obligation bonds because the interest rates to the city would be lower. College Station’s credit is limited to $3,000,000 because it has issued very few revenue bonds in the past. The city’s credit limit is based on the past record of repay ment of revenue bonds. Due to College Station’s dependence on Bryan for electri cal needs, the city has paid for capital im provements on the electrical system through Bryan. These propositions would provide Col lege Station with an option to change its electrical supply source. The funds would be used to purchase the necessary switch ing station, transmission lines, transformer banks and distribution system needed to make a switch in sources. College Station officials cite the rising cost of power under the electrical contract with Bryan as the major reason for opening the option of going to an alternate source. The city is proposing to change to Gulf States Utilities. Gulf States has an electrical transmission line located northeast of College Station, running almost parallel to the east High way 6 bypass. Bryan last year asked for and received a 13 per cent increase in prices paid for elec- (See Bond page 9.) f INDEX ^ David Broder comments on sex scandal. Page 2. New doctor hired by Health Center. Page 5. All southwest conference schools may be placed in NCAA ‘super division.’ Page 9. Most of the campers do start young - nearly all of the 18 staff members became involved in halftime activities while still in elementary school or Jr. High. And most of them,, like Texas A&M senior Rita Vol- kman, were campers themselves not long ago. Volkman is on the drum major staff. The male staffer in charge of the drum majors had attended the camp for several years before returning as an instructor. Fain has been in the instructing business herself for more than 25 years, after start ing out as a twirler in high school. She attended college on a four-year twirling scholarship and now teaches private baton lessons in Rosenberg, Tex. The campers arrived on the A&M cam pus Sunday, and will return to their hometowns Friday, their heads reeling with the dozens of new routines they’ve learned and their muscles aching with the strain of hours of practice. Since most of the 30 schools represented are in the Central Texas area the students shouldn’t have far to travel, but some of them are already dreading the long trip home. But until then the eager half-timers will spend their days strutting about the cam pus in brightly-colored costumes, twirling their batons, nursing their sunburns from hours of practice in the blistering sun and packing Kodak Instamatics to help them remember the good old days at camp. Battalion staff photo by Steve Goble | A group of summer camp twirlers practice a routine near Hughes Hall. The Last Hurrah By LISA JUNOD Battalion Campus Editor