People, Places & Events

People, Places & Events

Lake Area
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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.

Water service restored in Kemp
Boil water notice lifted
By Pearl Cantrell
Monitor Staff Writer
KEMP–A boil water notice for those on the Kemp water system was lifted late Tuesday, after tests for harmful bacteria returned negative, following a city-wide water outage Aug. 26.
Conservation measures are still in effect, Mayor Matt Ganssle stated in an e-mailed notice around 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Brochures and details of conservation efforts were being handed out door-to-door, Ganssle stated.
Low pressure water service was restored late Friday, after the city water supply dwindled to a trickle Thursday.
School resumed Monday, after the city fire marshal ordered the school to close Friday morning.
Monday, Kemp utility supervisor Chris Burns reported there were no more water leaks and water reserves were being replaced.
However, Monday evening, Kemp sent out a notice via its cell phone messaging service warning Kemp residents living in the north and central parts of the city may experience intermittent water outages, while leaks were being repaired.
A second message shortly before midnight reported leaks repaired and service restored.
Residents are advised to continue water conservation efforts.
Burns said he and his seven-man crew worked on several major leaks last week, which caused the emptying of the city’s water supply.
“We worked on one water main break after another, all over town along the main trunk lines,” he said.
Besides the summer heat working to shift the ground containing the pipes, the pipes themselves are 50 to 60 years old, Burns explained.
“We’re going to work out a plan to get the (aging) pipes replaced through the city council,” he added.
Recently, the city used a $350,000 rural water grant to replace three miles of old pipe, he added, estimating there are 27 more miles of pipe to replace.
The city-wide water outage, left more than 700 water customers without service until late Friday.
Kemp ISD students were released at 11:15 a.m. Friday, under protest.
School board president Keith Foisey said the schools’ closing was questioned since children would be released to homes without water when the school could provide both food and water and had taken sanitation measures.
The football season opener that evening was moved to Eustace.
City fire marshal Jimmy Council said he had to close it for safety considerations.
Council told The Monitor since the city didn’t have enough water capacity for firefighting, and the school’s sprinkler system wouldn’t be enough to douse a fire at the school, he had to close it.
Some residents left town and closed down businesses.
The Kemp Fire Department was the staging area for residents to pick up bottled water Thursday, donated from Gun Barrel City and elsewhere.
Firefighters also trucked bottled water to residents who were shut in or unable to get to the fire station.

Kemp ISD’s view of water outage
By Dr. Peter Running
Special to The Monitor
KEMP–As you are all aware, we had some water issues last week. Frustrating is not the word for it.
In any event, we all do what is necessary when faced with these types of challenges.
I am very proud of the folks in Kemp ISD for mobilizing our emergency plan as quickly as they did.
Due to the efforts of Dewey Haley and his team, our students were without water for a period of only one hour. We faced some issues during that hour, but after water arrived, it was much better.
Our emergency plan was enhanced and strengthened by the generosity of several businesses from our neighboring communities. Bit City Crushed Concrete, out of Dallas, wrote us a check for $1,000 for water and supplies; Buy-Lo Auto Supply in Seven Points donated $50; Brookshire’s donated 50 cases of water; David’s Supermarket in Seven Points and Kaufman donated 72 cases of water and Lowes donated 100 cases of water. The Army Reserve from Seagoville mobilized a 400-gallon tank for drinking water and Tony (Ciardo) from the West Cedar Creek MUD filled the tank for us. This was in addition to the 200 cases of water, 100 five-gallon bottles of water and the 100 one-gallon jugs of water the District bought.
We cannot thank these business and individuals enough for their aid and generosity.
The District’s emergency plan included bottled drinking water for the students and staff, drinking water for the cafeterias and water for sanitary purposes. We had custodians stationed at the restroom doors to make sure the restrooms were as sanitary as possible. We were in contact with the Health Department and the Texas Education Agency to notify them of our plan.
The health department praised the District for its efforts, and we are working with TEA for the necessary paperwork on attendance issues.
Whenever a city has to shut down its water supply, it’s not a good thing. That is not news to anyone. But when a group of people pull together in a time of adversity in order to take care of our students, and we get to receive help from our neighbors – now that’s special!

