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BEST AVAILABLE* C T
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1990 Texas Press Association Sweepstakes Award Winner
HONDO ANVIL H*
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Volume 104, Number 33
Thursday, August 16,1990
Published in Hondo, Texas
Our 104th Year
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Medina County's Leading Newspaper
*o Sections, 20 Pages
50 Cents
'Jailbirds'
raise funds
for cancer
The "jail" in Hondo will be
crowded today (Thursday, Aug. 16)
and many residents will be "scram-
bling to make bail."
"Jail 'N Bail" hits town today in a
fun-filled effort to raise money for
the American Cancer Society.
If one wants to see a friend, an
enemy or just someone they don't
know rest in jail, then go by the
HEB area and look under the trees
near the Hondo Public Library any-
time between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Selected members of the commu-
nity (with event officials keeping
mum on what crimes made them be
selected) will be arrested by
See JAIL, Page 12
Murder trial
opens Monday
Trial will begin Monday morning in
the Uvalde County Courthouse for
HondoCity Councilman John E. Villa.
Villa is charged with first degree
murder in connection with the May 11
shooting death of lO-y^ar old Ivan D.
Lopez of D'Hanis.
The trial will begin in 38th District
Court with Judge Mickey Pennington
presiding. The trial was moved to
Uvalde on a change of venue.
£UythBwnttar...|
The Hondo Radar Station has sup-
plied the following weather informa-
tion for this past week:
Vt
Group opposes
prison selection
PHOTO BY JEFF BERGER
Things got underway Monday for area high school football and volleyball teams. The Hondo Owls
began workouts with nearly 90 players participating. Coach Dan Schreiber, center, has 26 seniors
anxious to get the team back in the playoffs for the first time since 1986.
Cindy Fohn, president of the newlv
formed Medina County Chamber of
Commerce, appeared before
Commissioners Court Monday to
"present opposition to the prison
being considered for Hondo."
Specifically, Mrs. Fohn told the
Commissioners that she represented
others who oppose the prison and
they would hope that "when the Court
knows these facts (given in the form
of a sheet containing statements at-
tributed to David Nunley of the TDCJ
and a computer list of signatures
which were said to have been mailed
to the TDCJ), they will rescind their
resolution supporting the City of
Hondo for a prison site."
The Medina County Chamber of
Commerce was formed a week ago
last Friday according to the president
who also said the entity has 100
members who pay $2 dues.
"We formed the Medina County
Chamber of Commerce for the sole
purpose of opposing the prison which
we do not want in Hondo," she told
the Court. "And because we felt per-
sons outside Hondo were being left
out"
One point brought out by' Mrs.
Fohn was the extension of Richter
Lane which will have to be re-built to
the prison site and a railroad crossing
installed. "I have been told," she said,
"that the City of Hondo has not in-
See GROUP, Page 12
Association vows to fight
in water rights battle
Mayor Hardt says
prison is final
Date
High Low Rain
Wed., Aug. 8
90
68
.00
Thu., Aug. 9
91
69
.00
Fri., Aug. 10
92
68
.00
Sat., Aug. 11
92
68
.00
Sun., Aug. 12
92
69
.00
Mon., Aug. 13
92
70
.00
Tue., Aug. 14
93
74
tr.
Avg. high temp, for the week: 91.7°
Avg. low temp, for the week: 69.4°
High temp, for 1990:102° on
June 24 and June 25
Low temp, for 1990: 28° on Jan. 26
Total rain for past week: Trace in.
Total rain for August: 0.11 inches
Total rain for 1990: 20.31 inches
Number of days in 1990 with
measurable rainfall: 57
Rain in 1989, thru Aug. 14: 9.82 in.
Rain in 1988, thru Aug. 14:10.32 in.
"I'll assure you it is not the time
to let down our guard; let's don’t
slack off; let's keep on."
That assessment by John .Pqerner
of die future efforts vf the South-
west Property Rights Association
placed the efforts of the two-year-
old group in the proper perspective
and brought Poemer a round of ap-
plause at a membership meeting in
the Fair Building Tuesday night.
Speaking at the second annual
membership meeting of the asso-
ciation Poemer told the approxi-
mately 100 persons present: "This
is our second birthday and a lot has
been done. Up until tonight we can
truthfully say we haven't lost any-
thing. And I can truthfully say we
have learned more about San Anto-
nio problems and we hope they
have learned more about ours.
