Midland-Odessa thread

[FoUTASportscaster]

CNB combines with MCDC on southeast Midland homes
Bob Campbell<br>Staff Writer
Midland Reporter-Telegram
07/16/2006

A partnership between Midland Community Development Corp. and Community National Bank in the neighborhood where the bank got started will add 11 homes to the housing-strapped city next year.

Bank officers Ryan Lovell and Ann Forest, MCDC officials David Diaz and Victor Ochoa and others broke ground recently at Atlanta and Pennsylvania Avenues, where the bank made its second $30,000 contribution in two years to forward the project.


"We started at 601 E. Florida Ave. a little over 20 years ago and feel like we need to give back to the community around that area," said Lovell on Thursday.


Having built 39 homes and gotten 35 occupied since 2003, MCDC is finishing the first phase of its 12-home South Pueblo Project in the Mineola-Marshall Street vicinity and opening the second phase on Jefferson Street, Atlanta Street and Pennsylvania Avenue two blocks east of there in Southeast Midland.


Lovell said the bank's $60,000 will be used to buy lots and provide interim financing for the three-bedroom brick homes. "The homes will provide a new, well-constructed and safe place for families to raise their children," he said.


Ochoa said applicants must be first-time homebuyers, residents of Midland County for at least 30 days, have good work histories and meet income guidelines that, for example, limit a family of four to a maximum annual income of $44,700.


"Community National is our priority bank that people like to use," Ochoa said, adding that the new homes will bring his organization's total to 50 in the past three years and they should be ready for occupancy by the fall of 2007.


Diaz, MCDC's executive director, and Ochoa, its housing counselor and designer, may be reached at 682-2520.

[FoUTASportscaster]

Local naturalists hope to develop birder park
Colin Guy<br>Staff Writer
Midland Reporter-Telegram
07/16/2006

With few trees and little water, Midland may not seem like an ideal location for a migratory water-fowl rest stop, but numerous birds and a minority of residents know better.

At a secluded site adjacent to I-20 birds often take a break from their biennial journeys to rest and feed at a marsh-like habitat, or playa, that some local birders would like to see developed into a park everyone could enjoy.

Located a few miles west of Midkiff Road, the I-20 Wetlands has been a favorite spot for local naturalists for decades. The roughly 80-acre site is home to a stunning variety of species of birds, insects, snakes, amphibians and plants that are not typically found in the dry and rugged West Texas climate, such as ducks, ibises, Canada geese, sedge wrens and warblers.


"The main (appeal) is the incredible diversity," said Burr Williams, executive director of the Sibley Nature Center. "It's a place that's like 150 miles east of here. It's the only place in Midland County where people can walk and feel like they're in a forest."


The property is owned by the city and leased by Benchmark Energy. Both entities have allowed birders access to the site for years. However, access to non-members is restricted and requires written permission from Benchmark Energy officials.


"Everybody in my group has signed a lease with them, it's really not open to the general public at this point in time," said Donna Kelly, editor of the Midland Naturalist's monthly newsletter.


Williams said local naturalists have been maintaining a roughly 1-mile long trail through the dense vegetation off and on for almost 15 years, but some members would like to see a permanent, paved trail installed to provider easier access. Kelly said it can be pretty difficult to navigate the terrain following a heavy rainfall.


During a visit Tuesday, Williams relayed to the City Council that Midlanders Elaine Magruder and Paul Davis Jr. have indicated they are willing to privately fund a study to create a birding park.


Phase one of the plan would be the installation of a paved trail and future expansions could include the development of camouflaged blinds, either on stilts or in trees. Williams said the blinds would provide birders and wildlife photographers a place to operate where they would not be molested by the numerous fire-ant beds scattered throughout the habitat.


According to Rosemarie Stortz, a member of the Midland Naturalists, a birding park would not only be a boon for nature-lovers, it may also be an engine for tourism. Stortz said there used to be a large number of out-of-town tourists that stopped in Midland while en route to the Big Bend area in order to visit evaporative ponds on the edge of town that were once highly populated with diverse species of birds. Following changes to the city's drainage plans, the ponds dried up, the birds stopped coming and so did the tourists, Stortz said. However, developing the wetlands could bring some of them back, she said.


