People, Places & Events

Lake Area
Billboard
East Cedar Creek Freshwater Supply District meets at 12:30 p.m. the third Wednesday of each month at the ECCFSD office on Hammer Road just off Welch Lane in Gun Barrel City.
Eustace City Council meets at 7 p.m. in the Eustace City Hall the first Thursday of each month. For more information, please call 425-4702. The public is invited to attend.
Eustace Independent School District meets at 7 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at the Eustace High School Library. For more information, please call 425-7131. The public is invited to attend.
Gun Barrel City Council meets in Brawner Hall at 6 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. For more information, please call 887-1087. The public is invited to attend.
Gun Barrel City Economic Development Corporation meets at 1831 W. Main, GBC, at 6 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. For more information, please call 887-1899.
Henderson County Commissioner’s Court meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 9 a.m. in the Henderson County Courthouse in Athens. The public is invited to attend.
Henderson County Emergency Services District #4 meets at 7 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at 525 S. Tool Dr. in Tool.
Henderson County Historical Commission meets the first Wednesday of each month at 1 p.m. in the HC Historical Museum.
Kaufman County Commissioner’s Court meets the first, second, third and fourth Monday of each month at 9:45 a.m. in the Kaufman County Courthouse in Kaufman. The public is invited to attend.
Kemp City Council meets at Kemp City Hall at 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month. For more information, please call 498-3191. The public is invited to attend.
Kemp Independent School District meets the third Tuesday of each month in the Board Room in the Administration Building. For more information, please call 498-1314. The public is invited to attend.
Log Cabin City Council meets the third Thursday of the month in city hall. For more information, please call 489-2195. The public is invited to attend.
Mabank City Council meets at 7 p.m. in Mabank City Hall the first Tuesday of each month. For more information, please call 887-3241. The public is invited to attend.
Mabank Independent School District meets at 7:30 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month. For more information, please call 887-9310. The public is invited to attend.
Payne Springs City Council meets at city hall at 7:30 p.m. every third Tuesday of each month. For more information, please call 451-9229. The public is invited to attend.
Payne Springs Water Supply Corp. meets the third Tuesday of each month at 1 p.m. at the Payne Springs Community Center, located at 9690 Hwy. 198.
Seven Points City Council meets at 7 p.m. in Seven Points city hall the second Tuesday of each month. For more information, please call 432-3176. The public is invited to attend.
Tool City Council meets at 6 p.m. in the OranWhite Civic Center the third Thursday of each month. For more information, please call 432-3522. The public is invited to attend.
West Cedar Creek Municipal Utility District is held at 5 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month. For more information, please call 432-3704. The public is invited.

City wins community grant
$350,000 to help with wastewater improvements
By Pearl Cantrell
Monitor Staff Writer
MABANK–The Mabank City Council marked the awarding of a $350,000 Texas Community Development Block Grant at its regular meeting Aug. 3.
The award was part of nearly $8 million in grants awarded to 25 North Central Texas communities by the Texas Department of Rural Affairs, the largest grant program in the nation.

Monitor Photo/
Pearl Cantrell
The Mabank City Council marked the awarding of a Texas Community Development Block Grant totaling $350,000 at its regular meeting Aug. 3. The grant will help pay for needed improvements at the wastewater treatment plant.