Fair Park renamed to qualify for grants
County eyes tourism tax
By Michael V. Hannigan
Monitor Staff Reporter
ATHENS–There will be the same great shows, but the Fair Park has a new name; it is now the Henderson County Regional Fair Park.
That word “Regional” is pretty important, according to Fair Park Board chairman Robert L. Miars. He told Commissioners Aug. 24 that it is key to getting federal grant money.
“When it comes to federal funds, it really needs to be a ‘regional’ facility to qualify,” he said.
Miars told commissioners the board didn’t have any grants lined up, but needed the change to start applying for money.
In a related move, commissioners gave approval to begin the process of requesting the State Legislature to impose a 2 percent Hotel Occupancy Tax for Henderson County.
“This is the starting point of a long race,” County Judge David Holstein said, pointing out that the county attorney would have to get involved to draft the request and the Commissioners’ Court would have to approve a resolution at a later date.
Miars said the county could raise about $100,000 through the tax, which would constitute about $1 per room.
“Please note this tax would be paid by tourists who visit Henderson County and not the residents of Henderson County,” Miars wrote in his request to the county.
Although money collected through the tax would have to be allocated by Commissioners’ Court to eligible entities, Miars said he hoped the funds would be used at the Fair Park to offset budget problems.
In addition to the typically tight budgets everyone is dealing with in a down economy, Miars said the Fair Park Board is concerned about losing revenue from the City of Athens.
Miars said the city historically gives money to the Fair Park from its hotel-motel tax fund; the past two years the city has budgeted $38,000 each year.
The City of Athens has changed the way it allocates its hotel-motel tax money, however, and Miars is afraid the Fair Park will get left out.
This year, the Fair Park has requested about $25,000 from Athens, but that has not been approved.

Two great cleanups seek participants
Special to The Monitor
KAUFMAN, SEVEN POINTS–Looking for a way to enjoy the great outdoors with friends and family?
Do you want to make new friends?
Two opportunities to do both are available in September, while helping the local environment.
They are the Trinity River Trash Bash and Cedar Creek Lake Cleanup.
Volunteers are needed to help remove litter and debris at both cleanups.
These efforts improve local water quality, restore natural beauty, and reduce potential threats to human health and wildlife.
“The cleanup is a wonderful opportunity for sports teams, clubs, scouts, families, social groups, and individuals to get involved in their community and enjoy each other’s company while experiencing the great outdoors,” program coordinator Donita Everett said.
Cleanup kits containing trash bags, gloves, and safety vests will be provided at registration.
The cleanups are supported by the Texas Waterway Cleanup Program, a partnership between Keep Texas Beautiful and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The program assists community organizations, local governments, businesses, and concerned citizens across the state in participating in freshwater area cleanups and environmental education activities.
Kaufman County Trinity River Trash Bash is from 9-10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 18.
Cleanup of Farm-to-Market (FM) 3039 in Crandall; Meet at Crandall/Combine High School; local sponsors: Dairy Queen, Crandall Cotton Gin and Subway;
Door prizes awarded from 10:30-11:00 a.m., following the cleanup.
The Cedar Creek Lake Cleanup is set from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, with door prizes, free barbecue luncheon and entertainment following at Tom Finley Park from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m. Radio Disney, face painting and opportunity to donate blood are included.
Don’t have a group? Join with those cleaning up CR 4023 where it meets State Highway 274 from 9:15 to 11:30 a.m.
For more information and to sign up as a volunteer for either or both cleanups, please call Environmental Co-op at (972) 524-0007 or e-mail eco@trashbusters.org.
Environmental Co-op (Keep Kaufman County Beautiful) is an affiliate of Keep Texas Beautiful.

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