WEDNESDAYJuNE 26, 2019VOL. 112 • NO. 26

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Governor OrderGuard Troops To

Border To Assist FedsSee Page 4 See Page 8

Palacios Jr.All-Stars On

DiamondSee Page 2

History Brought To

Life

(See PISD, Page 2)

PVFD breaks ground on new Fire Station

PCMC makes pitch at MCND

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BY ALAN C. SCHULMANPalacios Beacon - Reporter

New Pavilion monument honors Ripke’s dedication to Palacios

PEDC welcomes two to Board of Directors

(See MCND, Page 3)

■ Senior Trek program Wed. at FBC CLC

Come joining cur-rent members and learn about Senior TREK (Travel, Recreation, Entertainment, Knowl-edge), presented by El Campo Memorial Hospital and Palacios Community Medical Center, next Wed. (June 26) from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the First Baptist Church - CLC, located at 202 Welch. Lunch will be served. Please RSVP to Carol Woot-ton at 979-533-2390.

Bob Pascasio, CEO of Pa-lacios Community Medical Center (PCMC), addressed the Commissioners of the Matagorda County Naviga-tion District at last Thurs-day’s Regular Meeting to update them on the status of PCMC and share the chal-lenges of running a health-care facility.

“We’re hoping to stabi-lize the organization finan-cially. Like all rural com-munity hospitals, we still struggle,” said Pascasio after an explanation of how Medicare only reimburses hospitals for 98 percent of the costs they report an-nually, and by partnering with El Campo Memorial Hospital (ECMH) under the banner of Mid Coast Health

At last Monday’s Palacios ISD Regular Board Meeting Carolyn Kubecka painted a positive picture of student improvement during her pre-sentation on Response to In-tervention, noting that ‘im-provement’ is the key word, and also reported positively on STAAR testing results stating, “I think we’re mov-ing in the right direction. We’ve got some great gains in our 5th grade math.”

Kubecka admitted that some scores did decline, and that the reason for the de-cline will be examined and corrected. “What we want to see is progress. That’s what we’re really trying to focus on is to get our kids to do better than they did the previous year.”

Summer Maintenance Report

Santos Perez presented a report to the board detail-ing maintenance that will occur over the summer. It’s going to be a busy sum-mer, as the work will in-clude major projects such as installing A/C units in the Field House and MRO Building and sanding and varnishing gym floors. Rou-tine maintenance items will include removing and re-placing ceiling tiles in caf-eteria dining areas around

The freshly remodeled office of the Palacios Economic Development Corp. (PEDC) was christened with the welcom-ing of two new directors at last week’s regular monthly meeting of the board of directors.

Welcomed to the Board were Scott Tran, who replaced Donny Tran, and Leland Singer, who takes over the seat formerly occupied by Debbie Morris.

The formers both recently resigned and were replaced by the lone two applicants to fill the vacancies.

With an update on recent Texas Legis-lative action, Executive Director Mike

Ferdinand noted the “most widely used in-centive for attracting manufacturing proj-ects in the state” was not renewed but he remained hopeful that may change, as it doesn’t sunset until after the next session.

The tax abatement agreement, Ferdinand said, “Gives us a competitive edge.”

An important economic development tool was preserved in the 312 abatements, but revisions will need to be made to the City and county abatement policies.

On the upcoming 2020 census, Pam Oli-ver reported local jobs would be coming soon.

“If you know of anyone looking for a job, they pay nicely,” Ferdinand said.

“It’s extremely important to us (PEDC), the City and Matagorda County we have

an accurate count. The figures will define us for the next 10 years.”

Continued work with the developer on the Palacios hotel project, with the focus on an upcoming milestone.

Ferdinand’s office continues to receive and work thru Request for Proposals and recently entertained a pair that were inter-ested in Palacios.

On the county front, active projects re-main moving forward with one relatively close to Palacios, and the anticipation of another FRP for west of the Colorado Riv-er.

Questioned by Director Robert Garrett on construction off of FM 521 east of Wad-sworth, Ferdinand reported it to the trans-mission hub for the planned wind farm.

Website ReviewThe directors discussed a planned re-

view of the PEDC website with an option to split cost amongst the PEDC, its county counterpart Matagorda County EDC and the Bay City Community Development Center. Each entity would maintain an in-dividual website, connected thru the back end, with each site having the same data.

Ferdinand reported having looked into four service providers with recommenda-tion on a preliminary contract with Revize, who handle many EDC websites across the U.S.

