City Council Busy, Approves Several Actions

The RV park at Hobbs School in Fisher County. (Photo courtesy of Leslie Schmidt.)

At its monthly meeting in City Hall last night, the City Council considered, discussed, and approved several measures and actions, among them the annexation of 178 acres on the northeast side of town, the sale of 4.4 acres just north of the railroad, the mineral-rights lease of City property, and the passage of an RV Park ordinance. 

The meeting began with the public hearing on the northeast annexation of 178 acres.  The proposal passed and the city limits will be extended to include the area east of FM 608, north of the railroad tracks, and south of US 84.

The Council approved the sale of the 4.4 acres just north of the railroad tracks and west of Business US 84, where the Planter’s Gin used to stand and where the recycling center is now.  The property will be sold for $25,000 to oil man Brad Stephens, who will use it for an off-loading facility to transfer crude oil from trucks to railroad tank cars.   

The Council approved the mineral rights lease of the City’s 281 acres to Charles Schroeder of Chisholm Exploration in Abilene.  The three-year lease is for $365 per acre with 20% royalty on production.

This year’s dates for the annual spring cleanup were set for March 18-23.

Anticipating the arrival of “man camps,” the Council also discussed and approved an ordinance governing Recreational Vehicle Parks in Roscoe.   One RV Park is already in the works and more could be on the way.  

Here are highlights of the ordinance:

•    Parks must be between 1½ and 5 acres with no more than 20 RV sites per acre and only one RV per site.  Each site must be at least 30’ x 65’.  

•    An opaque fence at least 8’ tall must buffer the park from view on both sides and rear.  The fence must be of metal.  

•    Parks must have all-weather roads of caliche or gravel with the main road at least 24’ wide and one-way roads at least 15’.  Dead end roads are not allowed and emergency exits must be maintained.

•    Parks must have an office manager with a telephone landline available to tenants for emergency calls.

•    Each site must be provided with connections to city water and city sewer.  If city sewer connections are not available then on-site sewage facilities are permitted if installed in accordance with city codes and approved by the city.

•    Parks must have underground electrical service that conforms to the National Electrical Code. Power must have at least one 20-amp and one 50-amp connection.

•    Tenants must provide the RV Park manager their name, permanent address, driver’s license number, vehicle and RV license plate numbers and states, and date of arrival and departure.

•    Each site must have adequate garbage facilities.  Dumpsters must be screened on three sides.

•    Parks must conform to fire safety standards with a fire hydrant within 600’ of all RVs. 

These are some but certainly not all the RV Park requirements.  For a complete listing, contact City Hall at 325-766-2233.

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HIGH SCHOOL INVITES ALL TO COMMUNITY LEARNING TOURS NEXT WEEK

The new Special Events Center at RCHS.

Roscoe Collegiate High School invites you to visit with administrators and go on a student-led tour of the facilities and classrooms.  Each of three days next week will be devoted to different groups of visitors:
   
                      Wednesday, February 20 – Business Leaders
                      Thursday, February 21 – Community Members
                      Friday, February 22 – Parents

Parents will visit with administration and then attend class with their student. 

All tours start at 9:00am.  For more information, call 325-766-3629 or 325-766-3327.

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STATE SAYS DETOUR ON US 84 EAST TO LAST FOUR MORE MONTHS

The condemned overpass at US 84 and I-20.

Replacing the old overpass on US 84 east of town will take about four more months to complete and cost an estimated $1.5 million, according to TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) of Abilene. 

Design and planning of the new overpass is now complete, and the state opens bidding today for an emergency contract to replace the old one.  Work is scheduled to begin next Monday, February 18.

TxDOT spokesperson Darah Waldrip said the old overpass was scheduled for replacement in 2017 anyway, and the accident just moved the project forward.  The new overpass will have a cushioning barrier and other safety features to protect it and drivers from crashes.  

Unfortunately, the Roscoe detour is no longer the only one in the area for eastbound US 84 traffic.  On January 9, the US 180 bridge that crosses over US 84 into Snyder was slammed into by a truck with an over-height load and also irreparably damaged.  It, too, will have to be replaced. 

Strain Construction began demolition on it last week and hopes to finish within two weeks.  At that time, US 84 will reopen at Snyder and remain that way until work on the new US 180 bridge begins in five to eight months.

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RCHS COLOR GUARD WINS REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN FLAGGING

Roscoe's Color Guard with their Regional Championship trophy: Teresa Herrera, Crystal Luna, Elisa Herrera, and Magali Casas.

