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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1979)
Whenever someone mentions a from Fiddlin’ Frenchie Burke and Bryan council to vote on annexing utility district itor’s note: This is the first of a two- rt series about a proposed ordinance [ore the Bryan City Council annexing e Municipal Utility District (MUD). H 3 <D By SYLVIA FELLOWS Battalion Reporter For the past few months, heated de les have occurred over annexation of the nicipal Utilities District (MUD) and its H) residents. he Bryan City Council will meet nday night to vote on the final reading he annexation ordinance. Ithough the council will be considering L areas for annexation, the MUD has n the most controversial area, he issue concerns whether or not the DO people will become the city’s re- (D 0) - sponsibility or remain in the district’s power. . The MUD is a 695-acre residential area with about 570 families on the west side of town, bordered by Finfeather Road, Villa Maria and the West By-Pass. The MUD is the first and only utility district in Brazos County. It pays for the installation of utilities through the sale of bonds. The council held a public hearing on the issue and at the first reading. Councilman Henry Seale moved for approval of the complete ordinance. Since Councilman Joe Hanover was ill and could not attend the meeting, Seale said they should not discuss or approve the amendment. Once an area is rejected for annexation on the first reading, it cannot be picked up on the second reading. Differing opinions concerning annexa tion of the MUD are related to personal and professional interests of the people in volved: —the council is concerned that annexa tion will cost the city too much, —the de veloper wants a chance to finish the project with the current development con tract, —the majority of residents wish to be annexed now so they can receive city serv ices and be more assured of limited taxa tion, —and other residents would like to re main outside the city so they can keep con trol of the district’s development and maintenance. The council asked Hubert Nelson, di rector of planning and traffic, to find out what the approximate cost to the city would be if the MUD were annexed now. In a memo to City Manager Ernest Clark, Nelson outlined the economics of annexing the MUD: — The $2.3 million bond debt would cost the city approximately $200,000 an nually for 25 years. Nelson said this pay ment would be offset by not having to build an already approved sewer system designed for west-side Bryan residents at a cost of $620,000. The MUD sewer plant is large enough to service residents outside the district. The city should pay for the MUD’s bond debt from utility revenue - not property tax, Nelson said. — Bryan would lose approximately $27,000 annually from services the MUD would stop buying. They buy bulk water and electricity for their sewer plant. — The city will have to add three police officers and expand existing patrol districts at a cost of approximately $36,000 annually. However, because of normal growth of the community. Nelson added, the city will demand additional protection whether the city annexes more land or not. — The city will not be charged for other services. Other services such as gar bage^ water and sewer pay for thenselves through service charges. — Bryan will gain approximately $263,000 annually in total revenue. Prop erty, sales, sanitation, water and sewer revenue were included in this estimate. — Bryan’s total expense will be approx imately $159,000 annually. This total in cludes expenses for sanitation, water and sewer service, street maintenance, and police protection. — Bryan will receive $20,000 in certifi cates of deposit and escrow accounts. The MUD would have to turn these over to the city. Nelson said they should be used to help pay off the bond debt for the first year. Nelson said. Nelson also wrote in the memo that there are many variables in trying to project the economics of annexation. Such variables as rainfall affecting water reve nue, construction activity affecting tax base, weather affecting maintenance cost and inflation affecting materials and labor costs could cause the best estimates to be off substantially either way. The Battalion Vol. 73 No. 25 Friday, October 5, 1979 USPS 045 360 10 Pages College Station, Texas Phone 845-2611 CS, county debate over firefighting By RICHARD OLIVER Battalion Staff Although negotiations between Bryan- College Station and Brazos County over firefighting services have not begun yet, several officials agree a solution should be found quickly. “There’s definitely going to lie a prob lem if someone doesn’t come up with a solution,” said Jack Philbin, Bryan fire chief. “There are several problems which need answers fast.” College Station is involved in a contract dispute with Brazos County over fire serv ices. Under the present contract, which expires Dec. 1, the county pays College Station whenever the city fights a fire out side city limits. According to city council members. Col lege Station has not been paid for several calls over the past few years. Much of the pressure is on College Sta tion Fire Chief Doug Landua, Philbin said. “College Station is definitely feeling the heat,” he said. “Doug doesn’t know from one day to another what’s going to happen. We (Bryan) haven’t had that much of a problem with the county.” Landua said he’s ready for a solution. “As far as I’m concerned, we will con tinue to help Brazos County residents until told otherwise,” he said. “We’ll help anyone in need, anytime we can. “I haven’t been involved in the talks, but I kind of wish they would get it over