"We go from here with great cau-
tion. There will be a big push in the
next session to pull these five coun-
ties together in some kind of dis-
trict, maybe each county a separate
district under a regional umbrella.
"We feel the ground water law of
the state should be statewide and I
think we can continue to win as
long as we keep it on that basis,
* what is fair for us is fair for other -
groundwater areas in the state."
The main theme running through
the entire meeting was "we will not
give up our rights of recapture."
This was brought out by Oliver
Martin's report on the water district
and emphasized by every person
who spoke or asked questions.
District 45 candidates Jim Jen-
kins, Republican, and Tom Cate,
Democrat, were on hand to state
their positions and answer any and
all questions. Both were in agree-
ment on the rights of the landown-
ers to recapture the water beneath
their property.
Jenkins promised to "fight to see
that this right is kept for landown-
ers and 1 agree that it should be a
statewide law.”
Cate said: "I agree it should be
statewide and I believe that all our
rural neighbors in the state should
State requirements mean
certain school tax increase
stick together and stand behind the
rule of recapture."
On the protection of the little fish
and tadpoles in the springs at San
Marcos and New Braunfels the two
had this to say:
Jenkins: "There is not much I can
do in Austin about the EPA but 1
guarantee that I will enlist the aid
of our friend Senator Phil Gramm
in Washington.
Cate: "I think these little fishes
take a back seat to the needs of the
people."
Medina County Judge Butch
Campsey reported on the suits filed
by GBRA to declare the Edwards
Aquifer an underground river, thus
placing them in the same category
as surface water.
"We needed something like
$200,000 to fight this suit to this
point," he said. "The Texas Farm
Bureau contributed $100,000 and
we have received generous contri-
butions from the counties of Med-
ina and Uvalde. As of today some
$86,000 has been spent on legal
fees for this suit with $21,500 com-
ing from the Medina County por-
See WATER, Page 12
(Editor's Note: Following the
Monday morning meeting of the
Medina County Commissioners
Court, where a representative of
the newly formed Medina County
Chamber of Commerce appeared
to protest the prison scheduled to
be built in Hondo, Anvil Herald re-
porter Burnis Lawrence had a tele-
phone interview with Hondo Mayor
Tony Hardt regarding some of the
statements being spread around the
area. The following is what Mayor
Hardt had to say.)
On the statement that Hondo is
only a possible site:
We are selected. It is final and
the prison is coming to Hondo.
We worked very hard for two
years to get it here and are not
about to give up on it.
We are waiting on TDCJ to come
back with all the formal documents
to be signed. They will tell us ex-
actly where the acreage is to be on
the base.
As soon as they do this we will go
to FAA. FAA has already agreed to
release the acreage. But they are
waiting on TDCJ and the City of
Hondo to tell them exactly where
that acreage will be and that it has
been surveyed and mapped out.
On the bonds for this project:
This will be done with revenue
bonds structured for 15 to 20 years,
which means they will be paid
from revenue generated from utility
sales to the prison.
They will not negatively impact
city taxes or utility rates. In fact
they could possibly help those two
items go down.
The City of Hondo will generate
a positive cash flow from the
prison facility beyond the debt
service of the revenue bonds.
The payout could be about eight
years; however we might decide to
stretch it out to 15 years to give the
City of Hondo and TDCJ a better
cushion.
All of this will be decided by
our financial advisors, Rausche &
Pierce.
On groundbreaking:
We expect groundbreaking cere-
f monies and construction to begin in
eight to 12 months, basing our ex-
pectations on what is happening in
Dilley.
On the newly formed organiza-
tion opposing the prison:
I don't believe the Medina
County Chamber of Commerce has
the backing of a single chamber of
commerce in this county. All the
chambers of commerce have sup-
ported our efforts for the prison
throughout the past two years.
I would hope that poeple in the
county do not get confused and
think that that organization is part
of, or has the backing of, any
chamber of commerce in any part
of Medina County.
By Jeff Berger
Anvil Herald Reporter
Taxes can be confusing ail by
themselves. Toss in six special legis-
lative sessions, several lawsuits and
unending rhetoric and they can be-
come a nightmare for even the most
experienced CPAs.
So it's with many a fine-toothed
comb that superintendents in Texas
public schools are scrutinizing their
budgets for the upcoming year, figur-
ing out what needs to and can be done.
And the finer points of Senate Bill
1 will be a prime topic of discussion
when the Hondo ISD Board meets
this Tuesday at 7:30 in the HHS li-
brary to adopt a 1990-91 budget.