"There's a lot of money to be made in bird-watching and cities that develop things like the I-20 Wetlands could (bring in a lot of people)," Stortz said, noting on a recent birding expedition to the Rio Grande Valley there were birding enthusiasts from as far away as California and Pennsylvania. "It's a hobby that becomes an obsession nowadays."


While development of the wetlands area would have some benefits, Stortz said she also has some concerns about what increased traffic could do to the habitat. The Midland Naturalists has been collecting trash dumped at the site for years, and more visitors would likely result in more pollution. Stortz said trespassing paintballers have also been a nuisance in the past and Williams said opening the site to the public could potentially increase the risk of wild fires.


"There are all kinds of birds, butterflies and dragon-flies out there... our concern is if it becomes so public that all that's done away with," Stortz said. "But some of our group of people who (cut the trails) are getting older and can't do that much longer. It would be great if it were developed, as long as it didn't ruin what our group does."


Monette Burke, director of community services, said Magruder and Davis are in the process of acquiring the services of a designer from Austin who is familiar with birder parks and that the city will continue to discuss the possibility of cooperating in the venture once a more concrete proposal has been developed.


"It's something the city would like to see developed," Burke said.

[tamtagon]

Local naturalists

Colin Guy<br>Staff Writer
Midland Reporter-Telegram
07/16/2006

Like, the Reporter-Telegram didnt even mention the volleyball games, cabin rentals, after-dinner clubhouse mixers or anything like that. Maybe these are the boring naturalists.

[FoUTASportscaster]

Odessa ranks third in FutureGen site evaluations |
Midland Reporter-Telegram
07/28/2006
How they ranked

1.Jewett

2. Mattoon, Ill.

3. Odessa

4. Effingham, Ill.

5. Tuscola, Ill.

Note: Problems with the Effingham entry caused officials to select Tuscola as a finalist.


------


Source: Associated Press






By staff and wire reports

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- While the FutureGen Alliance announced four finalists in the competition for the "ultimate power plant" in no particular order this week, it had ranked each of the eight proposals deemed qualified for consideration.

Odessa ranked third, behind top-ranked Jewett and Mattoon, Ill. There was no question, according to the alliance's proposal evaluation report, that they would be among the finalists for the $1 billion prototype coal-fueled power plant that will be designed to produce virtually no air pollution.

West Texas officials who celebrated their spot on the final four earlier this week have been busy looking over the preliminary findings and are reporting no real surprises. Stephanie Sparkman, chairman of the Permian Basin FutureGen Task Force, told the Reporter-Telegram the findings, including the first rankings, help their efforts because they tell the Odessa group where its weak spots are and more importantly where everyone stands at this point.

"I don't think (the ranking) will really hold us back at all," Sparkman said. "There is a lot of ground we can make up and prove why we are the best location."

Sparkman said the preliminary results really show each location's strengths and weaknesses on paper and is basically technical data in its most basic form. She used the group's low score in the area of cooling water and distance from a source as an example. She said in the end that could be a place where the Odessa group makes up considerable ground, especially as the group plans on putting in a desalization plant, which she said would be a boon to the project and region.

"They score higher for creative research opportunities," Sparkman said. "Desalinization on a cost-efficient basis would be incredible for the region, the southwest United States and the nation."

She also said Odessa ranked No. 1 in the geologic storage criteria. Local officials have long touted the area's geology as an ideal site for longtime storage of carbon dioxide in underground formations.

"Once we can tell our story, our scores will go up dramatically," Sparkman said.

But when it came to deciding the fourth finalist, evaluators had a bit of a dilemma.

A site at Effingham, Ill., had the fourth-highest score but also had some problems, especially considering FutureGen's desire to have the plant built by 2012. The property was long and narrow, building a railroad spur to the site might be problematic and getting water would mean building a pipeline under three state roads, an interstate highway and a railroad right of way, the alliance's experts said.

"That would increase the schedule risk and complicate the whole issue," FutureGen Chief Executive Officer Mike Mudd said Wednesday. "Then the decision was 'OK, let's look at the next site."'

So even though Effingham had scored 1,007 points on the evaluation, 10 more than Tuscola, it was eliminated. Tuscola became the fourth finalist.

