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Tri-County effort takes down drug lab
By Julie Vaughan
Monitor Staff Writer
MABANK–A multi-agency operation led investigators to a methamphetamine lab Tuesday night on Van Zandt County Road 2719 at the south end of the county near Mabank.
Sheriff’s deputies from Van Zandt County, as well as Henderson and Kaufman counties, the Mabank Police Department and the Van Zandt County District Attorney’s office, worked throughout the night and into the early morning hours Wednesday gathering evidence and taking inventory of stolen items found at the scene.
While out on a follow-up of an investigation at a residence of a known drug location near the Kaufman/Van Zandt county line Tuesday, Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office investigators learned two male subjects had fled on foot from two out-buildings that sat toward the back of the property.
Investigators went to see what was going on and noticed a smell that led them to believe that methamphetamines were being cooked, or had recently been cooked at the location.
“After being given consent by the owner of the out-building to enter, investigators located what was believed to be a methamphetamine lab,” a press release stated.
Kaufman County investigators then arrived on the scene to assist with securing the building where the lab had been discovered, and also helped identify certain items that were in the building.
Investigators contacted Van Zandt District Attorney Chris Martin, who offered his office’s assistance, and a search warrant was obtained for the main residence located on the property.
Van Zandt investigators, along with investigators from the district attorney’s office, executed the warrant.
Inside, they located multiple bags of a white powdery substance believed to be methamphetamine, ranging in weight from a little more than 28 grams to only one or two grams.
“This is the second time since the first of the year where the criminal district attorney’s office has assisted us,” VZ Sheriff R.P. “Pat” Burnett said. “That is great.”
Burnett said the suspect/suspects have been identified, and charges are pending for manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance, felon in possession of a firearm and possibly violation of parole.
As investigators were processing the scene, numerous items recovered from the scene that were believed stolen, including a laptop that was reported stolen out of the Athens Police Department, VZSO Investigator Sam Mayer said
“When you are on the fringes of counties, you get multi-county effort to stop drug traffic,” Burnett said.
“As in all drug investigations, this has been in our scope of investigations for a long time,” Burnett said. “There were a lot of agencies involved and people worked all day and up into the morning on this investigation.
“We can’t get them (drug dealers) all at once, but we will get them one at a time,” Burnett added.
Anyone with information on possible drug activity or tips on the whereabouts of drug dealers in the area are encouraged to contact the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office at (903) 567-4133 or call CrimeStoppers at (903) 567-7867.

Cedar Creek Lake Day in Austin set for Feb. 1
Special to The Monitor
MABANK–The Cedar Creek Lake Area Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring Cedar Creek Lake Day at the 82nd Texas Legislature Tuesday, Feb. 1.
A chartered bus will leave downtown Mabank at 6:30 a.m., and will travel to Austin for recognition in the House and the Senate. Participants can visit with Senators Robert Deuell and Robert Nichols, State Rep. Lance Gooden, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and representatives from TxDOT.
A $75 fee covers the cost of the entire trip, including lunch and snacks. The bus will arrive back at the lake around 7:30 p.m.
For more information or to make a reservation for this trip, call the chamber office at (903) 887-3152 or email info@cedarcreeklakechamber.com.

City requests logo painted on tower
By Pearl Cantrell
Monitor Staff Writer
TOOL-The City of Seven Points would like to see its latest version of the city logo on the water tower currently being repainted by West Cedar Creek Municipal Utility District.
Utility directors will meet 10 a.m. Monday in a special meeting to decide the matter.
At a pevious Dec. 27 meeting, Seven Points police Lt. Mike Tayem and city secretary Shirley Kirksey addressed the issue with board members during the utility’s regular monthly public meeting. No one from the city council was present. The Seven Points mayor hasn’t been calling regular council meetings, standing on the premise that a quorum of council seats have been vacated.
After a lengthy discussion, board directors asked utility general manager Tony Ciardo to find out the cost and timing of getting a change order, and relating that cost back to Tayem to see if the city was willing to pay for it.
“I don’t think the district should pick up that cost,” Ciardo said. He explained that the template has already been made and approved and that it would take a change order to do anything differently at this point.
He pointed out that the district got a really good price on the paint job and he didn’t want the change order to affect that pricing.
“At this point, I have no idea what the cost might be,” Ciardo said.
When the Seven Points request appeared on an earlier 2010 agenda, the directors had taken no action on the request.
Director Don King cautioned fellow board members that whatever they decide to print on the tower should not confuse the ownership of it in the mind of the casual reader.
“It (the request) seems a bit out of line, since we are both taxing entities,” King said, noting that minus the top and bottom line, it could be “very appropriate.”
Board president Clifton Smith tended to agree, saying, “The towers usually recognize the city it’s in. Though a logo is a little misguiding, I don’t think it’s illegal.”
Smith added, “It could wake up an old war injury of long ago between the city and the utility. It could create problems later on.”
It is the utility’s custom to include the city name in which one of their towers appears along with TX for Texas and the utility’s initials above it all. On the opposite side eyes and a smile, one of the utility’s logos usually appears. The smiley logo was developed after the last time the Seven Points tower was painted, but is to be included this time around, Ciardo said, in response to Tayem’s question about nixing the smiley logo and placing the entire city logo there.
The directors commented favorably on the look and simplicity of the new logo, but maintained that its top line could not be included on the tower.
“In an effort to rebrand itself, the mayor requests the new city logo be painted on the water tower,” Tayem said. He explained that a European design company had come up with the logo and that it came to the city as “a really great deal (cost).”
In a related discussion about the water tower, Ciardo said on closer inspection he found that all overflow pipes were held to the tower with brackets and not been welded correctly.
“It looks like the work was done by someone who was afraid of heights,” Ciardo said. “All of them had to be rewelded,” amounting to a $2,000 change order, he said. None of the welds were on the bowl itself, he clarified.
He also reported that the first painting crew sent out by the contractor had to be sent away due to a language barrier and a second crew had replaced them. That and cold weather has delayed the painting schedule somewhat. As of Dec. 28, 2010, one-third of an intermediate coat of paint had been applied, he said.
Construction of the ground storage tank at the Tolosa tank is still set to begin the first week of January, Ciardo said.
Regarding correspondence the district has received, Ciardo reported the district received an equity return from its TML (Texas Municipal League) insurance policy totaling $6,492.