with so I can know what’s going on.” College Station City Councilman Homer Adams said a solution would have been found sooner, but a death in County Judge Dick Holmgreen’s family caused a delay in negotiations. Holmgreen is representing Brazos County in the negotiations. Bryan and College Station will each be represented by their city managers. Bryan will definitely be involved in the negotiations, Adams said. “When we gave Brazos County 30 days to come up with a solution, it looked like Bryan was going to follow our lead and do it, too,” he said. “After we did it, though, they decided they better hold off. They wanted their new fire chief (Philbin) to be involved in the negotiations.” Philbin said Bryan is involved because it is concerned with the fire protection serv ices in the county. “We don’t have a contract with the (Continued on page 3) Battalion photo by Sam Stroder From days gone by Pope says it’s God’s will that only men be priests For the Lee family of Houston, substitute forms of transportation for their car include these an tiquated vehicles — penny farthings, more com monly known as high-wheelers. For a cruise around the Texas A&M University campus, Larry Lee (left) rides a 57-inch 1884 Ludge. Mrs. Lee rides a 42- inch 1878 Columbian model, and son Lindsey, a junior at A&M, rides a 55-inch 1889 Columbian. SCourt orders resentencing or policemen in Torres case United Press International PHILADELPHIA — Pope John Paul II Thursday defended the Roman Catholic Church’s refusal to accept women as priests and said the policy will not change, because the priesthood is a matter of God’s will, not human rights. The pope’s homily, delivered to a con gregation of 20,000 priests, brothers and nuns, was the first time he referred to the touchy issue of priesthood for women dur ing his U.S. trip. John Paul’s words, which reflected his traditional, conservative position on the volatile controversy over priesthood, won a rousing standing ovation. The cheering and chants of “Long live the pope!” lasted several minutes. Despite the warm approval from the re ligious audience — the Philadelphia Civic Center was a sea of men and women garbed in black and white vestments — there were some islands of reserve in the congregation, chiefly from groups of nuns See related stories, page 4. seated in the balcony who appeared to be applauding only politely. Wearing his traditional watered-silk vestments and a gold cape, the pope spoke from a red-carpeted, elevated altar. The Civic Center was festooned with banners welcoming bim in English and Polish. Much of the pontifical mass was sung in Latin, another symbol of the traditional policies the pope was defending. Cardinal John Krol introduced the pope to the priests and nuns in the hall before the mass began, and he inadvertently raised the priesthood for women issue even before the pope’s homily. Krol told the pontiff his congregation in cluded priests representing every diocese in the United States, and “some sisters.” A groan and then a burst of laughter broke out in the giant hall, stopping only when Krol motioned for quiet. The pope’s speech to the religious, de livered at the midpoint of his six-city, week-long U.S. crusade for peace, also was a vigorous defense of the requirement for priestly celibacy. God himself, the pontiff said, had decreed only men should be chosen for the priesthood. ' United Press International NEW ORLEANS — The 5th U.S. Cir- [lit Court of Appeals Thursday granted a >rosecution appeal for resentencing of .three former Houston policemen who were given suspended sentences in a brut ality case that resulted in the death of pris oner Joe Campos Torres. The 14 judges said the probation im- losedby U.S. District Judge Ross Sterling )f Houston was improper because federal law did not allow suspended sentences in ases where the maximum penalty was death or life imprisonment. The officers could rave been sentenced to life impris- nment. The remand to the district court was or bed on a rehearing by an en banc court lanel, meaning all or most of the 5th Cir- uit judges took part in the case. A three- udge panel of the same court previously lad denied the appeal. The officers also were sentenced to one year in jail on a companion misdemeanor assault charge. Those sentences were not at issue in the government’s appeal and remained valid. The three defendants were Terry Wayne Denson, Stephen Orlando and Joseph James Janish. They were convicted of civil rights violations for brutality result ing in the death of Torres, a 23-year-old Mexican-American who was beaten and pushed into a bayou where he drowned while in their custody May 5, 1977. His body was found in the bayou three days later. “The clerk shall issue a writ of man damus vacating the sentences imposed and commanding the district court to re sentence the defendants in accordance with law on their convictions of the charges in count one of the indictment,” the court said. Four members of the panel suggested a different judge should be assigned to the case for the resentencing, but the other judges disagreed. The 5th Circuit said it was aware that the defendants could be sentenced to con current one-year jail terms on both counts and thereby serve no more time in custody than under the suspended sentence. But the judges said that possibility was beyond their control. “It is not the result we command but proper process,” the 5th Circuit said. “The district judge will, we are confident, per form his duty. It is unseemly for us either to assume that he will take a particular course or to suggest what he should do so long as he reaches his decision in accord ance with the controlling statute.” Home