"We're disappointed because we put a lot of time in it," Effingham Mayor Bob Utz said. "It was just some negatives mostly based on the speed with which they could do it, that was what bumped us out. I think we could have resolved a few of those things for them."

The evaluators quickly eliminated sites in North Dakota, Ohio, West Virginia and Wyoming from consideration because they did not meet minimum criteria to qualify, FutureGen's report said. The remaining eight sites were scored based on several factors, among them availability and quality of land, geology, access to transportation and water supplies.

Marshall, Ill., another site in Ohio and one in Kentucky scored significantly lower in that process than the other five sites and were eliminated, according to the report.

Marshall's site was too close to homes and a church, and presented geological problems that drove its score down, evaluators said in the report. It ranked sixth with 47 fewer points than Tuscola.

Ranking fourth on a list of four doesn't bother Tuscola, a town of about 4,500 some 20 miles south of Champaign, says Brian Moody, director of the city's economic development efforts.

"In some ways I kind of like being the underdog," he said Wednesday. "It takes a little heat off of us. We only have room to move up."

Which is what Tuscola will try to do during the final round of evaluations before a site is chosen next year, Moody said.

"We think there's probably still a lot of room in the criteria, once everything has been evaluated a little more closely, to gain some extra points," he said. "We think the proximity of our utilities and our infrastructure is as good as anyone."
------
On the Net:

http://www.futuregenalliance.org/pub...al--evaluation --report. pdf

[FoUTASportscaster]

Amber Alert electric signs to arrive in West Texas
Stephanie Miller Staff Writer
Midland Reporter-Telegram
09/18/2006

Fort Stockton, Monahans first to receive billboards in TxDOT's Odessa district

About several months from now, motorists in Fort Stockton and Monahans may see some new additions along highways in the form of electronic signs.

The West Texas towns are scheduled to receive two dynamic message signs, or electronic billboards, each that will function as part of the Texas Amber Alert Network.

Several state entities, including the Governor's Office, the Texas Lottery Commission, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) are involved with the Texas Amber Alert Network.

The Texas Amber Alert Network is named after nine-year-old Amber Hagerman, an Arlington girl who was abducted Jan. 13, 1996 and discovered four days later, according to the Texas Lottery Commission.

Gov. Rick Perry created the Texas Amber Alert Network in Aug. 2002 to provide rapid notification of abducted child cases to the media and the public.

Texas DPS coordinates the network and is authorized to activate and deactivate the network for alerts that meet five specified criteria, according to the governor's Web site. While DPS issues the Amber Alerts, TxDOT maintains the dynamic message boards they are transmitted across, authorities said.

In addition to relaying messages for the Texas Amber Alert Network, the TxDOT electronic billboards will also inform drivers of road and weather conditions.

"The great thing abut these signs is that it gives us a great opportunity to be in closer communication with the driving public," said Glenn Larum, spokesman for TxDOT's Odessa district office.

"It's very difficult to communicate with the public on the road and this gives us an opportunity to communicate with the drivers."

The most critical weather conditions are typically in Fort Stockton and Monahans, where the TxDOT dynamic message signs will be permanently installed, Larum said.

The cost for these two locations is about $400,000, Larum said. For instance, one location will have two electronic signs, one westbound and one eastbound, which cost an estimated $200,000 and the costs are covered by the state, Larum explained.

TxDOT engineers estimate it will take about four months to get the electronic displays installed at the two locations, he said.

The Monahans and Fort Stockton locations will be the only two within the Odessa district that will have the dynamic message boards, Larum said. The Odessa district consist of Andrews, Crane, Ector, Midland, Martin, Pecos, Reeves, Ward, Loving, Upton, Winkler and Terrell counties.

Around the same four-month time frame, the El Paso district will be installing its signs under the same contract, Larum said.

Based on the circumstances, Amber Alerts can be issued on a local, regional or state-involved basis, meaning state resources, such as the Texas Lottery Commission, may be involved in getting the message out, said Tela Mange, spokeswoman for Texas DPS in Austin.

