Olney Library hosts 45th Annual Pet Show
Olney’s furry, four-legged and slithery friends were front and center last week at the Olney Community Library & Art Center’s annual Pet Show, a community favorite for 45 years running.
Family pets are often regarded as just another member of the family and so attendees loved to show off their family pets. This year OCLAC had a face painting station, a tattoo station, a pet coloring station, snow cones and plenty of sweet pets with their families. OCLAC is the place to be for the summer with many activities that are all family friendly, and endless adventures that can be found in the books on the shelves. For more information on summer activities please visit their Facebook page: Olney Community Library & Art Center.
provements within the TIRZ zone. Mr. Parker said the funds would be swept into a separate account for up to 40 years. The TIRZ’s unelected board would decide how to spend 100 percent of any additional tax revenue for the first 10 years, and would split the revenue with the City in the following decades – 75 percent for the TIRZ and 25 percent for the City in the second 10 years, a 50-50 split in the third 10 years, and 100 percent of the new revenue would return to City coffers in the fourth 10 years, Mr. Parker said.
The plan also includes attracting new businesses to town to try to increase the tax base – a sticking point with some citizens. During the meeting, former City Administrator Neal Welch asked Mr. Parker whether the OEDC planned to protect existing businesses while trying to lure competitors to town.
“No,” Mr. Parker said. “That’s capitalism.”
Mr. Welch pointed out that Air Tractor, one of the City’s largest employers, has not had to pay City taxes since they are not in the city limits, and annexing the airport “could be an incentive to leave.”
“Tower and Cemco and other industries would be right behind it,” Mr. Welch said. “I just want us to be very careful and not kill an industry driver.”
Mr. Dwyer also mentioned that Olney would be the smallest city in Texas with a TIRZ, and asked “Why isn’t this more attractive to more small towns?”
The City of Graham “pulled back from the TIRZ … so why do we need this?” Mr. Dwyer asked Mr. Parker. “Is [the tax revenue] better in the TIRZ or better in the general fund?”
“Air Tractor is an important part of the local community and should be encouraged to grow and feel valued,” Mr. Dwyer said later. “Air Tractor employees should not be made to feel nervous about their future at the Olney Municipal Airport.”
Mr. Parker said he would like to finalize the TIRZ footprint in September.
“The purpose of the exercise is to make it better,” Mr. Parker said. “It could be transformative for the town.“ Main Street “has needed a lot of help for a long time,” Mr. Parker said.
Young County tax records show that OEDC executive director Tom Parker owns nine Main Street-facing buildings between State Highway 79 and Avenue D; August Bernhardt owns four; Olney Development LLC, the OEDC and Olney Auto Supply each own three; Timothy Sweeney, the City of Olney, Hamilton Church, HDH LLC, Anwar Chagani, and Branum PLC each own two. OEDC President Johnny Moore owns one Main Street-facing building.