Marfa Dot Net

By ELVIRA LARA

PRESIDIO – More good news was delivered at last week’s city council meeting. Rifle resistant body armor for police officers, renewal of a border security grant, and an opportunity to expand the solid waste program were all items on the agenda.

First off, the City of Marfa is looking for a new company to collect its municipal waste and the City of Presidio is conducting a feasibility study to determine the possibility of providing services. Marfa already sends its trash to Presidio through its current trash provider, because it doesn’t have its own landfill therefore it makes sense to capitalize on picking up their trash as well.

According to Presidio Municipal Development District (PMDD) director Brad Newton, the city is hiring landfill specialists Hanson Professional Services to find out what it would take to work with Marfa.

“They’re very comprehensive in things that us as a city might overlook,” said Newton in a follow-up interview.

Hanson will calculate costs for such things as transportation, trucks, manpower, and insurance. In terms of capacity, city administrator Joe Portillo told The International he believes it’s “absolutely” doable.

Portillo went on to explain that this could be an opportunity to generate more money for the city.

“We need to expand our enterprise but we cannot raise taxes, our people can’t afford it.”

Income from collecting Marfa’s trash could be used to make street improvements or replace aging infrastructure, said Portillo. If the feasibility study renders positive, the City of Presidio will enter a bid before the May 11th deadline.

In other news, council members accepted two grants in benefit of the city’s police department. One is for the purchase of rifle-resistant body armor to protect officers, a big improvement over what they’re currently wearing.

“The truth is most body armor that officers use, anything bigger than a handgun will penetrate,” said Portillo.

According to Portillo these vests are what state troopers are wearing and the type you see in combat or war. Governor Greg Abbott’s office is funding the $23 million grant statewide.

“Anything we can do to make it a little bit safer for the officers, why not. Especially if it’s a grant,” expressed Portillo. “It’s not going to cost the city anything.”

The second grant comes from the federal government for officers that patrol the border. Presidio has been participating in the program for several years now. The money helps to pay for overtime, fuel and miscellaneous expenses.

“It allows our officers who are already out there to work a little bit longer, they make a little more money and the city gets more patrol,” said Portillo.

The grants will benefit chief of police Marco Baeza and his three officers.

By JIM STREET

ALPINE – When Alpine voters go to the polls for the May 5 local elections Saturday, the ballot will contain only one item: The Alpine Independent School District is seeking approval for a $29.5 million bond issue to replace the Alpine High School building and other improvements.

The state has mandated two days per year for elections, November for the General Election and May for local contests like city and school board. This year in Alpine, all had single candidates for each positon, causing the cancellation of that election. For the most part, incumbents were seeking re-election and did not draw opposition.

Long-time school board President Mo Morrow chose not to run for re-election this year, and Rachel Llanez is unopposed for his Place 4 seat. The board officers are elected by their fellow trustees after the new board is seated.

With the city and school trustee elections canceled, the focus is on the school bond issue. If approved, the bonds will provide a new, two-story academic building for the high school. Once that is built, the old building will be demolished and a new gym built in its place. Other facilities on campus, including the band hall, career and technical education facility, dressing rooms and others will be renovated.

Elsewhere, all gyms in the district will be air conditioned and a new driveway loop will be added behind the elementary school for parents to pick up and drop off their children. At present, they have to find parking off campus and walk with their kids through frequently congested streets.

A citizen committee spent much of 2017 studying school needs. Initially, the 26 members agreed that existing campuses were adequate, including the high school building. But after much discussion, all but one felt that, not only did the high school building need to be replaced by new construction, there really was no choice.

The building was constructed in the 1970s and studies revealed that, in many cases, the old building does not meet safety standards and building codes and many systems are beyond capacity.

The existing building makes it difficult to control who enters the building, classrooms are too small, have no windows and only one way in and out and no sprinkler system.

Supporters say Alpine has a good education system but deficiencies at the school building can hamper that education. Schools are a vital part of the health of a community. Particularly important to them is the security a new building will provide, items lacking in the 45-year-old structure.

Several pro-bond signs have been placed around Alpine and several letters to the editor have supported the bond.