The DPS-issued Amber Alerts are transmitted via the National Weather Service, which transfers it to radio and TV outlets. DPS also notifies TxDOT, the Texas Lottery Commission puts it on their electronic billboards and other organizations may be contacted to release the information in the area, Mange said. People can even be notified about Amber Alerts on their cell phones, an option that has been available for about a year, she added.

Since Aug. 2002, there have been 23 state-involved Amber Alerts involving a total of 28 children, Mange said.

Twenty-five children have been recovered safely, one was recovered deceased and two are missing by a non-custodial parent and are believed to be in Mexico, she said.

Mange said she thinks a reason Amber Alerts are effective is because of their ability to reach the masses.

"Anything that gets more people involved and the more eyes you have out there looking for these kids, the better," she said. "Law enforcement can only do so much and it helps to have extra sets of eyes looking for these children."

[Lucidus]

A little update:

This is the old professional tower site.

[WTx]

Did anything ever develop from the sale of the buildings in Downtown Midland?

[FoUTASportscaster]

From the Midland Reporter Telegram

County approves Holiday Hill Road extension environmental impact study
Colin Guy<br>Staff Writer
Midland Reporter-Telegram
11/28/2006
Construction of an extension to Holiday Hill Road could begin as early as next fall, a representative from Parkhill, Smith & Cooper told the Commissioners' Court prior to a unanimous vote in support of the design.

Kyle Womack, a vice president at the architecture and engineering firm, told commissioners an endorsement of the plan to connect Holiday Hill Road to State Highway 349 is necessary in order for the environmental impact study to be approved by state and federal transportation officials.

"I feel like the design that's come forward really satisfies all the concerns we've heard in this process," Womack said, referring to issues raised during public meetings that extending the road will result in increased traffic and noise that potentially could lower property values.

Womack said the extension will begin north of County Road 60 and initially will feature five lanes and a total of about 120 feet of right-of-way. Once the road passes Mockingbird Lane, he said, the amount of right-of-way will increase to about 200 feet, which will provide an 80 to 90-foot buffer between the east end of the road and nearby residences. A landscaped berm should serve to help further reduce noise pollution, he said.

"We've had numerous meetings with landowners that will be involved, as well as the Green Tree neighborhood and other neighborhoods and we feel like this is an excellent compromise," Womack said, adding he believes the right-of-way needed for the project will be donated by landowners at no cost to the county.

Gary Law, the Texas Department of Transportation's director of transportation, planning and development for the Midland-Odessa area, said once the environmental study is reviewed and approved by officials, another public forum will be held next spring. Any comments or concerns made during this meeting will be sent to TxDOT officials in Austin for further review and consideration, he said, and if there are no objections raised, construction of the road extension should begin in the fall of 2007 and be completed in about a year.

Law said TxDOT should receive federal funding to pay for 80 percent of the cost of construction, up to a ceiling of $3.8 million. If the project costs more than that, he said, the city will be required to pay the remainder in full. Law said TxDOT also plans to extend Garfield Street up to SH 349 in order to provide access to the hospital and university, but this project has not been assigned funding yet and at the moment there are no plans within the next 20 years to earmark funds for it.

©MyWestTexas.com 2006

[incrediculous]

I'm impressed that you keep up with the MRT.

I can't bring myself to do it. It's a brutal (but quick) read.

[VectorWega]

I'm impressed that you keep up with the MRT.

I can't bring myself to do it. It's a brutal (but quick) read.

It's all the people in Midland have since the Dallas Morning News isn't being delivered out there right now.

[incrediculous]

Yeah, not much gets delivered out there at all. I tried to order my parents a New York Times subscription for Christmas.

Should have known that wouldn't fly.

[FoUTASportscaster]

Economic activity

Midland-Odessa economy continues to power ahead
Mella McEwen<br>Oil Editor
Midland Reporter-Telegram
12/01/2006
Midland-Odessa continued to post significant gains in economic growth in October, with the Midland-Odessa Regional Economic Index coming in 11.

6 percent above the October 2005 index.

Economic growth was led by significant expansion in consumer activity and construction, fueled by the region's oil and gas industry, which is beginning to show signs its string of growth is beginning to level off.