Almostcertainly, there will be a tax
raise for thethird straight year. No one
likes that, including Supt. N.E. "Bud"
Woolls. But he also stresses the im-
portance of raising taxes if the HISD
is going to receive additional operat-
ing funds from the state.
"By 1994-95, every district in the
state will need to have an effective tax
rate of $1.18 per $100 vaiuauon," lie
said. "And in fact, what the state is
telling us, is that to maximize our state
for the coming five years, we need to
go to $ i. 18 this year.
"But," he quickly added, "I don't
see that happening here this year."
To get the maximum assistance for
the 1990-91 year, the HISD will need
an effective tax rate of .91080, "which
translates to an actual rate of about
970." said Mr. Woolls. The higher
D'Hanis ISD rates
headed up as well
In D'Hanis, the situation is verj
much the same as in Hondo. The
current tax rate is 820, and according
to Supt. Maurice Zerr, the rate coult
be creeping upward to 920.
"It’s certainly not something foe
want to have to do," said Mr. Zerr
"But what all the school officials
keep telling us is that anyone whc
doesn’t go up to the state recom
1 mended 910 will likely go bankrupt
"Three of our board members
went to a seminar and they came
|>ack saying the same thing.”
The D'Hanis ISD Board of Trus-
tees will meet tonight (Thursday) a
8:00 in the Board Room. The boarc
will discuss a proposed $1.2 million
figure takes into consideration an
annual collection rate of 93 to 95%.
Currently, the HISD's rate is 870.
we H get maximum funding this
year," he added, "only if we collect
$1,560,507 in local tax revenue. And
we do need to receive maximum state
funds to balance the budget.”
HISD has been using surplus funds
the last two years to operate under a
deficit budget.
By not rushing to the $1.18 figure
recommended by the state, the HISD
wouldloseout, over the course of five
years, about $664,000 in state aid.
"But to do that," said the superin-
tendent, "we would need an actual
rate of close to $1.25, and that would
be a 380 increase in one year. We just
can't do that."
Most of the annual budget, pro-
jected this year to come in at a record
$6.15 million goes toward payroll
and teacher salaries. The state re-
quires a minimum increase of $1140
annually per teacher. Non-profes-
sional staff salaries will increase from
three to five percent in 1990-91.
The school board will most likely
adopt a budget for the coming year at
Tuesday's meeting, but by law, the
group may not vote on a new tax rate.
That will be made official sometime
in September.
And then, the legislature will re-
convene in January.
Through all the confusion, contra-
dictions, and double-speak set forth
by the state, one number should stand
out in the statistical quagmire-970.
L
u/.
PROPOSED TAX RATES
FOR AREA SCHOOLS
District
89-90
90-31
Inc.
Del Rio
.71
.96
.25
Eagle Pass
.56
.90
.34
Card zo Sprs.
1.38
1.35
(03)
Pearsall
1.05
1.08
.03
Kerrville
1.04
1.08
.04
Fred'sburg
.99
1.05
.06
N. Braunfels
1.06
1.18
.12
Medina Vy.
.75
.96
.21
San Marcos
1.12
1.25
.13
Uvalde
.78
.98
.20
D'Hanis
.82
\ .92
.10
Hondo
.87
.97
.10
mmmmmtsmmm
HONDO DRUM MAJORS, TWIHLERS AND FLAlib... returned rrom Marcnmy Auxiliaries Camp re-
cently with more than just training and good experiences. Nine of the 12 have an invitation to go to
San Diego Dec. 26-30 and participate in halftime activities in the Holiday Bowl, after they tried out for
and were named to the All American Performance Team. In the coming months they will be working
to overcome a large obstacle: each one must raise $525 in order io make the trip. Flag team
members are, back row, from left, Julie Mumme (who attended Texas Tech Camp, rather than
MAC), Shauna Schoellman, Lisa Ray, Captain Heather Fillmore, Yvette Proctor and Jenny Haley;
front, Drum Major Stacey Cameron, twirlers Nina Fillmore and Jennifer Parsons, and Assistant Drum
Major John Bryant. Flags Lucy Carmona and Rebecca Luna, not pictured, also attended MAC.
Camp participants were evaluated each evening and brought home 3 good, 10 excellent, 12 superior
fibbonoi a superior trephieo i and 0 All Amoriean Pertewnarne Teaw»fi>iew>i ....... ......... "
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