The preliminary contract has PEDC re-sponsible for a $5,900 share for the cost of

PISD students make progress on STAAR test resultsBY ALAN C. SCHULMANPalacios Beacon - Reporter

MEMBERS of Roberta Ripke’s family at last weekend’s Pavilion monument dedication were: (front, l-r) Maci Perez and Karly Garcia; (back) Philip Ripke, Alyssa Garcia, Kimberly Ripke Garcia, Joe Escalante, Felicia Ripke, Irene Mangum, Sydney Garcia and Kristen Garcia. (Beacon Photo by Ryan West)

A dedication ceremony for a new monument at the steps to the Palacios Coastal Education Pavi-lin to honor the work and memory of the late Ro-berta Ripke was held last weekend. Nearly two doz-en gathered the ceremony where words were shared on Ripke’s decades long dedication and drive to see a new Pavilion brought to the Palacios coastline.

MEMBERS of Palacios Beautification - Pavilion Committee at last week’s dedication ceremony were: (left to right) Leland Singer, David Kocurek, Glen Smith, Debbie Morris, Joe Kana and Mark Rusk. (Beacon Photo by Ryan West)

At long-last the first shovels of dirt have been turned and ground broken at the home of the new home of the Palacios Volunteer Fire Dept., located in the 600 block of Henderson Ave. An ecstatic Palacios Fire Chief Mike Hooper said it’s been a long time coming

for the construction work to finally get underway after working diligently the past 5-6 years in locating fund-ing for the proposed $600,000 project. Construction is expected to take three months, unless Mother Nature has anything to say about it.

MEMBERS of the PVFD and project funding partners at the ground-breaking ceremony are: (left to right) Mike Hooper, Robert Rocha, Justin Whited, Mark Kubecka, Sarah Olfers - Trull Foundation, Michael Weaver, Lisa Harrison - Trull Foundation, Joe Kana - Seawall Commission, Debbie Morris, Mayor Glen Smith, City Manager David Kocurek, Robert Garrett, Ryan Adams, Sally Kurtz - Palacios Area Fund, Tiara Tran - Harmonie Club, Daniel Guevara, Scott Tran, Joel Paniagua and Lorenzo Sanchez. (Beacon Photo by Ryan West)

■ Fall soccer re g i s t r a t i o n now underway

Registration for the Boys & Girls Club of Palacios fall soccer league is now under-way for boys and girls ages 4-10. Registra-tion is $70 plus a $4.95 processing fee. Online registration is available at www.palacioskids.org/sports. Deadline to register is Aug. 16. Coaches, sponsors and referees are needed. For more info contact the Club at 972-2642.

The one and only • PALACIOS BEACON •

DEADLINE 5 P.M. FRIDAYPage 2 - Palacios Beacon - Wed., June 26, 2019

PISD (Continued From Page 1)

•The Palacios Beacon • Serving the City by the Sea since 1907

PALACIOS BEACON

Area BriefsTrained dogs sniff out turtle nests

PORT ARANSAS: Some four-legged furry friends are helping track down turtle egg nests on Mustang, Padre and San Jose islands. Christian Fritz, a criminal justice doctorate student at Texas State University in San Marcos, started K9s 4 Conservation in May 2018, and now there are scent dogs trained specifically to sniff and identify where the nests are located on the beach. So far this season, the dogs have found three nests: two on Mustang Island and one on San Jose Is-land. Each year, from late March through mid-July, sea turtles crawl out of the Gulf of Mexico and dig holes on the beach, where they lay eggs. After locating a nest, scent-trained dogs alert a human, who then writes down GPS coordinates and calls sea turtle conserva-tion teams. - Port Aransas South Jetty

City makes first strike on mosquitos EL CAMPO: The battle against mosquitoes renewed

last night with city fogging crews making their way through town. The effort will continue until the antici-pated mosquito swarm is controlled, El Campo Public Works’ Kevin Thompson said. The city is also putting out larvicide granules in drainage ditches and other ar-eas of standing water. “You can’t get them all, but we hope to cut them down. We can get 20 percent with the larvicide. That leaves 80 percent. Of that, we can get 60 to 70 percent (with fogging). We can’t get them all,” Thompson said. The current wave is the result of recent rains which flooded most neighborhood streets and the standard breeding/hatching cycle of mosquitoes. - El Campo Leader-News

