Jim Pease of Bartlett Speaking Out About His Utilities Being Disconnected

Jim Pease is runing for Bartlett City Council.

Call Jim with your ideas, and concerns at 254 527 3885

From Bartlett Electric Cut Offs

From Bartlett Electric Cut Offs

From Bartlett Electric Cut Offs

Below Tribune Progess Article Feb 3, 2010--They quote the PUC, but Bartlett is not under PUC control since they are a Municipal Electric.

Bartlett Utility Customers Disconnected, PUC Policy Explained

By Debbie McKeon

The City of Bartlett mailed out 71 disconnect notices to utility customers on January 26, informing them that if their bills remained unpaid or they failed to make payment arrangements, their utilities would be disconnected as of January 29.

A total of eight disconnects took place last Friday. Most customers paid their bills, and a total of 20 customers made the necessary payment arrangements with the City of Bartlett. As of Monday at noon, seven customers still remained disconnected.

The lowest amount owed to the city was $133.50, and the most owed was $605.46.

According to Mattie Ingram, city administrator, utility payments are due on the 15th of each month, and customers have until the 25th to pay or to make needed arrangements. On the 26th, yellow tags are placed on the doorknobs of those who have not paid.

Back in 2006, the City of Bartlett voted that there would be no more arrangements accepted from customers and that all payments were due by the 25th or they would receive notices and be disconnected. But, according to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), if you are late in payment and due for disconnection, “your retail electric provider (REP) may offer you a short-term payment arrangement that allows you to pay your bill after your due date, but before your next bill is due. In addition, you may qualify for a ‘deferred payment plan.’ A deferred payment plan allows a customer to pay an outstanding bill in installments beyond the due date of the next bill. The REP may require an initial payment to initiate the agreement. Your REP must offer you a deferred payment plan unless you have received more than two termination/disconnection notices during the past 12 months or you have been their customer for less than three months and do not have sufficient credit or payment history with another REP. All REPs must offer customers deferred payment plans for bills that are due during an extreme weather emergency and to customers who have been under-billed in the amount of $50.00 or more. A deferred payment plan may include a 5% penalty for late payment.”

If you do not fulfill the terms of the payment arrangement deferred payment plan, or the level or average payment plan, your REP may disconnect your service.

If a customer contacts the REP and indicates an inability to pay, the REP must inform the customer of all applicable payment options and payment assistance programs that are offered by or available from the REP. An electric customer who receives food stamps, Medicaid, TANF or SSI from the TDHS or whose household income is not more than 125% of the federal poverty guidelines may qualify for energy assistance from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA).

The circumstances in which a REP may disconnect utilities include: failure to pay a bill owed to the REP or to make a deferred payment arrangement by the date of disconnection; failure to comply with the terms of a deferred payment arrangement or other payment agreement made with the REP; using service in a manner that interferes with the service of others or the operation of nonstandard equipment; failure to pay a deposit required by the REP; or failure of a guarantor to pay the amount guaranteed when the REP has a written agreement, signed by the guarantor, which allows for disconnection of the guarantor's service.

Prior to disconnecting your service, your REP must provide you with a written Disconnection Notice. This notice must be mailed to you separately (or hand-delivered) no earlier than the first day after the date your bill is due. The disconnection date must be 10 days from the date the notice is issued and may not fall on a holiday or weekend (or the day preceding) unless the REP's personnel are available to take payments and service can be reconnected.

Your REP may not authorize disconnection of your electric service for any of the following reasons: failure to pay for electric service by a previous occupant of the premise if that occupant is not of the same household; failure to pay any charge unrelated to electric service; failure to pay a different type or class of electric service not included on the account's bill when service was initiated; failure to pay under-billed charges that occurred for more than 6 months (except theft of service); failure to pay any disputed charges until your REP or the PUC determines the accuracy of the charges and you have been notified of this determination; or failure to pay an estimated bill unless the estimated bill is part of a pre-approved meter-reading program or in the event the LDC is unable to read the meter due to circumstances beyond its control.