Opposition comes mainly from those who do not want to see significantly higher property taxes. A brochure produced for the district says the bonds would cause a tax increase of an estimated $37.16 a month for a $180,000 home, or $445.96 per year.

A 2011 bond issue to build a new high school and stadium failed with 85 percent voting no. But the main objection then was the new football stadium.

The district later found the money and built the stadium anyway.

Voting is from 7am-7pm Saturday at the Alpine City Council chamber.

By JIM STREET

PRESIDIO – Presidio school board members meeting this past Wednesday evening unanimously selected Assistant Superintendent Ray Vasquez of Brownfield ISD as the lone finalist for superintendent.

Vasquez will come on board for the 2019 school year.

“I am very pleased by the quality of candidates who applied and, with the board’s selection, I believe he will lead the district forward and help it build on what we have accomplished,” said Superintendent Dennis McEntire, who is retiring after a long and successful career at Presidio ISD.

In a telephone interview from Brownfield, Vasquez said the appointment will not be official until May 16, after the state-mandated 21-day waiting period ends.

But he said he is “excited about the opportunity to come to Presidio. It is a great staff and a great community.”

He said Presidio is known for its “great student academic achievement, for sure,” and for their extra-curricular activities.

Vasquez said he is in his fifth year as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in his home town, which he returned to after 30 years to take the position.

He said he was “born and raised in Brownfield and I never thought I’d come back.”

He is completing his 25^th year in education after getting a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech and his Master’s and Superintendent certification at Lubbock Christian University.

Vasquez said he had “heard good things about Presidio’s students.”

For his superintendent certification, he took a finance class from former Presidio Superintendent Dr. Doug Karr, who told him Presidio was “a great place to work and to work with the community and the students.”

Vasquez’s wife will join him in Presidio as an instructional specialist. He also has three grown children.

McEntire said the appointment will not be official until May 16 when the board will vote on it.

“It’s an open-ended issue for what the board will tell me when they think it’s time,” he said. “We’ve gone through this very methodically, very carefully. We’re in a situation where we have the luxury of a very calm, smooth transition.”

McEntire said that is something that does not always happen.

He said he will stay on after Vasquez arrives to help with the transition.

“I feel Mr. Vasquez can take the district to next level,” McEntire said. “Everyone is looking forward to it.”

FAR WEST TEXAS – Four new wildcat well drilling permits have been approved in Jeff Davis County in 2018, with one new permit approved in Brewster County.

The permits bring the total number of potential wells to 17 in Jeff Davis County since exploration began in 2017.

Twelve of the 17 wells were drilled last year.

Though oil companies have been searching for oil in the county since 1979, only three of the total 32 drills approved by the Texas Railroad Commission – six of which are re-entries – were permitted before 2004, with a lull in exploration between 1993 and 2004.

Seven of the wells drilled in 2017 have been classified as either horizontal or a combination of horizontal and vertical wells, which, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, produce higher amounts of oil than vertical wells.

All four of the approved 2018 wells were permitted to Cody Energy of Houston (who owns 11 leases in the county), though two of the wells permitted to Cody Energy subsidiary Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation.

All four wells are located around 18.8 miles northeast of Fort Davis.

Throughout the years, the wells in the county have only produced 83Bbl of condensate, with the highest production of 75Bbl having been collected in July 2008.

One Bbl (barrel) is equal to 42 gallons.

The Railroad Commission’s production data only goes back to 1993.

In Brewster County, Cody Energy was also approved to drill the first wildcat well in the county since 2016, which is located 24.5 miles northeast of Alpine, according to the RRC.

That particular area of Brewster County has long been explored for oil, with 81 wells having been drilled in 1977 alone, though interest sharply declined in the 1990s, when only five exploratory drills were approved by the commission, followed by six drills through the first decade of the 2000s.

A resurgence of interest began in 2011, when eight wells were approved for drilling.

Between 2012 and 2018, only four wells have been explored in the county.

Of the 139 permits approved in Brewster County since 1977, only two have been re-enter permits.

All wellbore profiles in the county have been classified as vertical drills.

