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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 1979)
Battalion Weather Mostly cloudy with a 20% chance of showers today. High in the mid 80’s with the low in the low to mid 70’s. Winds will be East Northeast at 10-15 m.p.h. 73 No. 8 Pages in 2 Sections Wednesday, September 12, 1979 College Station, Texas US PS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 kicker, hid goal 'as to no l, agles lost |; 14-10 Mm 1 keen M »ith the Ei u Towns barred from giving tility service to TI tract By RICHARD OLIVER Battalion Staff Hryanarid College Station City Councils ; together in closed session Tuesday lilt to discuss a possible solution to anne- lionconflicts between the two c ities. [The meeting of the councils, held in the lazosCeiuer, was highlighted by the dis- p-y that a restraining order issued late play by the Texas Public Utilities pmission restricts both Bry an and Col- : Station from supplying utilities to a |ct on which Texas Instruments plans to I a plant. |At press time, no comments bad been lied by the council members concerning the order. The problem surfaced when College Sta tion tried to annex a 250-acre tract owned by Texas Instruments, Inc.(TI), located just east of the East Bypass at Highway 30. Bryan officials felt a portion of the tract lay within Bryan’s extra-territorial jurisdic tion. Extra-territorial areas include any unin corporated land outside the city limits. They can be legally annexed by a city. The extra-territorial boundary is the commonly agreed upon line between the extra-territorial areas of Bryan and College Station. It extends beyond the city limits for 2 miles into unincorporated areas. Bryan and College Station drew up an agreement in 1966 which settled Extra territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) questions for the time, but growth by both cities has complicated the ETJ lines. College Station annexed the TI tract on Sept.4. The TI tract was only one area where the cities have had problems. There are also ETJ problems on the west side of the twin cities. Prior to last night’s meeting. College Sta tion City Planner Al Mayo said although College Station had annexed the TI tract, Bryan held the utility rights, which pres ented a problem. Mayo said College Station is applying for dual utility certification, which would allow TI to choose between the two cities, should that idea be approved. Mayo also said it would be possible for Bryan to supply utilities although it was within College Station boundaries, but he doesn’t believe Texas Instruments wants that. James Dozier, College Station City Council member, said no final agreement would be reached until today at the ear liest, pending the completion of all meet ings. He also said no comments would be given until agreements between the cities were made final. •ds beW n averac will ; rusher. Z2 nnexation of utilities district ebated before Bryan council By SYLVIA FELLOWS Battalion Reporter Tension filled the air in the crowded uncil meeting while the audience waited tiently. A public hearing on annexation brought Pat 0’Milj out SO people to plead their cases before an City Council Monday night. Though five locations are being consid er! for annexation by the council, only the sklents of one location brought ammuni- L ftnto fight. Most of them favor annexation the city. The developer of the area, his mdsman, his attorney, and one resident oke against annexation. The area in question is the Brazos juntyMunicipal Utilities District (MUD) d the Rockwood Park subdivision. The MUD is a residential area Ixung de- jloped by the Braver Corporation Inc. It bounded by the West By-pass, Villa iria, and Pinfeather Road. The MUD is the first and only utility’ [strict in Brazos County. The utility dis- ict pays for the installation of utilities rough the sale of bonds. Rockwood Park is not a part of the dis ci, but it is surrounded by the MUD. ause it it is surrounded by it on three les, the area cannot be annexed by’ Bryan ithout some part of the MUD being an- ied. I Neither area is within the city limits of SOI1 iyanand as a result, the residents do not >11 r nse receive city services such as ambulance or police and fire protection. Although most of the residents within the district want to be annexed, the de veloper and president of the Braver Corpo ration Inc., Romiro Galindo, does not. Galindo told the council that for eco nomic reasons, the city should wait another three to four years. Since only 20 to 25 percent of the de velopment is complete, he argued, the util ity system he has installed will not be a break-even proposition until at least 150 more residents move in. If annexed, the city would have to as sume the extra cost by increasing taxes, Galindo said. Don Mauro, attorney for Braver, spoke against annexation. “As a citizen of Bryan, I can’t see annexing it now when Bryan will be losing money. He said it will cause utility rates to in crease throughout the city. Residents in the MUD will slowly pay for 70 percent of these bonds and the de veloper will pay for 30 percent. The tax rate for these residents is 77 cents per $100 valuation. The