At the Regional Meet held at Tyler Junior College in Tyler this past weekend, the Roscoe Plowboy Band Color Guard won first place in the flagging competition.   Competing against 14 other teams, mainly class 3A, 4A, and 5A east Texas schools, they were the smallest school represented but still brought home the gold. 

Team director is Lucia Lavalais and team members are Crystal Luna, senior and captain; Elisa Herrera, sophomore; Teresa Herrera, freshman; and Magali Casas, freshman. 

Over 200 teams competed at the meet in flagging, twirling, and dancing.

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SENIORS HELP OUT FELLOW CLASSMATE WITH WORK DAY

Top Row: Kyle Bromley, Pete Ortega, Junior Rosas, Chris Deleon, Eduardo Gallegos, Joe Lewis Aguayo, Brant Burnett, Brenon Moore, Jose Rangel, Alex Rhoades, Landon Jones, Tyler Bromley.
Bottom Row: Laura Pantoja, Blanca Leanos, Kendall Moses, Faith Boren, Carolina Perez, Torrey Willman, Stina Tomlin, Mirian Solis, Crystal Luna, Alura Renteria.
In Front:  Alex Cuellar.

Roscoe Collegiate High School’s Seniors took off from class for a work day on Friday to help out their classmate, Alura Renteria, whose home was destroyed by fire last Tuesday.  Students worked all day tearing down what couldn’t be saved and did extensive clean up by loading and hauling trash and debris to the dump and scrap yard. 

Cash donations to the family are needed and can be made at the Sweetwater Regional Federal Credit Union and the Roscoe State Bank.  As the Renterias lost all their belongings to the fire, clothing, kitchen utensils, and other household items are also needed.  Clothing sizes needed are XL and 1X women’s tops, 16 women’s pants, 6½ and 7 women’s shoes, 3 and 5 junior pants, medium junior tops, 31x31 men’s pants, large men’s tops, 10 and 10½ men’s shoes.  Items may be dropped off at the back of what used to be Misty’s flower shop across from the Shelansky building at 106 Cypress or at the Sweetwater Fire or Police Departments.

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PLOWBOYS CONCLUDE SEASON WITH LOSS TO HERMLEIGH, WIN OVER WESTBROOK

The Roscoe Plowboys concluded their basketball season this week with a loss and a win.
 
On Friday night in Hermleigh, the Plowboys came up short as the Cardinals jumped out to a 16-4 first quarter lead and went on to win 44-26.  The halftime score was 26-9.

High scorer for the Plowboys was Cutter Davila with 12 points with three other players getting 4 points each.

Then, yesterday afternoon here in Roscoe, the Plowboys downed Westbrook 44-31.  The score was 8-7 Roscoe at the end of the first quarter, but in the second the Plowboys pulled away to lead at halftime 23-14. 

Cutter Davila led the Plowboys with 21 points, followed by Jesus Leanos with 13.  The Plowboys finish district play with a record of 3-7.

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PLOWGIRLS LOSE BI-DISTRICT MATCH TO STERLING CITY 32-29

By virtue of their second place finish in district, the Plowgirls played a bi-district game in Winters on Monday against Sterling City.  They were in the game from start to finish, leading at halftime 17-15 and trailing by one at the end of three quarters 23-22. Unfortunately, they wound up losing the game 32-29 and in doing so finished their season.

Faith Boren led the Plowgirls in scoring with 14 points, followed by Shelby Brown with 5.   The Plowgirls complete the year 7-3 in district and 18-12 overall.

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WEATHER REPORT

Frost covered the ground this morning in below freezing weather.

Up until Monday, the weather last week was pretty much a repeat of the previous week—sunny or partly cloudy skies with highs of around 60°F, lows of 39°-40°, and occasional windy days.  On Monday, a cold front came through with 30%-40% chances of precipitation, but, as you might expect, we got only a couple of sprinkles with just  enough to get the sidewalks wet.

The cold front did, however, cool things down, and Lyndall Underwood’s weather station just west of town recorded a low of 23°F this morning, which is the first freezing weather we’ve had in a couple of weeks.   The forecast is for sunshine and a high of 60° today and a low of 38° tonight with tomorrow a little warmer before we get hit again with another cold front on Friday, when highs will drop into the forties and lows into the twenties. 

It goes without saying that the area could use some rain.

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