Band aid for water woesROCKDALE: It’s not the start of the major over-

haul of Rockdale’s “since forever” red water problems, but a project now wrapping up at the Mill Street Water Plant is targeted to help out in the short run. Thanks to a Community Development Block Grant the city is re-placing the media and liners in the filler system. “The system purifies the water coming out of the well,” Ja-son Hubbell, Public Works Director, said. “It runs over sands and tiny pieces of anthracite coal. Before now, the old plant hasn’t been able to filter out iron and man-ganese. This will enable it to do that.” Iron and manga-nese have been identified as two of the main “culprits” in the city’s perennial red water woes. Hubbell notes that the work now being performed is at best a “band aid” for Rockdale’s water system, which will undergo a massive overhaul in upcoming years. - The Rockdale Reporter

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the district, painting stripes and curbs in parking lots, conducting inspection of sprinklers, fire alarm sys-tems and fire extinguishers, conducting natural gas in-spections, cleaning cafete-ria filters and vent hoods, mowing and trimming trees

and shrubbery around the district, shampooing car-pets, scrubbing and waxing floors, replacing tires on buses and vehicles as need-ed, and performing other prevenative maintenance items on buses and district vehicles.

Perez will also continue working with Hellas Sports Construction on the foot-ball field and track, and continue completion of summer work orders. He also noted that he is wait-ing on delivery of heating systems to be installed.

Contracts to Recom-mended Personnel

Scott (Doc) Kurtz was issued a contract to be the Athletic Trainer for the 2019/2020 school year, Carolyn Kubecka - Coor-dinator of Public Relations, Amy Marroquin - Coordi-nator Accountability/Im-provement, Leah Graves - PJH Assistant Principal, Ginger Potts - PHS As-sistant Principal, Brandon Karl - ES Principal, and Dr. Brian Williams - Director of Administrative Services. New hires include David Glenn - PHS A/V Teacher, Christie Miller - Director of Finance and Operations, and Dr. Julia McMains - Director of Curriculum and Instruction.

Approved ItemsA construction contract

with Hellas Sports Con-struction for turf and track construction was ratified, purchase of a PISD Police vehicle was approved for $47,899.49, a change order pertaining to letter size on the new turf, personnel po-sitions, TASB Policy, min-utes of the May meetings, Budget Amendment, and Changes in the Tax Roll were also approved.

Reports to the BoardTax Office Reports were

presented, and Sheena Jo-slyn presented Financial

Reports and Monthly Sum-mary of Bills.

Superintendent’s Reports

Dr. Missy Glenn reported several staff vacancies, in-cluding English, Drama, and Choir teachers, at PHS and reported on opportuni-ties for Continuing Educa-tion Board Training.

Next MeetingThe next Regular Board

Meeting will be on July 15.

HISTORY was brought to life at last week’s One City - One Book Project on Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen at the Sanford Community Center. A pot luck meal was had on the lawn as author Sarah Bird (right) dove into a story of the Buffalo Soldiers. Local Buffalo Soldier reenactors were on hand in full regalia to help bring the story to life. (Beacon Photos by Alan Schulman).

Palacios Beacon - Wed., June 26, 2019 - Page 3DEADLINE 5 P.M. FRIDAY

From the Police ChiefBy Police Chief David MilesAs the temperature

warms there will be more people walking the streets at night. Make sure to put up your tools, lawn mow-ers and other personal property that can be easily picked up.

Individuals listed have been arrested and/or charged with an offense. Inclusion in this report does not imply that the person is guilty of any crime. The following are offense and arrest reports submitted by the Palacios Police Dept. to the Palacios Beacon as of noon Friday.

• Palacios Police Reports •

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The Palacios Lions Club is celebrating its 70th An-nual July 4th Celebration on Wed., July 3rd and Thurs., July 4th at East Bay Park.

July 3rd FestivitiesThe festivities starting at

5 p.m. until 9 p.m. on July 3rd include everyone’s fa-vorite game, Bingo and new this year and fun for all ages is the Texas Born Amuse-ments Carnival.

July 4th FestivitiesThe community is invited

to put your patriotism on display and attend the 4th of July (Thurs.) Flag Raising Ceremony at 11 a.m. Then all are welcome to purchase and enjoy a delicious Bar-B-Q lunch provided by the Knights of Columbus. Food and vendor booths along with the carnival and other activities begin at 1 p.m.

