[Marlin Democrat] -- Citizens Bank to help City through tough times

Citizens Bank to help City through tough times
By Denise Schoppe
Staff Writer

The Marlin Democrat
September 07, 2005

A loan of $333,000 was unanimously approved by the Marlin City Council on Aug. 29, when they met for a special session.

Due to a conflict of interest, Mayor Norman Erskine stepped down from his seat during the discussion and voting on the loan being made through Citizen's State Bank, where he is a part-time employee.

The money borrowed will be used towards the payment of bills for July and to reimburse money taken from the water rehab fund.

City Manager Randall Holly urged the council to approve making the loan to help the city through the current lack of funds to pay bills. He stated he felt current revenues coming into the city would make it possible to handled their obligations in the future.

"Every month we are making progress," Holly said. "I feel confident we will be able to pay our bills."

The loan is for five years at a 6.5% interest rate and is expected to take a week to ten days to be received.

Land owned by the city will be used as collateral for the loan.

"I intend to use the least likely land to be sold," Holly said. "I will try not to use any of the industrial park land, though it is attractive and worth a lot."

The city will make payments on the loan quarterly to ensure it can be paid and is not forgotten about.

[Marlin Democrat] -- Falls on the Brazos grant money arriving soon to develop park

Falls on the Brazos grant money arriving soon to develop park
By Denise Schoppe
Staff Writer

The Marlin Democrat
September 07, 2005

Money from a recent grant to Falls on the Brazos Park II is expected to arrive in the next 30 days when the contract for the grant arrives, according County Judge Tom Sehon, who was instrumental in procuring the grant.

The $50,000 grant, which will be used to further develop 22.5-acres of the Falls on the Brazos Park, was approved by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission during its August 25 meeting.

The Falls County project came in fifth out of 35 grant applications for this year's funding of recreational opportunities and park facilities throughout the state.

"I deserve the least amount of credit for this," Sehon said. "Others that were instrumental in this were the four county commissioners who agreed to seek the grant. Jesse Moreno did work in burying overhead lines in the park, which was a condition of the grant application. Bill Dugger, a sergeant at the Hobby unit was a tremendous help to us for years of organizing the female inmates to maintain the park. Sebastian and Associates are among the best grant writers in the state."

All the hard work paid off to receive the grant, but now that the money has been awarded, there is a lot of work to do. However the grant is a three-year grant, which means all the work on the park does not have to be completed right away.

A stipulation of the grant is to provide matching funds. These will come in the form of in-kind work by inmates of the Hobby Unit, a pedestrian bridge and a bird watching platform that will be advertised.

"We have a nice and varied selection of birds to attract bird watchers across the state," Sehon said. "We want to make our park one of the jewels of Falls County and celebrate its historical significance."

[Marlin Democrat] -- Council accepts Holescher resignation; City Fire department moves forward

Council accepts Holescher resignation; City Fire department moves forward
By Denise Schoppe
Staff Writer

The Marlin Democrat
September 07, 2005

The Marlin City Council unanimously voted on Monday, August 29, to accept the resignation of Tony Hoelscher as Marlin Fire Chief effective immediately.

Following an executive session, the council voted to pay Hoelscher the balance of two weeks notice of employment plus all legal benefits, however his employment with the city would end immediately.

After approximately four years of service to Marlin, Hoelscher tendered his letter of resignation two weeks ago citing lack of cooperation, double standards and harassment from the city manager's office for his decision to leave. He served as Fire Chief, Fire Marshall, Fire Inspector, Safety Director, Emergency Management Coordinator and Homeland Security Director for the city.

Hoelscher was not present at the meeting, however with his letter of resignation he submitted a listing of things accomplished in his years with the city.

Among his many accomplishments, Hoelscher corrected 68 violations from the State Fire Commission, raised the moral of the fire personnel through arranging vacations and holiday time as well as through cutting overtime and correcting disparity over work/pay time, raised over $120,000 through donations, grants and fire recovery for the station, and in his time at the station there were no fatalities.

City Manager Randall Holly praised Hoelscher for straightening up the fire department, but said there has come to be a difference of opinion on how things should be handled.

Following the council vote, Council member Elizabeth Nelson acknowledged the work the fire department does and conveyed her confidence that their success would continue.

"We have confidence in the firemen... and I know that they will continue to do a good job and work with the volunteers and be a top-notch fire department," she said.

Following the resignation of Hoelscher as fire chief, Holly said that the Assistant Chief, Sam Morgan, has taken over duties as head of the department.

"We are currently [searching for a new chief], but Sam has stated he does not want to be considered for the position and stay in the capacity as chief permanently," Holly said.

Both Station 1 and Station 2 have remained open and they will continue to do so as possible.

"Citizens should see activity at both stations always," Holly said. "The only deviation is if we lose one of our seasoned firefighters and we have a trainee on duty. They can not be left at the station alone. In a situation such as that, only one station will be open and the men on duty will alternate between the two stations."

Holly explained that at full capacity, three men will be on duty at all times. At that time, two men will be at one station, while one mans the other. In a case in which there are only two men on duty, if both are seasoned firefighters, both stations will still be open with one man at each. However, if one of the men on duty is a trainee, then one station will be closed and both will be at the other station.

