CLICK HERE to return to the Archives Index

Front Page Headlines

DeLeon’s Newest Officer Already Familiar Face to Many

By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

DeLeon’s newest police officer, Tim Fanning, began work last week, but is already a familiar face to many in the area.

“I’m not an unknown,” Fanning said, “they know the face since I’ve been a paramedic with Comanche EMS, for awhile, and I also worked for the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office for almost two years.”

“I’m currently a resident of Comanche,” Fanning said. “I’ve been a police officer almost six years.”

Fanning’s first law enforcement job was in Devine, Texas. “And I was a police officer in Dublin for three years,” he said. “I was also at the Comanche PD for about five months.”

Although Fanning will continue to work part-time as a paramedic in both Comanche and Hamilton counties, he said he would be working full-time in DeLeon.

“I’m going to be a full-time officer and I will also be the fire marshal,” he said.

An Army medic for five years, Fanning later received his law enforcement training at the South West Texas Junior College, in Hondo, Texas. Fanning said the chief at the Devine Police Department first encouraged him to attend the police academy, saying “we’ll sponsor you, just go.”

“I’ve also been a volunteer firefighter, off and on, about four years,” he said, “in both Bexar and Comanche counties, and a paramedic in those counties going back about 10 years.”

Fanning and his wife, Penny, have five children. “Penny works at Conways, the vet’s office in Comanche,” Fanning said.

Although Fanning admits he doesn’t have much free time, he does have several favorite “down-time” activities.

“I dive when I get a chance,” he said, “and I’m an avid paint-baller.” Fanning added that he’s always looking for others who share an interest in paint ball. “It’s cowboys and Indians, without getting hurt,” he said. “And it’s a way of dealing with stress.”

Fanning, who attended high school in Natalia, Texas, also enjoys deer hunting -- both bow and rifle -- and dove hunting, when he gets a chance.

“I’m also a member of the Blue Knights, a law enforcement motorcycle club,” Fanning said.

Fanning enjoys collecting knifes, swords and guns.

Although his most recent jobs have been primarily in law enforcement, Fanning said he actually has a very diverse work history.

“I’ve been everything from a bagger, to a stocker, and a front-end manager at a grocery store,” he said. “I’ve also been a parts person at an automotive store, a grease monkey at a lube and tune place, and I was a rigger for cranes.

When asked what drew him to law enforcement; Fanning didn’t have to give it much thought.

“It’s the same answer as when people ask me why I’m a paramedic,” he said, “I’m here to serve the community and give back. It’s sort of a ‘pay it forward’ thing. And law enforcement is one of those things you get in to and you either love it, or don’t,” Fanning said, “and I love it.”

Council Adopts Budget, Sets Tax Rate

By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

Council members approved the first reading of Ordinance #011-08, adopting the 2008-09 fiscal year budget, during their most recent meeting, Thursday, September 11, 2008, and also approved the first reading of Ordinance #012-08, setting the tax rate for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

All council members -- Mayor Danny Owen, Lee Childers, Pauline Villarreal, Avery Carlisle and Gayle Stroud -- were present for the meeting, as were City Administrator Karen Wilkerson, Emergency Management Coordinator Ray Helberg, Public Works Administrator Rob Duncan, Officer Bryan Butler (Chief Ralph Dickey was on vacation) and Chamber Director Linda Levens.

In addition to ordinances for the tax rate and budget, council members also approved the first reading of Ordinance #010-08, setting the increased water and sewer rates for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Later, Wilkerson explained that the cost increase was necessary in part due to an increase in what the Upper Leon River Municipal Water District (ULRMWD) charges the city for water.

“The only thing going up for our customers is the minimum charge -- the 0 to 3,000 gallons,” Wilkerson said. “It went up 10 percent. For residential inside (city limits) it was $21.28, and it went up $2.13, and is now $23.41.” Wilkerson went on to say that residential city water customers outside the city limits also saw an increase on their minimum charge, (from $30.04 to $33.05) as did commercial customers inside the city limits (from $24.15 to $26.57) and commercial customers outside the city limits (from $34.78 to $38.26).
Customers will see the new rates beginning with their November 1, 2008 bills.

The tax rate will remain at $.60 (60 cents per $100 valuation) the same as last year, but will result in additional revenue for the city due to increased property valuations.

Rob Duncan announced to council members that there was a problem with the street sealcoat project that the council had previously voted to participate in, explaining that the company furnishing the asphalt for the project filed for bankruptcy.

“We’re trying to go ahead and get it done,” Duncan said. “They can get the asphalt, but at a 25 percent increase. It’s going to cost us $2.20 per square yard, instead of $1.56, which is going to be more than $10,000 (from $27,000 to $38,000) over what we were going to do before.”

Duncan said the options included waiting until next year, or continuing with the project and decreasing the number of roads.

After a brief discussion, Council member Gayle Stroud made a motion to “spend the money we’ve allotted for this project, and cut back on the number of streets.” The vote in favor was unanimous.

Council members also accepted the resignation of Sgt. Dustin Paulsen, whose last day as an employee with the DeLeon Police Department was September 6. “He’s already gone,” Mayor Owen noted, “we really don’t have much choice.” It was later noted that Paulsen will serve as a reserve officer in DeLeon at some point in the future.

In other business, Council members:

• Approved the minutes from meetings on August 26, August 28 and August 29, 2008.

• Approved the Tax Statement for August 2008.

