PECOS ENTERPRISE

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Tuesday, November 19, 1996

Dutchover OKs drug plea deal in Odessa court

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By MARI MALDONADO

Staff Writer


PECOS, November 19, 1996 - A Balmorhea man is looking at six years in a
state penitentiary after pleading guilty today to drug related charges,
stemming from an incident which took place just under a year ago.

Daniel Salcido Dutchover, 47, accompanied by his lawyer, Pecos attorney
Roddy Harrison, plead guilty before 70th District Judge Jay Gibson to
delivery of cocaine charge, 1st Degree Felony, this morning in an Ector
County courtroom in Odessa.

The range of punishment is anywhere from five to 99 years, said Bobby
Bland of the Ector County District Attorney's Office, who is assigned to
the Permian Basin Drug Task Force.

The agreement, he added, involved a possible six year sentence. The
sentencing date was scheduled for Dec. 2, said PBDTF Commander Tom
Finley.

The plea came after an Ector County jury deadlocked on a 6-6 vote
following Dutchover's Aug. 29 trial for the same charge in 70th District
Court.

The two court proceedings are a result of a raid of Dutchover's
residence which occurred on Nov. 21, 1995. It followed a two-month
undercover operation by the Task Force.

The effort resulted in the arrest of 17 people within a one-month
period and the confiscation of over $120,000 in drugs. Vehicles, weapons
and drugs worth an addition $60,000 were taken from Dutchover's home,
located at Route 1, Box 2B, in Balmorhea.

The Task Force had an undercover agent befriend Dutchover. Agent Tony
Garcia testified on Dec. 3, 1995, that Dutchover sold him cocaine and
marijuana on eight separate occasions. The testimony came in a Ward
County courtroom during a habeas corpus hearing to lower Dutchover's
bond.

Dutchover is currently serving a 10-year deferred adjudication sentence
for Reeves County drug delivery charges.

New firm gets New York sludge pact,

eyes new dump site near Sierra Blanca

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SIERRA BLANCA (AP) - Within two years, the town of Sierra Blanca could
find itself in a true wasteland.

Already home for the state's largest sewage sludge disposal project, the
rural community 90 miles southeast of El Paso may soon also be playing
host to a second such site and a dump for Texas' low-level radioactive
waste.

Provided Texas approves, New York City has said it plans to continue
sending its sewage sludge to Sierra Blanca for another 15 years. Texas
environmental officials are also considering a license for the proposed
nuclear dump.

``Our greatest fears are coming true,'' said local merchant Bill
Addington, who has opposed all dumping. ``West Texas already is being
dumped on by several entities and will continue to be until the people
and politicians say no.''

New York began shipping its sludge to a 128,000-acre Sierra Blanca ranch
in July, 1992 under a six-year, $1.2 billion contract with MERCO Joint
Venture, an Oklahoma-based disposal company. The move was made after
federal courts banned further dumping of sludge in the Atlantic Oecan.

The contract called for MERCO to spread 100 tons of sludge on the ranch
each day. Sludge is a soil-like byproduct of wastewater treatment that
can be used as fertilizer.

New York was supposed to build pelletizing plants to further treat the
waste for homegrown use at New York parks by 1998.

But only one of the seven plans that were part of the $1 billion program
was ever completed, and New York sought new bids this fall to continue
disposing of its sludge out of state.

New Jersey-based Environmental Protection and Improvement Co., or EPIC,
outbid MERCO, but still plans to use Sierra Blanca for disposal,
according to

Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Cable firm's sudden move miffs Flores

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By MARI MALDONADO

Staff Writer


PECOS, November 19, 1996 - Pecos cable customers have a new location to
make the monthly payments, but the owner of the business which has
served as the local payment office for the past three years is not happy
with the way the changeover was made.

Within a twenty-minute period this morning, three Classic Cable
customers were turned away at the former cable payment center, Four
Seasons Flower Shop on South Eddy Street.

With a concerned frown, owner Virginia Flores kindly told the three
customers that she was not sure, but payments were probably now being
taken at the new Classic Cable office at 122 S. Oak St.

Flores said, "I am deeply grateful...I would like to thank the people
for supporting the payment center for three years."

"I was glad to have served them (cable customers) for three years," she
added.

The flower shop outlet originally took on the payment center for United
Video Cablevision in 1993, when a consolidation process cloed the Pecos,
Crane, and Kermit offices, leaving just one area office in Monahans.

Classic Cable agreed to buy UVC's area systems in January, 1995, and
officially took over almost four months ago. Company officals told Pecos
City Council members in May of 1995 they would eventually reopen a local
office, though the plans were not finalized until recently.