Rural cities and counties with less than 50,000 population are eligible to apply to the agency’s grant program. The award recognizes the community’s hard work in securing a grant from the agency’s program.
“Texas CDBG is a competitive grant program, so the community is to be commended for their diligence in pursuing this grant,” TDRA’s community development director Mark Wyatt stated.
The grant will aid the city in making needed improvements at its wastewater treatment plant, to comply with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permit requirements.
In other business, council members:
• adopted an ordinance to install stop signs, effective immediately, at the intersection of W. Mt. Vernon and Fifth streets in order to slow speeding traffic, to protect public health and safety.
• adopted two resolutions at the request of the Kaufman County Single Appraisal District.
The first approves $58,000 in excess 2009 funds to be used in the district’s building project. The KCSAD intends to relocate in Kaufman Business Park, and the money will cover additional engineering costs, due to soil conditions at the construction site.
The second resolution approves the District’s purchase/conveyance of real property to construct a new office building at Kaufman Business Park, and sell its current location at market value to help offset the $1.558 million cost of the new property and building, and to borrow funds necessary to finance the construction.
Chief Appraiser Chris Peace reported that after a 2009 financial audit, about $208,000 in extra funds were uncovered. The excess was due to two open staff positions not being filled last year, along with lower expenditures in several other budgeted categories.
The KCSAD’s board designated $150,000 of the excess into the fiscal year 2011 budget, leaving $58,000 to be added to its relocation and construction project.
• took no action on a request by 505/Five S Equestrian, LLC for a wholesale water contract. The request is being revamped, due to optional considerations.
• heard police chief Kyle McAfee and former fire marshal John Holcomb served as instructors at the annual Texas A&M Fire School at College Station July 25-30.

Use native plants to add drama, not work, to your yard
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
ATHENS–Using native or well-adapted plants can bring color and life to a yard, without having to run up huge water bills.
“There are choices you can make that don’t take a lot of care,” Henderson County Master Gardener Nina Ellis told about 70 people gathering for a Master Gardeners workshop at the East Texas Arboretum in Athens Aug. 5.
Creating a dramatic landscape can be as simple as not hauling off rocks or fallen trees, because those can become the foundation of a new flowerbed, Ellis said, using photographs from her own yard as references.
“If you want a formal landscape, you can do it with native plants,” she said.
Living out in a rural area, such as the Mount Alba community south of Athens, Ellis has to contend with deer, who find some of her flowering plants delicious.
Ellis discovered deer don’t like a native plant that features bright yellow flowers, and she planted it outside her fence line.
“I found that deer won’t cross something they don’t like to get to something they do like,” she said.
Many landscapers tend to put flowerbeds and other ornamentals next to the house, but not Ellis.
“I have my beds away from the house, where I can see them,” she said. “The bigger, the better. It’s easier to take care of a big bed than it is to take care of a lot of little beds scattered around the yard.”
Ellis urged the gathering to allow flowering plants to seed.
“That way, you get genetic crossing and strength,” she said.
“I think they (seeds) are Nature’s magic,” she added. “You never know what you’re going to get.”
Ellis reminded the gathering to do their homework before getting into a landscaping project, making sure to put plants that need full sun where they will get full sun, and plants that need shade where they get shade.
Also, with most native plants, landscapers need to make sure they won’t be putting the plant where it will get supplemental water, such as storm runoff from the roof, because too much water is as bad as too little water, she pointed out.

Come Adopt Us At The Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake
The domino effect is a chain reaction that occurs when a small change causes a similar change nearby, which then will cause another similar change, and so on. My name is Domino, and I got my name not only because I’m black and white like a domino tile, but also because my outgoing, cheerful personality causes my doggie roommates to smile. This also causes our human friends to smile, which even causes the kitties in the cat room to smile. I am an 8-month-old male Pointer/Terrier mix. I love children, other dogs, and even get along great with kitties. I’ve had all my shots and am ready to be adopted. If you’d like to experience the domino effect, I am sure to put a forever smile on your face when you take me to my forever home. I currently live with a foster family, so if you would like to meet me, call my friends at the Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake at (903) 432-3422 to make an appointment. You can also email them at dogshsccl@yahoo.com.
	We have many animals at the Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake in Seven Points in dire need of a good home. Please call or stop by the Humane Society today and rescue one of these forgotten animals. The Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake is located on 10220 County Road 2403 in Seven Points. For more information, please call (903) 432-3422 after 11 a.m. We are closed on Wednesday and Sunday.
For further information visit our website at petfinder.com