News

   The Bay City HEB grocery store and Doc Campbell have partnered up once again for their annual shopping spree on Nov. 17 at 10 p.m.
   “This is the 25th year we’ve done this,” said Doc Campbell.
   “This has been an ongoing effort by many local businesses 
and folks in an effort to have some fun and raise some funds to help out financially in our community,” said Clint Hewitt, HEB store manager.
   Teams of four are required to sign up no later than 9:30 p.m. the night of the shopping spree.
   The entry fee this year is $60 and limited to a total of 30 teams.
   The team members must be ages 16 and up.
   “These teams race against the clock in order to see who can shop the fastest and complete their grocery order and become the champions of the HEB shopping spree,” said Hewitt.
   The first, second and third place winning teams are awarded recognition and bragging rights for the year.

   City council amended the city’s waste collection contract – before the holiday season begins - discussed and sought changes in recently adopted building codes and talked about continuing problems at the 16th Street pool at its regular meeting Nov. 5.
   The solid waste contract was amended for changes in contractor WCA’s brush and bulk pickup.
   Under the amended contract, customers must call in brush/bulk pickup no later than 4 p.m. of the day before their scheduled route. Customers will be limited to two call-ins a month.
   The amended pact also removes requirements of bundling brush and shrubs and the maximum number of bundles.
   The new measures are effective Monday, Nov. 30, said Dustin Hodges, the city’s public information officer and assistant to Mayor Mark Bricker.
   “I hope there is not a transition period,” said council member Bill Cornman.
   Hodges replied there isn’t a transition.

   Gregg Deeb is a retired Marine fighter pilot and former squadron commanding Officer who is running for the 27th Congressional District that includes Matagorda County. 
   Deeb is a candidate who believes in listening to what people have to say, in letting America’s free-market system work unfettered as possible and in his faith in God. 
   “It’s invigorating – people still think there is hope,” Deeb notes about his travels around this district. 
   Deeb served 20 years in the Marine Corps – his last assignment was at NAS Kingsville near Corpus Christi, where he and his family have now lived for 11 years. 
   His wife Donna is a retired Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer. The Deebs have been married for 20 years and have five children, four daughters and a son. 
   Deeb is seeking the GOP nomination for the Congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, also a Corpus Christi Republican. 

   The results of the Annual Household Hazardous Waste collection are in.
   This year’s collection was Saturday, Oct. 10 at the Matagorda County Fairgrounds.

•  78 Volunteers
•  273 Families represented   
•  246 Vehicles participated
•  65 Automotive batteries collected
•  196 Alkaline and rechargeable batteries collected
•  2,500 Tires
•  325 Gallons of used oil
•  1 Drum of oil filters
•  40 Gallons of antifreeze
•  90 Gallons of paint
•  2,810 lbs. of paint
•  8,656 lbs. of Household Hazardous Waste
•  42 White Good items         
•  7 Pallets of E-Waste collected
•  2,700 lbs. of paper shredded 

   BAY CITY – The legacy of the late George Holst of Palacios is certainly one to be celebrated and the Matagorda County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) will do just that at its annual meeting in December when the 17th recipient of the George Holst Award for excellence in community vision and economic leadership is announced. 
   Each year the MCEDC board of directors seeks nominations from the community for outstanding economic leaders to be considered as recipients of this prestigious award.
   According to guidelines set out by the MCEDC board, good candidates should be of good moral character, have the ability to give solid reasons for an action and be able to move people emotionally and intellectually. 

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   The Matagorda County Memory Makers Quilt Guild presented 28 Quilts of Valor 2015 at ceremonies at the Matagorda County Birding Nature Center Saturday, Nov. 7.
   Veterans receiving the handsome quilts were:
William Miller Navy WWII - Anniversary
Shirley Eidson Marines -WWII
Albion Ewton Marines-WWII - 1942-45; 1952-54
William Guynes Navy-Iraq - 2004-09
Donald Miller Navy-Vietnam-1966-67
Jimmy Kilbride Army-Vietnam -1967-68
James Wright Army –
Edward Hlavinka Army-
Herbert F Carr Navy Vietnam
Fred Holub Army-1945; AF-1950
James A. Holden Army
Bill Greer Marines-Vietnam-1967-70; 1985-2000
Ed Luna Air Force-Vietnam-1971-91
Adam Rodriguez Navy-Vietnam-1969-71
Kenneth Coates Marines-Southeast Asia 1965-1971
Tommy Griffin Army-Vietnam-1968-70
William H. Smith Jr. Army-Vietnam-1960-83
James Sowell Army Air Corp-Italy-1943-45 
William McDonald Air Force-Korea

   City council had a productive session on the Vision 2040 plan last week, engaging in solid conversations on several elements of the proposal.
   “This is long-term work in how Bay City works,” Mayor Mark Bricker told council at the start of a special meeting on the 2040 plan. 
   Bricker gave council copies of “Bay City Works” that includes guiding principles, partnerships and a brief explanation of how to make each part of the 2040 a “well-functioning plan.”  
   The session was aimed at reviewing Bricker’s work and directing city staff in planning.
   An early discussion point focused on Bay City Community Development Corporation (BCCDC) can alert the city planning commission by identifying projects early on that will ultimately require planning commission review and approval. 
   “If BCCDC has something, the planning commission knows about it. We need to make sure there are no barriers between the two,” the mayor said.

Bay City sales tax rebates from the state continue to rise as November allocations were up 6 percent from the same month a year ago and 14 percent for 2015 payments to date over the same period last year.
   Palacios saw a rise of 7 percent for its November payments, but the payments to date lagged by about 7 percent compared to 2014.

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Local civic, business and government leaders joined Tenaris and Wharton County Junior College officials at an open house for the recently completed Bay City Training Center Thursday, Oct. 29.
   An estimated 125 people attended the Bay City Community Development Corporation event for its $1.2 million building that will house WCJC’s Manufacturing Technology program that includes machining, hydraulics and welding technical training.
   “This public/private partnership has definitely been a win/win situation,” BCCDC Board President Bobby Wilkinson told the gathering at Center for Energy Development (CED). The new training center is next door to CED.
   “Financing the cost of this training center is one of the best investments in our young people the BCCDC and its partners, STP Nuclear, Celanese, Oxea, Lyondell Basell and Tenaris could ever make,” Wilkinson said.

   Testimony in the nine-day trial on Tres Palacios Gas Storage lawsuit over Matagorda Central Appraisal District 2012 and 2013 property valuations ended last Thursday, and now it’s up to 23rd District Judge Ben Hardin to decide.
   In addition to hours of trial testimony, there are about 85,000 pages of court-filed documents in a case where the two sides are about $300 million apart on Tres Palacios’ valuations in those two years.
   The Clemville natural gas storage company – owned by Houston-based and publicly traded Crestwood Equity Partners – claims a $60-90 million value on its property that was purchased for $720 million in 2010.
   MCAD’s taxable valuations are about $390 million for both 2012 and 2013. The initial tax appraisal after the 2010 purchase was $414 million.
   Hardin politely sent the press from the courtroom several times during the trial at the insistence of Tres Palacios attorneys.