However, Flores contended, "I and my staff wish we had had more notice,"
in order to inform customers of the change.

She added that the only form of notice given to her was a Classic Cable
technician picked up the accounts and, computer reports Monday morning
and word from local people about the open house, which was held Monday
at the new office.

"It was beyond my control," contended Flores, "that they (customers)
were not notified."

"The customers," added the flower shop owner, "deserve to be told,
because they are the supporters of the this town."

Flores, who knows a good number the CC customers by name, said she hopes
that CC representatives, "take care of their customers," in the future.

City manager disputes quote on spot zoning

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By PEGGY McCRACKEN

Staff Writer


PEOCS, November 19, 1996 - Pecos City Manager Harry Nagel said he was
misquoted in a story in Monday's Enterprise concerning a question of
spot zoning in the Parker Heights Addition.

La Tienda Thriftway and Harris Properties have applied for a change in
zone from C-1 to C-2 on several lots in the addition.

Dr. Norman Harris, who owns all the affected property except La Tienda,
previously sought the zone change, but withdrew his application due to
opposition to beer and wine sales at the former Furr's Supermarket,
which was bought out by La Tienda last November.

A group which went to court to block Furr's efforts to sell beer have
said they will also protest the new move, to be heard by the city's
Zoning and Planning commission next Tuesday, Nov. 26, at 6 p.m. at City
Hall.

La Tienda is located on the north end of the shopping center known as
Parker Heights, in the 800-1000 block of Eddy street. Harris Properties
owns lots on the south end of the addition. The C.R. Anthony store is
between the two.

City building inspector Jack Brookshire said Monday that type of zone
change may be considered "spot zoning."

"No they can't spot zone," Nagel said in answer to a question about the
matter. "I think they would have to re-zone the whole block."

Brookshire provided the Enterprise with "Guide to Urban Planning in
Texas Communities," which he received at a short course provided by
Texas A&M University.

In a discussion of spot zoning, architect David L. Pugh said that spot
zoning has been defined as "...awarding a use classification to an
isolated parcel of land which is detrimental or incompatible with the
uses of the surrounding area, particularly when such an act favors a
particular owner."

Most cases of spot zoning are simply improper and illegal, said Pugh,
associate professor or urban and regional planning in the College of
Architecture at Texas A&M University.

"Spot zoning is held in general disrepute by courts of law," Pugh said.

Four general tests have been used by courts to determine whether or not
a given case constitutes spot zoning, Pugh said.

1. Is the rezoning in accordance with a comprehensive city plan?
2. Is the rezoning inharmonious with the surrounding land uses?
3. What is the size of the land parcel that has been rezoned?
4. Intent: Is the rezoning based simply on bias or favoritism?

Pugh recommends that zoning commissioners and city councils observe the
following to avoid problems associated with spot zoning:

1. Make sure that the rezoning amendment is in accordance with either
the future land use map or the future land use policies section of your
comprehensive city plan.

2. Unless specified in your comprehensive plan, do not rezone tracts to
land use classifications that are totally out of context with the
surrounding area. (Example: rezoning a corner lot in a residential area
to general commercial use.)

3. If the individual land use parcel involved is large in size, there is
less likelihood that a court will find that spot zoning has occurred.

4. Do not grant special consideration to individuals based upon their
personal circumstances. Instead, consider only the proposed rezoning and
its probable impact on the surrounding area.

Pugh said that zoning decisions can be attacked in court, but that the
burden of proof rests with the person attacking the zoning decision.

"It is a heavy burden and is not easily overcome," he said.

OBITUARY

Donnie Saunders

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Donnie Saunders, 49, died Monday, Nov. 18 in Brownwood.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at Heartland Funeral Home
in Brownwood.

He was born Jan. 7, 1947, raised in Brownwood, lived in Pecos for 15
years until Aug. 1994, when he and his family moved to Brownwood. He was
a veteran of the Navy, a member of the Church of Christ and a dispatcher
for Merchants Fast Freight Mother Lines.
Survivors include his wife, Gale Saunders of Brownwood; one son, Kodi
Saunders of Fort Worth; three daughters, Kim Chaney, Kari Fraser and
Sasha Saunders of Brownwood; three brothers, Guy Saunders of Midland;
A.V. Saunders of Wichita Falls; Al Saunders of Brownwood; two sisters,
Wanda Philips of Fort Worth and Merle Knowlton of Indianapolis, In.

WEATHER

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PECOS, November 19, 1996 - High Monday 83, low last night 43. Tonight,
clear. Low 45 50. West to southwest wind 5-10 mph. Wednesday, sunny.
High in the lower 80s. West to southwest wind 10-15 mph.
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Copyright 1996 by Pecos Enterprise
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
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