Since 1993, exploration in Brewster County has netted 1,321Bbl of oil and 40MCF of Casinghead natural gas.

One MCF is equal to one million cubic feet of gas.

Though Presidio County has been the most explored in the tri-county area with 418 total wells approved, no new permits have been requested or approved since June, 2017.

A majority of the exploration in the county was drilled between August, 1977 to July, 1983, a period in which 380 wells were approved, according to the railroad commission.

Exploration in Presidio County has been far more productive since 1993, with 2,406Bbl of oil and 264Bbl of condensate having been reportedly produced, with a majority of oil produced in 1998.

BREWSTER COUNTY – Two separate wildfires burning within one week of each other have scorched a combined 187 acres in Brewster County south of Alpine.

The first fire, which began last Thursday south of the Double Diamond development was fully contained after leaving around 100 acres burned, knocked down with the help of the Texas Forest Service, who sprayed fire-extinguishing chemicals, and Alpine and Marathon Volunteer Fire Department firefighters.

The fire near Double Diamond threatened six structures, but all were saved due to the efforts of the responders on the scene.

No injuries, loss of life, or loss of livestock were reported in the fire, Brewster County Emergency Management Coordinator David Lambrix told the Big Bend Sentinel/International.

The second fire, dubbed The Mile High Fire, is still burning as of press time, with Lambrix estimating an 85 percent suppression of the flames.

The fire is located north of Double Diamond atop a large hill, he added.

“Right now, The Texas Forest Service team is trying to knock the remainder of the fire, but Mother Nature isn’t cooperating,” Lambrix said, citing high winds in the area.

As of press time, the Mile High Fire has burned approximately 87 acres.

Three structures were saved by firefighters, Lambrix added, and there have been no injuries or loss of life.

By JOHN DANIEL GARCIA

johndaniel@bigbendnow.com

MARFA – City of Marfa Administrator Terry Brechtel announced plans for the expansion of the city’s recycling center services and the city’s waste disposal at last Thursday’s regular meeting.

According to Brechtel, the Marfa Recycling Center will now accept shredded letter paper, plastic bags, and plastic film as part of its program.

The recycling program also accepts #1 and #2 plastics, tin, office paper, newspaper, and cardboard.

As part of the expansion, Brechtel explained, the city is also seeking vendors to purchase recyclable plastics and is considering compacting the plastics, which would allow more mobility in the sale of those recyclables.

Along with the added materials, the city is also in talks with TxDoT to possibly purchase an oil recycling container, as the highway department discontinued its free program for the residents of Marfa.

The city, Brechtel said, has begun discussions with TxDoT to have the department declare a 300-gallon container surplus so the city could purchase it and begin its own oil recycling program at the Marfa Compost Area.

Brechtel also informed the council that an application for a tire and bulky waste recycling program grant has also been obtained from the Rio Grande Council of Governments, which would pay for two weekends of collection, including two dumping containers.

The City of Marfa, she added, has welcomed two new employees, Christina Pryor and Richard Villareal, to the city’s roster at the compost area, replacing former employees John Johnson and his late father, Robert “Bob” Johnson.

The Marfa Compost Area will be open from 1 – 5pm Tuesday – Friday and 8am – 4pm on Saturdays.

The city has advertised its requests for proposals for the city’s solid waste trash collection, and Brechtel added, with a new prospective vendor – The City of Presidio – throwing its hat in the ring alongside the current providers, Republic Services and Texas Disposal Systems.

City of Marfa department heads also gave their six-month reports to city council members at the behest Brechtel.

In the Marfa EMS report, director Burt Lagarde told the council that through the six-month period, the EMS have treated 186 patients, of which 142 were treated within the City of Marfa, 39 were treated in Presidio County outside of the Marfa city limits, and five were treated in Jeff Davis County.

Of all the patients treated in the past six months, he said, 120 were transported to the Big Bend Regional Medical Center.

Legarde also told city representatives of the department’s injury prevention program, which includes the distribution of life jackets to the Marfa Activity Center swimming pool and the Hotel Saint George pool, the distribution of thermometer stickers for vehicle windows, and the distribution of no-slip socks and trigger reachers for elderly citizens (through the Marfa Nutrition Center).

