The Eldorado Success newspaper

Schleicher County Commissioners met Monday, March 14, 2011 and voted to publish a notice that they intend to borrow just over $1.5 million for the construction of a new swimming pool complex.

Financial advisor Larry Skiles of Marfa was on hand for the meeting. He outlined for the commissioners the steps that would be necessary for them to issue “Certificates of Obligation,” tax free bonds that are offered to private investors.

The Lady Eagles softball team was sporting a 3-3 record before finishing fourth two weeks ago in the West Texas Umpires Tournament. The girls notched up wins over the San Angelo Central JV, Sonora, and Junction with their lone loss coming to 3A Pecos Lady Eagles.

Eldorado claimed the number one seed in Pool B and advanced to play the Wall Lady Hawks but came up short and had to play Pecos for the third place trophy.  Pecos proved to be tough defensively and again bested Eldorado to end tournament play.

With those warm-up games behind them, the Lady Eagles opened district play on March 11th by hosting the Miles Lady Bulldogs. Eldorado cruised to an easy 10-3 victory.

Amy Alvizo was in the pitcher’s circle for Eldorado and she recorded  three put outs with the help of infielders Mary Lou Martinez, Kasey Gonzales, Nikki Herrera, Miranda Arispe, and Allyson Jarrett.

Outfielders of Meagan Reel, Marissa Gonzales, and Melissa Gonzales saw little action in the field as Alvizo allowed only four hits in the contest.

The Lady Eagles scored four runs in the first inning, another in the third, two more runs in the fourth  inning and three runs in the fifth and final inning to claim the 10-3 win.

The Lady Eagles had little time to celebrate as they had to travel to Santa Anna to take on the Lady Mountaineers in the second game of district play.

The two teams battled through two scoreless innings of play before defensive errors on the part of the Lady Eagles allowed two runs to cross in the third inning and two more in the fourth.

So it was that the Lady Eagles trailed 4-0 going into the fifth when Mikayla Ramon and Mary Lou Martinez posted the first runs for Eldorado on passed balls and make the score 4-2 Santa Anna.

The sixth inning was the difference maker for the Lady Eagles with Amy Alvizo, Kasey Gonzales, Alex Guzman, and Nikki Herrera scoring to give Eldorado a 5-4 lead.

The Lady Eagles  then took over to deny the Lady Mountaineers any chance of a comeback.

The Lady Eagles added some insurance runs as Miranda Arispe, Amy Alvizo, Alex Guzman and Mikayla Ramon all scored to give the Lady Eagles the 10-4 win.

Eldorado then hosted the TLCA Lady Eagles on Monday, March 14th, as pitcher Amy Alvizo and catcher Allyson Jarrett held the visitors scoreless through three innings of play.

By that time, Eldorado had the lead on the strength of a Kasey Gonzalez inside-the-ballpark home run in the second inning. The play jump started the Lady Eagles with Nikki Herrera, Mary Lou Martinez, Allyson Jarrett, Miranda Arispe, Amy Alvizo, Lisa Olivares, and Lauren Rubio all coming to bat in the inning.

The Lady Eagles led 11-2 when Arispe and Alvizo again crossed the plate in the fifth to give Eldorado a 13-2 win under the 10-run mercy rule.

The Lady Eagles carried a perfect 3-0 district record into Spring Break.

The Lady Eagles will next face the Eden Lady Bulldogs in Eden on Tuesday, March 22 with the first pitch slated for 5 p.m.

$17.37 million bond election set for May 14th

The Schleicher County Hospital District board of trustees met Thursday evening, March 10, 2011 and voted to call a $17.37 million bond election for May 14th.

If voters approve the measure, a new hospital, clinic and nursing home will be built.

The decision to call the election came after a series of three town hall meetings in which board members sought input from the public on how best to deal with code compliance issues in the local nursing home.
“Ultimately, the board reached the same conclusion as the majority of people who attended the town hall meetings...that it makes more sense to build a new facility than it does to pour money into the old building,” board president Randy Mankin said after the meeting.

Board members T.J. Rodriguez, Dustin Henderson, Susie Richters, George Arispe, Denise Capps and Jason Chatham joined Mankin in voting in favor of calling the election.

Chatham, Henderson and Mankin traveled to Iraan on Wednesday of last week where they toured the new hospital that  opened there in 2008.

A new hospital district was formed there after Iraan citizens decided they wanted more local control than they had as part of the Pecos County system.

Austin architect Kelly Halls designed the Iraan facility. He has consulted with local board members as they weighed their options ahead of Thursday’s vote.

Several board huddled on Thursday with financial advisor Dustin Traylor of San Antonio, as they reviewed preliminary plans for a new facility with Halls and Cisco Hobbs, a representative of Rogers-O’Brien, an Austin contractor with years of experience in health care construction.

Traylor then met with the entire board Thursday night as they met to discuss all their options for the final time before voting on the bond election.

Mankin called the meeting to order and reviewed each of the board’s four options before asking if anyone was prepared to offer a  motion to close the nursing home. When no motion was offered, he then asked if there was a motion to call a bond election related to repairing the nursing home and addressing only the minimum compliance issues necessary to keep the facility open. Again, no motion was offered.

The result was the same when Mankin asked for a motion to call a bond election to build a new nursing home wing and renovate parts of the current facility.

Finally, when asked about the fourth option, building an entirely new facility, T.J. Rodriguez offered a motion to call an election and ask voters for the permission to issue bonds not to exceed $17.37 million for the construction of a new nursing home, hospital and clinic.

Trustee Dustin Henderson seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

Hospital district officials estimate that a tax of approximately 61 cents per $100 valuation will be needed to support the operations of the district and service the debt if voters approve the bond election. That’s  a 23 cent increase over the current rate. The increase would require an additional $120 tax on a home valued at $50,000 or an additional $85 on a section (640 acres) of ranch land.

On a related note, four hospital trustees, Jason Chatham, Dustin Henderson, Randy Mankin and T.J. Rodriguez, filed for re-election to two-year terms while Denise Capps filed for an unexpired term to fill the seat formerly held by Andy Anderson. Capps was appointed by the board to fill the seat until the May 14th election.