Polk County News - Breakout

Write a comment

Members of the Polk County Garden Club visit as they man the plant sale at Miss Effie’s Cottage Friday. The Polk County Garden Club celebrated its 75th anniversary with a Downton Abbey-themed flower show that included the plant sale, refreshments and several raffles. See additional coverage on page 5A. Photo by Emily Banks Wooten

Write a comment

Del Polikretis spoke at the chamber luncheon recently. Photo by Emily Banks Wooten

By Emily Banks Wooten
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Del Polikretis, executive director of the Texas Forest Trail Region Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization supported by the state, presented a program for those attending the Livingston-Polk County Chamber of Commerce quarterly membership luncheon April 25.

The Texas Forest Trail Region is part of the Texas Heritage Trails Program, the Texas Historical Commission’s (THC) award-winning heritage tourism initiative. This economic development initiative encourages communities, heritage regions and the state to partner and promote Texas’ historic and cultural resources. These local preservation efforts, combined with statewide marketing of heritage regions as tourism destinations, increase visitation to cultural and historic sites, thus bringing more dollars to Texas communities. This, in turn, supports the THC’s mission to protect and preserve the state’s historic and prehistoric resources for the use, education, economic benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.

The Texas Heritage Trails Program is based around 10 scenic driving trails created in 1968 by Gov. John Connally and the Texas Highway Department as a marketing tool established in conjunction with HemisFair, an international exposition that commemorated the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio.

In 1997, the state legislature charged the THC with creating a statewide heritage tourism program. The THC responded with a program based on local, regional and state partnerships, centered on the 10 scenic driving trails. These trails serve as the nucleus of 10 heritage regions and include heritage tourism attractions and communities both on and off the trail.

The 10 Texas Heritage Trail Regions are: Texas Forest Trail, Texas Brazos Trail, Texas Lakes Trail, Texas Mountain Trail, Texas Forts Trail, Texas Pecos Trail, Texas Hill Country Trail, Texas Plains Trail, Texas Independence Trail and Texas Tropical Trail.

“We work with the Texas Historical Commission and work on economic development and tourism. There are 10 regions and 10 executive directors operating independently. My trail has 35 counties, and my mission is to bring tax dollars and travelers to East Texas. We support Main Streets, museums and state historical sites,” Polikretis said.

The Texas Forest Trail Region includes Angelina, Anderson, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Gregg, Franklin, Hardin, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Marion, Montgomery, Morris, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Panola, Polk, Red River, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Smith, Titus, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Walker and Wood counties.

Each heritage region works to forge local tourism partnerships and support the region’s attractions by developing a unique blend of programs and promotions.

“Our partnership program is the financial backbone of our non-profit organization.

Every dollar you contribute supports the diverse programs we provide across the region in the form of education, advertising and outreach to the traveling public,” Polikretis said, adding that the annual flat fee to become a partner is $250.

“We actively engage on all platforms of social media, posting two times a day. We bring state and national attention to historic sites, preservation initiatives and regional attractions in East Texas. On average, our media posts reach 40,000 viewers and 1,500 active users weekly and we constantly analyze trends and methods for keeping our engagement high,” Polikretis said, adding that the social media handle is etxtraveler. He recommends visiting the following websites to learn more: texasforesttrail.org, etxtraveler.com and texastimetravel.com.

So what do the Texas Heritage Trail Regions do? They list heritage sites, attractions and events on TexasTimeTravel.com. They share stories at heritage education events developed for regional partners. They network with other heritage tourism professionals in the region. They participate as a co-op partner in travel and trade shows across the state. They participate in co-op advertising in Texas-targeted travel publications.

“We have a dedicated Livingston page, blog, list of events, photos and merch. There is a Destination Day video to drive people to your cities. We promote anything you want us to,” Polikretis said, adding that the staff can assist with marketing services such as artwork, brochure development and branding. “If you need help, we’ll help you. That’s what we do.”

Polikretis said he can also provide market data, giving the demographics of people coming in, based on cell phones within a 50-mile radius. He said the data shows the majority of people coming into Livingston are coming for day trips and that 91% are coming from within Texas.

Heritage tourism can have a direct economic impact on communities. In 2021, direct travel spending in the Forest Trail Region accounted for roughly $3.7 billion of the overall $76.6 billion spent by visitors to the state. A 2015 study by the University of Texas at Austin and Rutgers University determined that more than 10.5% of all travel in Texas is heritage related.

Following declines due to the pandemic, the Texas travel industry experienced a significant rebound in 2021. Travel spending increased an estimated 35.7% compared to the prior year and all economic indicators are approaching a pre-pandemic level.

Write a comment

By Emily Banks Wooten
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Early voting began April 24 and will continue through Tuesday for the May 6 local city and school district elections. Voters in the cities of Livingston and Onalaska, and the Corrigan-Camden, Onalaska and Chester Independent School Districts will go to the polls.