tax rate is much higher for the people who live in the district because they are evaluated and assessed differently. In Biyan, 80 percent of the market value of a piece of property is considered in assessing it for taxes. In the development, 100 per cent will be considered. Therefore, taxes on a $60,000 home in Bryan woidd be $238.80 annually with the current laws. If taxes are raised from 62 cents to 72 cents this year, as the city coun cil has proposed, taxes will be $276.48. For the utility district, taxes on a $60,000 home would be $415.80 annually — a dif ference of $177.72 from Bryan dwellers under the current tax rate. Between 80 and 90 percent of the resi dents in MUD signed a petition “pleading’’ for annexation, several residents at the hearing said. M any MUD residents speaking at the hearing believe they are paying much more in taxes now than if they were part of Bryan and are not receiving anything in return. The homeowners spoke about the need of police, fire, and ambulance service. Pete D. Teel, a MUD resident, believes the issue is political as well as economical. MUD is governed by a three-member board, Teel said, and he was not even aware of it when he moved into the area. MUD board elections are held each year. Last year, three votes were cast in the election, Teel said. Teel also believes it is unfair for the resi dents of MUD to assume 70 percent of the utility installation costs and the developer only 30 percent when, in his opinion, the lots were not much cheaper than lots inside the city. “We are paying twice as much as others, yet get nothing, ’ said Donald Clark, a homeowner in the area. Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr. Working men Tad James, left, and brother James are creating construction projects of their own in a sandpile that are every bit as inspired, if not as expensive, as the Kyle Field stadium renovation behind them. Deployment clause found unacceptable Soviet objection to MX plan revealed ’ ilty United Press International WASHINGTON — Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Ustinov has complained directly to Defense Secretary Harold Brown that the planned deployments of the MX missile “are unacceptable and we can not agree to them. Ustinov made the complaint to Brown at the Vienna summit June 17 when U. S. and Soviet officials met to discuss military as pects of the Soviet-American relationship, and a partial transcript was given to a few reporters Tuesday. Dr. William Perry, the Pentagon’s chief "W ; m ** ^ V AN© pP'TJB p m HOSPITALITY OPAS m&mw* %>.«**** OUTDOOR *«C**Al *?*»»*** HM..TIC**. 'O" 0 " Develo? Trainif ti. in Battal The Student Programs Office window in the Memorial Student Center lists the many organizations which are involved in a space problem. MSC ... New money available By MARJORIE McLAUGHLIN Battalion Reporter New money for the Memorial Student Center programs will be available this year due to the establishment of the MSC Enrichment Fund. Ernen Haby, chairman of the MSC Development Committee, said he wanted to establish a vehicle for contributions from people interested in MSC programs. MSC programs are currently supported by student services fees, ticket sales and concession revenues. However, some of the programs, such as the Opera and Performing Arts Society and the Student Conference On National Affairs, already rely heavily upon outside contributions, he said. According to Haby, the Enrichment Fund will deal only with money that is not already budgeted for any other Texas A&M University projects. The money collected by the fund will not be used for the operating costs of existing programs, but will be used for funding special events in areas such as art, travel and special lecturers. “We don’t want to commit ourselves to specifics as to how the money is spent. We want it to be a very student-oriented project,” Haby said. “It is very flexible.’’ Tentative plans have been made for using some if the money to set up a scholarship fund, Haby said. “We ask our contributors to specify their general interests (in our programs), but we tell them we can’t guarantee that the money will be used for only that program.” Although no specific goal has been set, Haby said that the committee hopes to raise enough money in the coming years to set up an endowment fund large enough so that only the interest will support the fund. Cramped quarters Organizations housed in the Student Programs Office of the Memorial Student Center are bumping elbows in their search for more office space. “Things are really getting cramped, ” said Brooks Herring, MSC president, about the working space. “Of course this is not centralized to the MSC.” Ron Blatchley, director of Student Affairs in charge of residence halls and discipline, said it became apparent to the SPO during the summer that the MSC needed additional office space for three new staff members in the Residence Hall Association, who were going to have to use meeting rooms as offices. Rather than take up meeting room space, the RHA agreed to move its working space to a storage cubicle in the SPO because that office was not full, Blatchley said. MSC vice-president Brian Gross