The smaller fire department staff is a result of the city's recent reorganization efforts to save money. The department was lowered in size with the understanding that the Marlin Volunteer Fire Department will be relied on during emergencies, creating a joint effort between the two departments.

On Thursday, Sept. 1, the paid fire department and volunteer department had their first joint training session to begin putting the new system into effect. The two departments, along with city council members and other city officials, met at the Marlin Volunteer Fire Department to begin getting acquainted with the equipment each department will provide during emergencies.

Further training sessions will be held to ensure that all members of the departments are prepared to work together quickly and efficiently in an emergency.

[marlin Democrat] Column -- A time for mourning in wake of 'our tsunami'

A time for mourning in wake of 'our tsunami'

Nise's Notes
By Denise Schoppe

The Marlin Democrat
September 07, 2005

For weeks, the news has been saturated with reports of Cindy Sheehan's protest in Crawford. Her requests to see the President soon became a rally cry as many flocked to the small town to both support her cause as well as to give a rebuttal. I feared an old fashioned shoot out would spawn from the two camps as Crawford Police and McLennan County Sheriff's Department attempted to keep things as peaceful as possible.

As all eyes were on the small Central Texas town and one mother's cause, as everyone took one side of the issue or the other, the making of disaster were building in the warm waters near Florida.

In what seemed to be only an instant, all eyes turned from Cindy Sheehan to Hurricane Katrina. The high winds and torrential downpours of this lady spoke louder than the speeches and chants of Camp Casey.

The world watched as Katrina hit Mississippi and Louisiana, and it was as if everyone held their breath waiting to see just how bad the damage would be once she cleared out of the way.

"It was like our tsunami," Vincent Creel, a spokesman for the Mississippi Gulf Coast city of Biloxi, was reported to have said in the wake of the storm.

Similar to the aftermath of last December's Asian tsunami disaster, families and friends hope and pray that their family members are not among the ever-rising death toll. Lives lost to the storm surges that turned cities and neighborhoods into lakes.

The strength of nature has spoken once again, showing us that man can not stand up to natural forces greater than himself.

I think that everyone is feeling a deep remorse for the lives lost to this storm. While I did not personally know anyone in the area hit hardest, I watched the coverage on the TV and kept up with updated reports on the internet. Through those images, I've felt a sense of loss and sadness. The images show an area that brings about a feeling of almost hopelessness as families find their homes and businesses simply gone.

Thousands have flocked to neighboring states looking for a safe haven. A wave of survivors have come to Texas, and they have made their way up into Central Texas looking for any help they can find. Families have been split apart; lives completely left sitting with nothing but the clothes on their back.

What happened last week has affected everyone — even here. Between trying to offer aid to victims, giving homes to pets left owner-less, and the rising cost of gas, no one is going unaffected by the storm. Whether anyone really realizes it, the storm may have hit Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but its causing a domino effect into the rest of the nation. It's not just over there, its right here, too.

We all mourn the loss of life, the change in our own everyday lives, and the loss of a sense of laid-back attitude "The Big Easy" could instill in almost all Americans — whether you'd been there or not.

Much like something that happened "over there" affects us right here, so to has the death of a colleague affected us here at The Democrat.

Marlinites have seen some of his work as he's provided us here at The Democratphotography from UIL events and the occasional article.

Mr. Mike Peck was a long-time employee of our sister-newspaper, The Cameron Herald. He passed away this last Tuesday after having suffered multiple strokes. He was only 48 years old.

An eye for a good picture, his photography could easily have been by some of the highest paid Associate Press reporters in the field of journalism. If that wasn't enough, he was a wonderful writer as well.

Had he ever chosen to leave Cameron and pursue his career elsewhere, I don't doubt he'd have possibly been right in the thick of this current hurricane footage. He had no trouble going from one extreme to the next in his photography and stories. However, he opted to stay in his hometown and report the news there... a feat that I'm not sure many journalists would ever attempt. However, he did it with a sense of professionalism mixed with a healthy dose of camaraderie.

Having grown up in Cameron, Mike is a staple image in my mind growing up. He was always there when anything was going on to take pictures. He always seemed to miraculously know where to be and when. From the time I was a Kindergartner, through my High School graduation, and most recently at my nephew's Little League baseball game, I could always depend on Mike being around with a camera around his neck. He and his wife, Kim, never had children of their own, but I think that in some way... every child who attended school there became his own. He took that level of care in every photograph ever taken.

I have always admired him and his work, and I couldn't help but feel a little honored to come to work for a newspaper affiliated with the one he worked. He had an eye for a photo, a nose for a news story, and a presence every respected and admired. He was a rare and genuine talent that will be missed.

Every day lives are lost — be it natural causes or tragedy — and we mourn our loss. Right now almost everyone is in a stage of confusion, fear and sadness; however, as time passes the wounds will heal. We will all move on with our lives, but we will also never forget. Hopefully, within our memories we also find strength — strength to face yet another day and not fear the unknown challenges ahead of us.