hidden by man’s laundry United Press International DENVER — Jerry Knoll found out the hard way that a home buyer should inspect his purchase at night as well as in the day time before signing any papers. Knoll said he moved into his $100,000- plus home and found that headlights from passing cars shone continually into his liv ing room. Knoll said the lights made the room “totally unusable.” Knoll said he decided to spent $12,000 to build a small entry courtyard. The cour tyard would include a 7-foot brick wall to block the headlights. When he applied for a zoning variance to build the courtyard. Knoll discovered he also needed a change in the neighbor hood’s restrictive covenants. He submit ted plans for the courtyard to the plans committee of the Crestmoor Park Homeowners Association, which turned him down. Knoll then collected 35 signatures from neighbors who did not object to his plan. But when he appeared before the Denver Board of Zoning Adjustment, only one person appeared in his favor, compared with seven for the opposition. The board vetoed Knoll’s courtyard on a 3-2 vote. In protest. Knoll Wednesday stretched a clothesline between two trees in his front yard and hung out his laundry. “The sheets will give me some privacy and I’m sure they’ll help keep out the headlights,” he said. Construction to blame for campus power failure By KENT DUNLAP Battalion Reporter Construction and maintenance were to lame for lights being out in two areas of ihe campus last week. Lights in front of the Chemistry Build- ng were off Monday through Friday last veek because of the improvements being nade to the fountain in front of the build- Lights along the sidewalks in front of the Oceanography and Meteorology Building is well as in front of the Systems Building >vere out beginning early this week. Power was restored to this area Thursday. Jim Harless, area maintenance superin- endent, said lights in front of the Chemis try Building were cut off when maitenance oegan on the fountain, and they were Jtumed back on when the work was com pleted. The fountain was shut off during the spring semester last year, because of an internal water leak. Circuit problems were blamed for the lack of lights along the sidewalks in front of the O&M and Systems buildings. Harless said minor circuit problems can occur at any given time. They can be re quire repair work ranging from replacing a blown fuse to reworking a complete cir cuit. “We found a bad breaker on one of the main light circuits Thursday, and we re hoping that solved the problem,” Harless said. “We ll find out tonight.” Fortunately, while the lights were off, University Police Chief Russ McDonald, who was not aware of the problem, said there had been no incidents reported. PR puts school in national limelight Company hired to By LAURA CORTEZ Battalion Reporter A public relations firm was hired by Texas A&M University last fall to promote the image of the school on a national level, and Lane Stephen son, director of public information at Texas A&M, said he is pleased with the results. Stephenson said that Gehrung Associates, a New Hampshire-based firm that deals exclusively with col leges and universities, was respon sible for stories about Texas A&M appearing in some general interest publications over the past year. The publications include Newsweek, The New York Times and People magazine. “Gehrung Associates makes it their business to know the needs and interests of the national media, and they are then able to alert us to those needs,” he said. Frank Dobisky, director of the western region for Gehrung As sociates, said an example is the case of the Texas Gulf Coast oil spill. He put Good Morning America and People magazine, both of which were interested in the subject, in touch with Dr. Roy Hann of the Texas A&M civil engineering de partment, who has done extensive research on oil spills. Dobisky said that it is the goal of Gehrung Associates to “tell the A&M story” and to make people recognize the academic reputation, not just the athletic reputation, of the University. Stephenson said he feels it is ben eficial to the University to have a firm such as Gehrung Associates working for it because the national V: image publicity makes many people aware of the research and other worth while programs at Texas A&M. The firm charges the University $6,000 per year for its services. This money is provided by the Associa tion of Former Students, Stephen son said. He also said that Gehrung repre sentatives, including Dobisky, visit Texas A&M a few times a year to familiarize themselves with the var ious programs and professors. During the rest of the year, they are in continual telephone contact with the office of information. Among other national media- stories Stephenson said could be at tributed to contacts made by' Gehrung was a story which ap peared in US magazine concerning Dr. Rod O’Connor, professor and director of First Year Chemistry Programs, whose unconventional yet effective teaching methods (he pops out of a lake phone booth wear ing a “Super Aggie” T-shirt, enters class in a puff of smoke and conducts demonstrations with shaving cream, gum drops and beach balls) have earned him fame. In addition, the New York Times has made mention of the under water archaeology program, and Newsweek cited the business ad ministration program at Texas A&M as one of the largest in the country. Stephenson said he feels Gehrung Associates has been “very product ive,” and this feeling is shared by Dr. Haskell Monroe, assistant vice president for academic affairs. Stephenson said he plans to em ploy the services of Gehrung As sociates to an even greater degree in the future.