reported the decision came down to “who could be moved temporarily. He said no other organization could afford to give up any space. The RHA has not yet moved to the cubicle because a telephone has not been installed. The move involves a $20 fee. Blatchley said he suggested to RHA president Barbara Thompson that her group might share space with the Off-Campus Aggies in Puryear Lounge, since they have common interests in on-campus and off-campus living. But no plans have been made to move in yet. “Puryear Lounge is cramped also. We don’t want to take any space away from the people already there,” Blatchley said. Thonpson said the RHA hopes to acquire space with the OCA, but she is still looking into other alternatives. officer for research and development, meanwhile, was testifying Tuesday about the MX deployment in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s hearings on SALT II. Administration officials, puzzled by the leaking of the partial transcript, said its con tents appeared accurate. But they made these points: —For weeks before the Vienna summit, Soviet representatives complained about basing modes being contemplated for the MX missile system. But Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev signed the pact anyway, indicating the Russians do not really con sider the MX or its basing an obstacle to SALT. —The Soviets are to be expected to complain about any new U.S. weapons program. —Umplaint appears based on an incom plete understanding of the basing mode which President Carter finally approved last Friday. According to the transcript, Ustinov told Brown: “Recently, discussion has been going on in the speeches of military leaders and in the U.S. press of the basing mode of your ICBMs, saying that 20, 30, as many as 40 launchers, will be deployed for each indi vidual ICBM — that is, MX launcher. “I would like to hear your explanation of these reports of various basing modes such as tunnels and multiple ICBM launchers and the possibility of verification by na tional technical means.” Frederic stirs Gulf with 120 mph winds United Press International MIAMI — Rejuvenated Hurricane Frederic, now an “extremely dangerous” storm with 130 mph winds and still grow ing, barreled today toward an almost cer tain target on the Gulf coast. Forecaster Paul Herbert of the National Hurricane Center said the chances were “just about zero that Frederic would miss the mainland where hurricane warnings flew from Panama City, Fla., to Grand Isle, La. “It is too early to make a specific predic tion of where the eye of Frederic might make landfall, ” forecasters said in a 5 a. m. CDT advisory. At that time, the center of the storm was about 275 miles southeast of New Orleans. It was moving toward the northwest at about 12 mph and expected to maintain that course and speed most of the day. “Frederic continues to strengthen. Highest winds are estimated to be 130 mph,” the advisory said. “Gales extend outward 150 miles to the north and 100 miles to the south of the center. “Frederic is extremely dangerous. (It) is now stronger than Hurricane Eloise which devastated the Panama City area in 1975 and as strong as Hurricane Betsy which struck the New Orleans area in 1965.” The advisory warned of tides 10 to 15 feet above normal near and up to 50 miles to the east of where the center crosses the coast and tides of 5 to 10 feet above normal elsewhere in the hurricane warning area and 2 to 5 feet above normal east of Panama City to the Tampa Bay area. The center advised all interests in the hurricane warning area to complete “all necessary precautions by early afternoon for the full effects of this increasingly dangerous hurricane. Frederic had been downgraded to a tropical depression as it hovered over Cuba last week, but it whipped up to hur ricane strength for the second time Monday as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico. By today, Hebert was calling Frederic a “major hurricane” with the potential to cause “damage in the billions. Residents of the warning area, which in cludes parts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, were taking no chances. Late Tuesday, Florida Gov. Bob Graham told residents of low-lying areas in five Florida Panhandle counties — Bay, Walton, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Escam bia — to prepare for evacuation. In several low-lying areas along the Louisiana coast, officials said they were keeping a close watch on Frederic but would hold off on evacuation plans until they got a better fix on where the hur ricane was heading. (Earlier related story. Page 18) Local Civil Defense agencies liegan cranking up Tuesday and merchants re ported sales of batteries, sterno fuel, can ned goods, masking tape and other hur ricane supplies were picking up. In Mobile, Ala., the Red Cross readied supplies and personnel and one service station reported booming gasoline sales as residents filled their tanks in preparation for emergencies. Oil companies began airlifting thousands of workers from offshore drilling rigs and platforms and the Orleans Levee Board began closing the flood gates of the giant levees that surround New Orleans Tuesday.