The fun continues with Bingo at 3 p.m. and the most memorable Helicopter Rides also start at 3 p.m. If

you’re feeling a little com-petitive or if you wish to support Palacios’ Volunteer Fire Department (VFD), consider participating in the VFD’s Washer Tournament also starting at 3 p.m.

Palacios’ very own La Salle Landing Re-enactment begins at 6 p.m. followed by the Lion’s Club Fireworks Show at 9:30 p.m.

ARRESTSTravis DeWayne Shockley, 23,

Port Lavaca, was arrested in the 300 block of Henderson Ave at 10:48 p.m. on June 16. Warrant Service Out of County.

INCIDENTSForgery: Officer was dis-

patched to First Financial Bank at 3:00 p.m. on June 15 in reference to a counterfeit $100 bill that was processed through 7-11.

Possession of a Controlled Substance: Officers observed a suspicious vehicle in the 500 block of Perryman Ave at 12:00 a.m. on June 15 and discovered il-legal substances inside.

Criminal Mischief: Officer was dis-patched to the 400 block of Welch Ave at 9:28 a.m. on June 15 in reference to Criminal Mischief.

Civil Matter: Officer was dispatched to the 400 block of Welch Ave at 12:00 a.m. on June 15 in reference to a Civil Matter.

Burglary of a Vehicle: Police Depart-ment received a call at 2:45 p.m. on June 17 in reference to a Burglary of a Ve-

hicle in the 600 block of 5th St.Fight in Progress: Officer responded

to a call for service at 5:49 p.m. on June 18 in reference to a fight in a driveway in the 300 block of E. Tres Palacios Ave.

Fraud: Officer was patrolling at 4:45 p.m. on June 19 when he was flagged down by a male who stated he had been the victim of a Fraud.

Theft: Officers were flagged down at 6:30 p.m. on June 21 in reference to a Theft.

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newdistributing.com PEDC (Continued From Page 1)

the website and one year of maintenance on a five year contract. It was brought up that the PEDC spent $4,000 on a jumbled attempt to get into the app market.

The directors agreed for Ferdinand to proceed with getting the prelimi-

nary contract near finalized for review at next months meeting.

Budget AdjustmentThe Board approved the

budget adjustment for the purchase of the hotel prop-erty from reserved to the budget item.

Special Meeting Fri.The PEDC board will

convene at 11 a.m. on Fri. (June 28) for a Special Called Meeting. The elec-tion of a new treasurer along with a presentation by Debra Drescher from the Texas Main St. Program.

and sharing costs, PCMC is able to “play the game” as Pascasio puts it, by reporting higher costs, and subsequently receiving a higher level of reimbursement.

Matagorda County EDC Director’s Report

Matagorda County and Palacios Eco-nomic Development Corporation Execu-tive Director Mike Ferdinand reported that the Texas legislature renewed 312 agree-ments (tax abatement) which he described as a “tool” for taxing bodies to attract new development.

Ferdinand stated that also under consid-eration for the next legislative session is 313 agreements, which allow school dis-tricts to offer tax abatements but receive reimbursement from the state for the loss of tax revenue.

Ferdinand said “This is probably one of the most competitive programs we have in competing with other states.”

Port Director’s ReportTo learn more about different tax abate-

ments and rules, Port Director Victor Mar-tinez reported attending the most recent Matagorda County Economic Develop-

ment Corporation (MCEDC) meeting.Mar-tinez also attended the County Investments Academy in San Antonio presented by the Texas Association of Counties, the Greater Houston Area Partnership Luncheon, the Quarterly PSWG meeting in Port Lavaca, and hosted several other meetings with po-tential clients. Contractor’s Port Maintenance Report

Maintenance Contractor Jose Ortiz re-ported 15 pump-outs resulting in 3,675 gallons of bilge water/oil. Ortiz also re-ported assisting with an accident at the end of 12th St. on June 8, and helping the GLO with a small oil spill caused by that accident. He also conducted weekly in-spections and performed routine and other maintenance.

Approved ItemsThe Minutes of the Previous Meeting on

May 23 were approved, along with Lease Activity since the last Regular Meeting and action to amend the FY 2019 Budget.

Next MeetingThe next meeting of the Board of Com-

missioners will be on Tuesday, July 16, at 1:00 p.m.

MCND (Continued From Page 1)

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DEADLINE 5 P.M. FRIDAYPage 4 - Palacios Beacon - Wed., June 26, 2019

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