• Appointed City Administrator Karen Wilkerson as interim municipal court judge until Judge L.T. Lewis returns to full duties. Mayor Owen noted that Lewis, who has been off work due to illness, has “been available to consult with Karen as needed” and was still playing a major role in the court operations.

During the open discussion between city officials and city employees, Mayor Owen discussed the on-going efforts to clean-up the city. “There continues to be numerous complaints of tall weeds, old vehicles, tree limbs and so forth,” he said. Owen made reference to his newspaper column “Mayor’s Corner” from the week before wherein he had noted: “With our new budget, we now have funds in place to have a person to work the ordinance issues here in town. We also had our city attorney to revise the ordinance of our problem areas of tall grass, weeds and old vehicles.”

“Twenty letters (of code violation) went out on September 2,” Karen Wilkerson said, “and there’s 30 more that will go out tomorrow (9-12). Once they get the letter, they have 10 days to comply.”

Mayor Owen noted that many community members are “fed-up” with property near their homes not being taken care of. “They want something done,” he said. “So we’re making this a priority.”

After still more discussion, Owen told council members, “So, if your phones start ringing...and somebody’s mad, you’ll know we’re doing our job -- we’re moving forward with it.”

Wilkerson explained to council members that the city had been divided into quadrants for code enforcement. “We have four zones now, and we’ll concentrate on one zone a week,” she said. “We’ll be out taking pictures and then we’ll prepare the letters.”

Wilkerson later said that when residents do receive a letter regarding code violations, “If they will call City Hall and just let me know they want to make it right, we’ll work with them.”

Mayor Owen also noted during the meeting, that the city is still exploring options for residents to be able to utilize the city yard for dumping. “Hopefully, I’ll more information at the next meeting,” he said.

Council member Pauline Villarreal said she’d had citizens approach her regarding a mobile home that had been moved to a lot that appeared to be too small, according to city ordinances, and wanted to know if anything was being done to remedy the situation. After a brief discussion, council members decided that the situation needed further investigation.

For full article, subscribe to the DeLeon Free Press. E-mail edition is only $20/year.

City Hall Remodeling Project Update

Special to the Free Press
By Tim Beaty

The DeLeon City Hall remodeling project spearheaded by Developing DeLeon Today (DDT) is well underway. What began in early 2007 as a plan to remodel the bathrooms to make them ADA compliant and adding lighting and sound to the stage, received a big boost with the interest of former DeLeon resident Ben Barnes, who plans a donation in memory of his mother, Ina B. Barnes.

The plans now include remodeling the kitchen, gym floor, removal and cleaning of the jail windows, along with painting the outside of the building. (See photos below.)  Although not a stipulation for his donation, Mr. Barnes believes that local participation is vital to the success of the project. DDT agrees and sponsored a meeting June 19, 2008 with several of the local service organizations in DeLeon. The plans for the project were presented and a total of $8,500 has been pledged or donated as of today.

It is now time for the ones who use the building every day, along with those who have fond memories of events taking place there, to become involved. City Hall has been home to many different meetings, athletic events, festivals, and many other activities too numerous to mention. Many times the people of DeLeon have come together at City Hall to raise money for an organization in town or a member of our community who needs a helping hand. We are a caring community that takes care of those in need. City Hall is now in need of our help. Over 70 years of life has taken its toll as age, along with use and abuse, is now showing.

Our initial bids total was just over $100,000. If you would like to have a part in restoring the focal point of our community, please send your pledge contributions to Developing DeLeon Today, PO Box 395, DeLeon, Texas 76444. Checks should be made out to the City of DeLeon, for City Hall Project. All donations are tax deductible.

Grades Improve as Aaron Riggs Wins Week 2
Hurricane Affects Some Games

WEEK 2 WINNER Aaron Riggs

Hurricane Ike’s presence in the Gulf of Mexico late last week affected the plans of many, including two of the state’s premier football programs, the Texas Longhorns and the DeLeon Bearcats.

The Longhorns postponed their game with the Arkansas Razorbacks for two weeks to September 27. Their game was not counted in this week’s contest.

DeLeon’s game with Christoval had its starting time changed more than once to an earlier time in anticipation of the then projected hurricane path up through the middle of the state.

As it turned out, Ike veered right into East Texas and left most in our area with only a steady breeze.

Fourth grader Aaron Riggs topped all other contestants in the Week 2 Football Contest by guessing the closest (42) to the actual combined score (49) in the DeLeon/Christoval game. He missed having a perfect entry by only a single game outcome.

Others who also missed only a single game included Susan Hodges, Joe Robledo, Billy Warren, Jack Casey, Bradley Sanders, Rocky Atchley and Lauren Casey.

The average scores in the football contest improved from last week’s “C-” to a “C+”, with a correct percentage of almost 78%.

DeLeon’s win over Christoval, Cisco’s win over Ballinger and Tarleton State’s win over East Central were the three games most often correctly picked. Others providing few problems for our pickers included, Goldthwaite over San Saba and Oklahoma over Washington.

The games providing the most incorrect picks included Bang’s win over Hamilton, Stephenville’s win over Brownwood, and Hamilin’s defeat of Ranger. Howard Payne’s victory over Texas College and Baylor’s defeat of Washington State also surprised many.

The games for Week 3 seem to hold the promise of another week of high picking scores. Good luck to our contestants!

All content of this site, unless otherwise noted, is Copyright©2006-2008 Morgan Publishing Co.

All Rights Reserved. Any duplication, in any form, without the written consent of the copyright holder is prohibited.