The items, he added, were paid for through the Regional Advisory Council using tax dollars.

Items may also be obtained by calling the City of Marfa.

At the nutrition center, Library Director Mandy Roane (who now also oversees the senior nutrition center) told the council that Meals on Wheels deliveries have remained steadily between 14 – 25 recipients during operating days.

The center has also received $868 in donations during the six months, over which time the number of volunteers and visitors has increased from 9 in October to 25 in April.

The center is also expanding on the programs offered to the elderly, including a possible knitting and crochet day, though Roane jokingly told the council Bingo would continue as a discontinuation would likely lead to a revolt.

The Marfa Public Library, she added, has received a daily average of 46 visitors and has issued 70 new cards in the six-month period.

The library has also scheduled 43 activities for children throughout the summer.

In other city news, the City of Marfa passed a measure to draft a proposed ordinance to establish “child safety zones” in the City of Marfa to keep registered sex offenders from living near parks, schools, churches, and other places children may gather.

The proposed ordinance comes on the heels of the passage of House Bill 1111 in September of last year to allow smaller towns to establish such zones.

In larger cities, City Attorney Teresa Todd explained, zones are established within 1000 feet of places children may gather, though consideration for smaller cities to do the same were questioned.

Should such an ordinance pass, Todd added, any sex offenders living in the child safety zones prior to passage of an ordinance would be grandfathered and would not be ejected from their homes.

According to Marfa Police Chief Estevan Marquez, there are currently five Marfa residents listed on the Texas Sex Offender Registry, though some of the residents listed are deceased.

Council members also authorized Marfa Mayor Ann Marie Nafziger to “update the process by which Hotel Occupancy Tax fund grant awards are approved.

Though the way HOT funds are used is highly regulated by the state, Nafziger explained, the proposal to update the distribution of funds should be looked into.

One idea, she said, is to create a committee with people in the community who would not benefit by the distribution of HOT funds to review grant applications.

The applications could also be set by deadline for review.

Changing the application process, she said, would encourage more competition and level the playing field for organizations seeking funds.

The process would also help the city during future budgeting.

MARFA – Marfa voters will go to the polls on Saturday to elect three city council members and one school board member.

The poll for both elections is the Casner Room of Marfa City Hall, and voting will be conducted from 7am-7pm on Saturday.

Seven Marfa residents are seeking three council posts, Mary Lou Saxon, Natalie Melendez, Raul Lara, Saarin Keck, Buck Johnston, Alberto Garcia, and current council member Manny Baeza.

The top three vote-getters take office.

In the Marfa ISD school board election, Brooke Shepard and Yolanda Jurado are seeking the Place 3 trusteeship, currently held by out-going trustee Joe Pat Clayton.

Incumbent trustee David Walstrom remains the only candidate for his Place 4 seat.

(staff photos by JOHN DANIEL GARCIA)
Alpine High School sophomore Brittany Murrell participated in the Alpine High School walkout protest on National Walkout Day.

By JOHN DANIEL GARCIA

johndaniel@bigbendnow.com

ALPINE – “We’re anti-school shooting, not anti-Second Amendment,” Alpine student walkout organizer Malik Aguilar told the Big Bend Sentinel at Friday’s walkout. “We’re advocates for students who want to go to school, do their studies, and not get shot.”

Fourteen Alpine High School and four Alpine Montessori School students engaged in the National School Walkout Day on Friday to protest gun violence in schools, despite – what the students claimed incorrectly – threats from school officials to punish them with a higher severity than usual.

The walkout was held on April 20th to commemorate the Columbine school shooting massacre in Colorado.

“Columbine was a starting point for all these shootings,” said walkout co-organizer Naomi Gjemme, who registered to vote during the walkout. “They were the first to have used all kinds of guns and bombs. There’s a sick sort of fan club for them out there.”

School administrators, Aguilar claimed, had told the students that they would receive three days of disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) for participating in the walkout for “disrupting the school day.”

“We’re not disrupting anything. We’re just walking out silently and having a peaceful protest,” he said.