If you need assistance with your bill, the City of Bartlett must provide you with a list of possible locations to assist you, including Help Center in Temple, the Caring Place in Georgetown, the WBC in Temple, or St. Paul’s Church in Temple. There may also be other assistance organizations which may be able to help you with the financial problem you are facing. If you obtain the promise of assistance from them, you may bring in a voucher and the City of Bartlett will not disconnect your services pending their receipt of the money.

Additionally, your REP may not authorize disconnection of your electric service: if the REP receives notification by the final due date stated on the disconnection notice that an energy assistance provider will be forwarding sufficient payment on your account, and you have paid or made payment arrangements to pay any outstanding debt not covered by the energy assistance provider's payment; for non-payment during an extreme weather emergency, and upon request, the REP must offer you a deferred payment plan for bills due during the emergency; or for non-payment if you inform the REP, prior to the disconnection date stated on the notice, that you or another resident on the premises has a critical medical need for electric service. However, to obtain this exemption, you must enter into a deferred payment plan with your REP and have the ill-person's attending physician contact the REP and submit a written statement attesting to the necessity of electric service to support life. This exemption from disconnection due to illness or disability shall be in effect for 63 days and may be applied for again after the 63 days has expired and the deferred payment plan has been fulfilled.

If you are notified that you are subject to disconnection of your electric service, you may seek to obtain services from another REP or the POLR (provider of last support). You have the option to request service from the POLR, which offers a standard retail service package. Information about the POLR and other REPs can be obtained from the PUC or the POLR.

Your REP may offer special services for hearing-impaired customers and programs for customers with physical disabilities. If you have a physical disability or require special assistance regarding your electric account, please contact your REP to inquire about the process to become qualified for any of these special services.

If an interruption or suspension of electric service will create a dangerous or life-threatening condition, you may qualify as a "critical care residential customer." Upon your request, your REP will provide to you a standardized Critical Care Eligibility Determination Form, which you must complete and return to your REP. The critical care request is evaluated and approved by the LDC (Local Distribution Company).

If you have questions about the legality of disconnections or any other questions considering the laws of the PUC, you may contact them at Customer Protection Division, P.O. Box 13326, Austin, TX 78711-3326; or by calling them at 512) 936-7120 or toll-free at 1-888-782-8477. You may fax them at (512) 936-7003; find them on the web at www.puc.state.tx.us; or email them at customer@puc.state.tx.us.

Debbie McKeon

Tribune-Progress 254 527 4424

My Daughter Jana Lynn Hill inPhiladelphia by the Liberty Bell

STATS ABOUT THE LIBERTY BELL

Clips of Bartlett City Council Meeting Jan 19, 2010

Clips of Bartlett Council Meeting Jan 19, 2010. Turn Up Your Volume There are Bartlett State Jail Inmates saying Bartlett Water made them sick.

BARTLETT SCHEDULES 1ST AUDIT IN YEARSfrom the Temple Daily Telegram

Link to KCEN TV Article on Bartlett Water Outage
Link to AUSTIN FOX 7 on Bartlett Water Shortage
Chad Ahlgren of TCEQ Investigates Bartlett Water Operator & Quality
CLICK HERE TO READ

Bartlett Schedules 1st Audit in Years

by Paul A. Romer

The click able links below have been added by web miss tress Lana Hill and are not part of the original Telegram article

Emails from previous Bartlett Auditor Preston Singleton

Published: January 1, 2010
BARTLETT - Nearly four years after former Bartlett mayor Bobby Hill was sentenced to 20 days in jail for improperly spending city funds, the city is still struggling to overcome financial issues.

The city has not been audited in four years because its financial records were in such disarray it would take an auditor days or weeks to gather the information necessary to conduct one, current Mayor Arthur J. White said.
DOCUMENTS THAT SHOW WE PAID CPA BARBARA SAGE $18,000 iN 2009 TO DO BARTLETT CITY BOOKS
In an open letter published in late October, White pledged to rectify the situation and have audits conducted again soon beginning with the most recent fiscal year and working backwards to other years.