Karr Ingham, the Amarillo economist who prepares the Midland-Odessa Regional Economic Index for West Texas State Bank and the Reporter-Telegram and the Texas Permian Basin Petroleum Index, noted the petroleum index is showing additional small signs oilfield activity may be leveling off. He said the petroleum index, which fell from August to September, the first decline in four years, was unchanged from September to October.

Even so, he said, the general economy is indicating no slowdown at all, and "if there is a change in the offing, it is certainly not apparent yet."

Phil Davis, vice president, West Texas State Bank Midland, agreed, saying, "We continue to have an impressive economic expansion under way in our local economy with staggering numbers in growth of retail sales, automobile sales, employment and new home construction."

Ingham said as he prepared the October index, he was struck by the growth in retail sales -- up 14.3 percent from September, spending on automobiles -- up 32.1 percent, and hotel/motel tax receipts, which were up 37.3 percent.

"Look at automobile spending," he said. "When you can exhibit that type of spending across the board, not just general retail spending but moving on to bigger-ticket items like automobiles, that's just the impressive nature of the economic expansion Midland-Odessa is experiencing."

Combine that with the strength in hotel/motel tax collections, he said, which indicates new money is flowing into Midland-Odessa as well. He believes, he said, the region's economic activity, especially its oil and gas activity, is drawing business travelers to Midland-Odessa and they are spending not only at motels and hotels but in restaurants and retail shops.

Construction also performed strongly in October, with permits for new homes soaring 71.1 percent to 65 from 38 issued last October.

Housing, and providing an adequate work force, are the focus of the Midland Development Corp., said MDC Board President John James.

"What we're seeing as an economic development corporation is that construction is still brisk, hiring is still brisk," he said. "The stress on labor availability is still there. It's important to try to continue to strengthen and keep alive and vibrant the economy while focusing on work force and housing."

He cited a recent study conducted by economist Ray Perryman that said West Texas "is a regional labor marketplace. You have people from Crane or Big Spring coming to fill jobs in Midland."

The entire realm of economic development, he said, includes work force issues and housing issues. Still, the tight labor and housing availability has not hindered the MDC's efforts to recruit new businesses, he added, explaining "there are a variety of companies looking for different things in the community."

Ingham said the Midland-Odessa's general economic expansion is likely to continue for several months as the area's petroleum activity levels off.

"There is probably an end in sight, at least to numbers like these," he said. "You won't keep seeing 30 percent growth indefinitely. The fact that we have been and are still seeing numbers like that says a lot about the dollars coming into the economy."

While housing construction soared 70 percent in October, sales of existing homes remained the only negative in the index, falling 3.2 percent compared to last October. Ingham attributed that continued decline to a lack of inventory and said the accompanying rise in sales prices -- up 8.3 percent to an average $121,687 from $112,408 in October 2005 -- is a sign of both lack of supply and high demand.

Even if the oil and gas economic engine that has been powering Midland-Odessa's general economy begins to level off, Ingham said it is showing signs that it could level off at a high level of activity even if oil and natural gas prices settle below their recent record highs.

The stability from September to October in the petroleum index is, he said, "another small indicator that it is leveling off rather than setting the stage for a precipitous decline and could level off at a very high level. There's still lots of activity in the oil patch."

Ideally, said James, "we would be able to bring in employees to fill jobs and let the economic engine continue running full blast."

[Lucidus]

Did anything ever develop from the sale of the buildings in Downtown Midland?

I called the California company that bought the Vaughn. They are expecting to do some renovations come January. The other buildings were not closed on. I got a letter in the mail stating that the buyer would not close so they would be auctioned again. But the auction was cancelled. So I dunno. The First National Bank of Midland building is also being converted to condos. I am scheduled to take a tour of the building in January. I will post some pics here if you want me to.

~Lucidus

[FoUTASportscaster]

[QUOTE=LucidusThe First National Bank of Midland building is also being converted to condos.[/QUOTE]

Awesome, good news!

I am scheduled to take a tour of the building in January. I will post some pics here if you want me to.

ABSOLUTELY!

[Haretip]

Football and oil boom?! HOOOWEEE, we got us on a roll!

My Christmas present wish this year is an Odessa Permian blowout win over Southlake Carroll for the State High School Football Champeen-ship.

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