Walkout co-organizers Jonah Adams and Rose Hillery also told the Sentinel that coaches had threatened students with being pulled out of sporting events and teachers had told students the walkout would affect their National Honor Society standings as well as future employment.

The alleged threats, she said, impacted the turnout at the walkout.

“I had a coach tell me I wouldn’t be able to compete in sports and that future employers wouldn’t hire us. I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I talked to some of my classmates to see if they were coming out, but a lot of them were scared and said they didn’t want to get in trouble.”

Word of such disciplinary measures, Alpine ISD Superintendent Becky Watley said, were premature, with disciplinary actions to be determined following the event.

From left, Reagan Tarrango, Naomi Gjemre, Sarah Mechado, Rose Hillery, Jonah Adams, Malik Aguilar, Anna Downing, Jasmine Welker

“As with any student who leaves campus without permission or has an unexcused absence, discipline will be in accordance with our student code of conduct and our district policies,” she wrote in an e-mail to the Sentinel, adding that the school will continue to work to keep campuses safe. “The walkout today is not a school-sponsored event. However, I do not know one single person who does not want safer schools. School safety is and will continue to be a priority for Alpine ISD.”

For Aguilar, the decision to participate in the national walkout came from his personal experience with school violence after the September 2016 shooting in Alpine, which left one AHS student wounded and the student shooter dead by a self-inflicted gunshot.

“We decided to be part of the National Walkout Day since we had our own school shooting,” he said, recalling the event. “That day, no one expected anything. It was a normal day – maybe too normal – until our teacher said we were in lockdown and it was not a drill. We heard gunshots. It didn’t feel real. And now, I feel like the school isn’t backing us at all.”

The shooting, AHS walkout co-organizers Jonah Adams added, has not been acknowledged by the school.

“When the anniversary passed, there was no remembrance of what happened. They seem to want to forget about it,” he said. “We all went through that as a school. They should be advocates for change.”

The students also spoke out against the prospect of arming teachers.

“Having teachers with guns just means more guns in our schools,” Hillery said. “The thought of that absolutely doesn’t make me feel safer.”

Dee Perkins, the parent of an Alpine High School student participating in the walkout, was among the protesters, which included other parents, local attorneys, and various supporters.

“These students are the ones that employers or colleges should be seeking. These kids are the future leaders. They are articulate and smart. They stand up for what they believe in and are willing to suffer the consequences of it. I know few adults who are that brave,” Perkins said of the marchers. “I am here to support the kids who have had enough and are brave enough to take the punishments the school wants to hand out.”

After the 10am meeting and speeches from several students at the Kokernot Park gazebo, students marched along Fifth Street to Railroad Park, where they picketed against gun violence to traffic that mostly honked in support of their cause.

Protesters at Railroad Park

One vehicle, however, passed at least twice, with the passenger filming the protesting teenagers as the driver screamed at the students.

The driver’s words, however, couldn’t be comprehended due to the roar of his pickup’s engine and the high winds that kicked up dust and blew the protestor’s signs.

The driver from another passing pickup truck threw garbage at the protesters, striking Adams.

“I just saw something brown fly at me and thought it was a piece of dry animal poop,” he said with a chuckle.

A third pick-up truck opposed to the protesters drove his dually close to the sidewalk curb and revved his engine, covering the area for a moment in a thin, black plume of exhaust.

“Hey man! Save the environment,” Adams – the obvious jokester of the group yelled at the truck. “Oh wait, that’s next week’s protest.”

While the students were marching, they also learned of yet another school shooting in Florida, in which one student was wounded.

“I can imagine that something like this would happen today,” said student Naomi Gjemme, who also helped organize the march. “It’s so sad. Copycat shootings are a huge thing. It’s really scary because it’s going to happen more and more as long as our elected officials keep doing nothing about it.”

The Friday Florida shooting, Aguilar added, underlines the reasons for their protest.

“Some people keep questing why we’re doing this. We’re here to address gun violence,” he said. “Of course a school shooting happened on the day we do this. That’s why we’re here. That’s what we’re trying to get away from.”