Victoria Advocate from Victoria, Texas • 1

VICTORIA ADVO GATE in 153RD YEAR NO. 63 VICTORIA, TEXAS, 77901, THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1998 40 PAGES FIFTY CENTS ain Ban draws no co mm Panel settles ffuiedlieg issue JL for city emcy "I'm pleased with it. it's equitable and we felt fairly comfortable with it." Shirley Buckert, City Council member Easley says residents aware of the danger TimDelaney The Victoria Advocate Victoria County Commissioner Rex Easley on Wednesday said the countywide burn ban, now in its sixth week, has resulted in no complaints he's aware of from county residents. He said county residents probably realize the danger to life and property of burning brush, trash or other materials during a drought and gladly refrain from the act. "They're just sittin' on it like I am," said Easley, who owns a ranch in the county's Precinct 4.

Easley said he expects weather conditions that have caused the drought to change in the next week or two. "But we'll need five or six inches of rain (to end the drought)," Easley said. He added that amount of rain probably will put the drought index back under 600, indicating a drought no longer exists, and the ban can be lifted by the commissioners court. County Fire Marshal Donnip Teague said on occasion he has advised county residents to call the various trash companies and have brush or trash hauled off if it becomes a problem. He said he doesn't know that any of the county's 20,000 rural residents are having a big problem with accumulation of trash or brush.

However, he has issued DAVID TEWES The Victoria Advocate An 11-member committee formed out of a disagreement oyer how the city and county should fund the Victoria Fire Department has worked out a settlement on that and other joint funding issues. The proposal, which the City Council and Commissioners Court are expected to adopt in the form of a contract, outlines each entity's responsibility for emergency, health department, animal control and library services. Recommendations include: The city assuming all responsibility for funding and managing the Victoria Fire Department. The county assuming all responsibility for funding and managing the Victoria City-County Health Department and Animal Control. The city and county evenly splitting the cost of running the Public Library.

The city would continue to manage the library. Council Member Shirley Buckert, who served on the committee, said the funding split equals the population split between the rural part of the county and the city. About 77 percent of the people live in Victoria and 23 percent live outside the city limits. "I'm pleased with it," Buckert said. "It's equitable and we felt fairly comfortable with it." She said about 19 other services jointly funded by the city and county, such as the office of emergency management, were also investigated by the committee.

"It just wasn't big enough for us to spend a lot of time and squabbling on." County Commissioner Jerry Nobles said he thinks the proposal will be a good one for both the city and the county. "I haven't seen anything in. writing on it. But if it's like I heard, I think it's going to work," he said. "It will benefit all the county residents to get this resolved.

We've probably gone too long with this funding thing," he said. The committee was appointed after the council and commissioners disagreed last year over how the city Fire Department, which provides rural ambulance and fire protection, should be funded. The county has paid the city $150,000 annu ally for fire protection outside of Victoria for years. It has also picked up one-third of the annual tab for operating the city's ambulance service, which amounted to $300,000 a year ago. City officials two years ago proposed raising the county's total fee from $450,000 to $650,000 and the commissioners agreed to pay it.

The city proposed last year raising the fee to $750,000. The commissioners initially refused to pay, but later agreed to come up with nearly $700,000 in hopes the issue could be resolved. The joint committee was then appointed to look into funding the Fire Department and other services shared by the city and county. The committee members included Buckert, County Judge Helen Walker, Mayor Gary Middleton, Advocate Publisher John Roberts, County Commissioner Chris Rivera, businessman John Brimberry, rancher Mary Ann Ohrt, rancher and banker Roger Welder, DuPont Plant Manager Dennis Broughton, retired plant worker Ted Dodson and businessman Chuck Simonds. gym-- vti 1 lw T.C.

BakerThe Victoria Advocate With a ban on burning In effect for Victoria County, trash Is piling up on rural properties because people can't get rid of It In the usual manner. County commissioners said they would lift the ban If the drought Index dropped below 600. See BAN, Pagel2A Texas groups seek help with railroad Michigan firm to purchase KAVU Their plan is designed to lessen the grip the nation's largest railroad has on the Houston area. ANDREA JARES The Victoria Advocate Victoria television station KAVU could be sold in the next three months if the Federal Communications Commission approves its. sale to a Detroit-based broadcasting company.