Mattie Ingram, a Bartlett city official said the books are now organized enough for an audit. She said she called a firm this week to schedule one.

In addition the mayor said a tax issue with the Internal Revenue Service has been cleared up.

Ingram said that the issue dated back to 2005 when the City withheld several quarters of payroll taxes from the federal government that it had collected from employees.

Repeated queries by the IRS were ignored by the city until June when an IRS agent visited Bartlett on a "compliance check."

In July, the Bartlet City Council fired the city secretary, Diane Evans, Ingram has been working int he city since July in an interim capacity.

During Evans tenure, the city ignored IRS letters and accrued interest penalties Ingram said.

The Telegram was not able to confirm how much back taxes the city owed but the penalty amassed was about $38,000, according to a letter from the mayor.

White said that within the past two months the city paid its overdue taxes and the IRS had "forgiven" the penalties.

In his letter, White said income and expenditure information was unavailable for the city and many records are missing.

"Last year's budget was not maintained whatsoever," White wrote.

In his letter White wrote that residents have consistently told him the city secretary job was too much for one employee and that another position needed to be created.

He indicated this was something he agreed with but wrote that each time he approached Evans about the subject she "strongly rejected" it.

"Looking at the state of the files and financial records of the city (unpaid payroll taxes, undocumented financial transaction, no maintained filing system). it does not make sense to me that she would reject help," he wrote.

One resident say the city secretary position has been a revolving door over the past several years. The newest secretary is Jana Henderson, former Bell County Elections clerk. She was hired about a month ago.

In December 2005, Kathy Jones, then city secretary, and Denise Baker, city clerk, were fired by the City Council. At the time, interim mayor Tommy Hill, the brother of Bobby Hill, said that Jones was let go for lack of confidences; Baker for withholding information in connection with a credit card incident.

In January 2006, a judge ruled Hill abused his powers of office by writing personal checks for cash to the city and ordering the secretary to not deposit them until he gave word, which he never did. In addition, he used city fund to pay for his personal utility bill.

Good Christmas Story Rudolph * Gene Autry

Gene Autry singing Rudolph

This is a true story per Wikipedia.
**True Story of Rudolph & Gene Autry**

A man named Bob May, depresed and brokenhearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night.

His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing.

Bobs wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer.

Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home. Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?" Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears.

Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob.

Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember. From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in. Bob did complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed with his little girl. But it was all short-lived. Evelyn's bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the Chicago slums. Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938.

Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined a make one - a storybook! Bob had created a character in his own mind and told the animal's story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling.

Who was the character? What was the story all about? The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose.

Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day. But the story doesn't end there.

The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards went on to print,_ Rudolph the Red- Nosed Reindeer_ and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores. By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an updated version of the book.

In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights back to Bob May. The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter. But the story doesn't end there either.

Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore , it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas.."

The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing.

I will be doing a story about my Great Grandmother Ellafair Brown Crumbley Autry

"From the Mayor's Desk" as published in Tribune Progress 12/09/09

FROM THE MAYOR'S DESK

Greetings from City Hall.
Here is an update concerning the City of Bartlett operations.

Financially the City ended the month of November in pretty good shape. There was a reasonable surplus after all bills were paid, including the monthly payroll. The $28,700.00 reinvestment from the Bartlett Electric Coop was an unexpected but welcome surprise. That has been deposited to the general fund. Another welcome happening is that the penalties (approximately $38,000.00) by the IRS we anticipated due to late payments of payroll taxes in the past have been forgiven by the IRS. Credit this to the efforts of Ms. Mattie Ingram, councilmember Grove and city attorney Paige SAenz. All “overdue” taxes were paid a few months ago and the anticipated penalties were forgiven by the IRS. In face the city received a refund of $1,800.00 or so from the IRS.