Saga Communications Inc. entered into an agreement Tuesday to buy KAVU, Channel 25, said Sam Bush, chief financial officer for Saga, based near Detroit. Russell Withers, CEO of Withers Broadcasting said a costly FCC regulation to convert television stations to high-definition television by 2002 is his reason for selling the station he has owned 8 years. "It's the only reason," Withers said. He said it would cost between $10 million and $12 million to convert Channels 25 and 19 to high definition TV Saga, a larger, publicly-traded company, has more means to gain capital to make the conversion, Withers said.

Saga owns 37 radio stations and KOAM- TV in Joplin, Mo. The company is publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange under the letters SGA. "We hope to bring in our expertise to add to the station," Sam Bush said. "The television station is already a class operation. If it weren't, we wouldn't have bought it." The sale hinges on approval by the FCC, the government regulatory arm that regulates the broadcast and telecommunications industries.

Saga lawyers filed papers with the FCC Wednesday. "It takes 90 days for approval from the FCC," Bush said. "Then we can close." If the FCC approves the sale, Bush said his company has few plans to change the current for- See KAVU, Page 12A WASHINGTON (AP) Federal regulators should act to minimize Union Pacific Railroad's near-monopoly in the Houston and Gulf Coast region, a coalition of Texas elected shippers' trade associations and railroads said Wednesday in a detailed filing with the government The Surface Transportation Board, which regulates the railroad industry, had set Wednesday as the deadline for parties to submit proposed remedies for the year-old Union Pacific service problems that have disrupted rail traffic throughout the western United States. Some of Union Pacific's most vocal critics the Texas Railroad Commission, Chemical Manufacturers Association, Society of the Plastics Industry and Texas Council joined by the Texas Mexican Railway Co. and Kansas City Southern Railway Co.

teamed to draft a coalition plan. Their plan is designed to lessen the grip the nation's largest railroad has on the Houston area, where congestion began last summer and then rippled throughout Union Pacific's network. Roughly 85 percent of the rail assets in the Houston area are held by Union Pacific. 'Officials at the railroad, which is a division, of Dallas-based Union Pacific maintain the worst of the congestion troubles are behind them. Lawyers were sifting through the filings Wednesday, said Union Pacific spokesman Jim Hildreth.

"We'll have comment at the appropriate time," Hildreth said. In past comments, however, railroad officials have vehemently opposed any remedies that would force divestiture of assets, calling the proposals anti-competitive. The coalition wants federal regulators to: Set up a neutral entity to handle switching and dispatching duties for all railroads operating in the Houston-Gulf Coast region rather than having Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe handling See RAILROAD, Page 12A T.C. BakerTh Victoria Advocate A Detroit-based broadcasting company has entered Into an agreement to buy Victoria television station KAVU. If approved, few changes are expected In personnel.

90s Council delays thoroughfare vote VH 70s completi Swtii wM IMS vk towcart 12 Today- Chuckle Junk collectors are happiest when they're down in the recycled paper v. Good morning. It's Thursday, July 9, the 190th day of 1998. There are 175 days left in the year. On this date in 1896, William Bryan Jennings caused a sensation at the Democratic national convention in Chicago with his "cross of gold" speech.

Swearingen said the council needs to look deeper into proposals in the plan, such as extending Guy Grant Road through a floodplain. He also said it would probably benefit the city to wait until other master plans, such as a drainage plan now under way, are completed. Swearingen said that would allow the city to fit all the pieces together. In other business, Council Member Wayne Watkins said the city needs to take another look its midnight basketball program for teens. He said the games are being con ducted Monday, Tuesday aqd( Wednesday nights near the" See COUNCIL, Page 12a' EDITOR'S NOTE: Computer problems caused part of this story and the accompanying map to be garbled in Wednesday's edition of The Advocate.

The pertinent information is being rerun here. DAVID TEWES The Victoria Advocate At the urging of real estate and building interests, the Victoria City Council postponed a vote to adopt a thoroughfare master plan Tuesday. "I'm not attacking it I think it's a good document," said Lee Swearingen of The Ron Brown Co. "But I think it needs some more study. You need to slow down," he said.

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