The city council hired Ms. Jana Henderson to the position of “city secretary” and she took over the job Monday, Nov. 30. For the time being Ms. Ingram, former interim city secretary, will remain as an administrative assistant, assisting Henderson in getting acquainted with the job of city secretary.

Ms. Ingram and council member Grove continue to work on determining revenue and disbursements from Oct. 2008 thru Sept. 2009. I expect that to be completed the end of this week, so we may begin to make propert adjustments to the budget.

Also, we anticipate that beginning in February work on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) project will begin. This project has been in the making for several months and will involve the laying of a new eight-inch water line down Pietzsch Street from Lillian west under Hwy. 95 and under the railroad tracks to Emma Street, connecting with another new water line running south from Clark to Jackson streets. The present line, which is under the south side of Clark Street, will be capped off and bandoned in place. This will provide better water pressure to the east side of town as well as abandoning the ancient troublesome water line under Clark Street.

Additionally, a system is now in place where should you need to contact the “on duty” Bartlettpolice officer when he is not at the police department. Each officer has a city-provided cell phone and, by dialing 527-3733 or -3733, the call is automatically switched to his cell phone. Of course, if an officer is not on duty, you need to call 911 (Emergency) or 933-5412 (Bell County Dispatch) for non-emergency Bartlett police assistance.

Next, the repair and maintenance of our 400,000-gallon ground water storage tank on Jackson and Southwest Front Street. This will begin soon as a company sets up a pump and tank system which will provide water pressure throughout the city while this GWST is “off line” so repair and cleaning can be done by Utility Services Company.

That’s about all for the time being, but I’ll provide an update such as this from time to time. I expect the next regular city council meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 21 in Town Hall. I urge you to attend and see first hand the progress being made. There are not any “illegal council meetings” taking place and the city is not in dire straits as some would have you believe. Yes, talk with your elected city officials for straight answers rather than gossip and information.

Thank you for your time and support.

Arthur J. White, Mayor

Debbie McKeon

Tribune-Progress

SANTA *WALT SAVERSE* 12/19/09 RAILROAD CAFE BARTLETT TEXAS

Lanada Hill BORN 02/13/21 DIED 12/08/09

VIDEO PART ONE



Unfortunately I only took two video's of Momma just prior to her severe heart attack. I had the camera only a few days, when she fell ill on Nov.09, 2009. Sometimes you think you have forever to do things. Below is Part 1 and a group of 11 video shorts. When one ends click the arrow for the next to start.
1.Nov 06 Momma sang Mary Had a Little Lamb---pic dark--
2.Nov 07 Lanada Hill and grandson Kevin--width of pic is off
3.Nov 09 911--Mother short of breath
4.Bartlett 1st Responders come quick
5.Momma on Oxygen, she states it helps
6.Transport to Scott & White Hospital
7.Going inside Hospital
8.Met Jane Vorwerk of Taylor her brother was in ICU
9.Momma is on the 4th floor Cardiac Vasuclar. My brother William (Buzz) his wife Joyce, my daughter Jana, and Jana's daddy James Vasek are there.
10.Momma looks very tired. Dr. Stone stated she had only 12 percent of heart function left, and was terminal, and they had done all they could. Dr. Stone, and the social worker Pam declined to be on camera. Dr. Stone and I signed a DNR (I said CPR was ok but no intubation) It's called a conditional Do Not Recusitate. They released momma later that day--it was the 12 of November.
11.I visited Jane Vorwerk's brother Jim Matyastik in Surgical ICU on the 2nd floor. He expired a few days later.


PART TWO




PART THREE


Link Below is to my Mother Lanada Hill's Brief Biography.
Please Sign the Guest Book

I will be posting a lot more information and also video of my Mother and Family in the near future. Right now I am still grieving.

Make donations to the Bartlett Volunteer Fire Dept. in the name of Lanada Hill. They did a GREAT JOB.


LANADA WILLIAM CRUMBLEY HILL