The City of Livingston has three aldermen up for reelection – Clarke Evans, Elgin Davis and Dr. Ray Luna. All three incumbents filed and a fourth person, Bobby Jackson Sr., also filed. Early voting for the City of Livingston will be held at the Livingston City Hall located at 200 W. Church St. in Livingston from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

The City of Onalaska has three at-large positions on the ballot, those presently held by Zachary Davies, Shirley Gilmore and J.R. Chance. All three incumbents filed and a fourth person, Ronald Gilbert, also filed. Early voting for the City of Onalaska will be held at the Onalaska City Hall located at 372 S. FM 356 Ste. 102 in Onalaska from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

Positions 1, 2 and 3 will be on the ballot in the Corrigan-Camden Independent School District. Position 1 Incumbent Peter Burks filed for reelection and drew one challenger, Misty Woodard. Position 2 Incumbent Thomas Roberts filed for reelection and drew two challengers, Carmen Martinez and Elisha Bell. Position 3 Incumbent Lawrence Jolly Jr. filed for reelection and drew two challengers, Tracy Cobb and Krystal Currie. Early voting for Corrigan-Camden ISD will be held at the Sechrest Webster Community Building located at 101 W. Front St. in Corrigan from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

Positions 4 and 7, presently held by Johnny Byrd and Candice Davies, will be on the ballot in the Onalaska Independent School District. Although Byrd did not file for reelection, Jake Ard and Bubba Cleveland filed for Position 4. Davies filed for reelection to Position 7 and drew no challengers. Early voting for Onalaska ISD will be held at the Onalaska City Hall located at 372 S. FM 356 Ste. 102 in Onalaska from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

The Chester Independent School District is holding a bond election in which voters will vote “for” or “against” the issuance of $5,315,000 school building bonds for the construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, renovation, expansion and equipment of school buildings in the district, and levying and imposition of taxes sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds and the costs of any credit agreements.

The proposed projects to be funded by passage of the bond include: a new junior/senior high school consisting of eight to 10 classrooms plus a science lab, restrooms, teacher workroom, teacher restroom and front office; demolition of the junior high classrooms, high school building and weight r; a new entry and restrooms for the competition gym; fume ventilation for the ag shop; and cafeteria kitchen repairs. Early voting for Chester ISD will be held at Chester ISD Administration Building located at 273 Yellowjacket Dr. in Chester from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

Write a comment

From Enterprise Staff

During a special meeting of the Livingston ISD school board, Superintendent Dr. Brent Hawkins presented a report on the capital facilities plan for the district. Included in the report was the facilities’ age and life cycle.

“In the current budget we’ll roll $1.8 million into the fund balance because they are ESSER funds that were supplanted in the fund balance to be used at a later date for staff salaries,” Hawkins said. “The facility committee has reviewed our fund balance. We are a Chapter 42 district, and there is not a Chapter 42 district that has had the financial success that we have had in the last 10 years. I’m very proud of this accomplishment.”

Hawkins said the district’s current fund balance is at $28 million, compared to a $12 million balance in 2014. The Texas Education Agency recommends that three months operating expenses remain in the fund balance. He said the district has been focused, disciplined, and good stewards of the tax dollars. There are also assigned monies available for improving facilities.

“Raise Your Hand Texas is a public advocacy group set up by H.E. Butts, and they researched the 2019-2022 school years,” Hawkins said. “LISD receives a basic allotment for every student who attends the district. The state is prepared to increase the basic allotment of $100 per student. Fifty percent of the increase in basic allotment will go to employee salaries. With this increase, it would only allow about a 1% cost of living raise, which doesn’t cut it. There is a 6% increase in inflation over a two-year period in fuel, insurance, construction costs, and operating expenses — and significant, substantial increases in electricity costs. We need a $1,000 per student basic allotment to keep up with the past two years of inflation.

“Our state officials are focused on vouchers to be used in private education, instead of helping all students across the state by increasing the funding in public schools. By neglecting the impact that inflation has on our Texas school districts, they are forcing districts to cut costs. This could result in cutting programs or raising student-teacher ratios because there’s not a lot of fluff in any school budget when you’re looking at 80% staffing costs, which is found in every school district. The legislators have $30 billion that they could use to help public schools. We’ve been through tough times before in the state of Texas, and we have to balance the budget while meeting the needs of the district. I’m just not sure we have seen the state with money and allow districts to go through tough times.” 

The superintendent said he would look to the board for direction and vision on the district facilities plan.

“We have to have a vision for the next 10 to 20 years, and we need a plan. We have started a project at the high school. I’ve been asked numerous times how much it will cost to finish the project. The field at Lions Stadium is starting to need work. The facility committee asked me to have the engineers and architects review Lions Stadium. They looked at the stands, field, and the scoreboard. We don’t need to be spending money on the facility when we don’t know what the longevity is. In the master plan, we would like the completion of the high school stadium, and the current Lions Stadium could be reclaimed for safer, more efficient parent pickup for Cedar Grove students. Eventually, our district is going to grow, and this would allow expansion room.”

Hawkins said he could secure estimations on the projects. He feels parking at the high school would be the most expensive part of the project. In the facility committee, there was a discussion about using the fund balance versus a bond.

“If you’re looking to pay for this one piece at a time, it takes longer to accomplish,” Hawkins said. “If you’re looking to do it sooner, there’s no way to do it without a bond successfully passing. Sports bonds are not very high in the probability that they will pass. This is the trend across the state. You need to be able to have a committee to advocate for the bond. With our recent billion-dollar value increase in our county, it would be an uphill battle for the success of a bond, even though the football stadium was built in 1937. All school bonds payoff in 2038. I predict that the dynamics of Interstate 69 will increase the growth of this community, and the district may find that an additional school will be the district’s great need, and you will have to go out for a bond for the construction at that time.” 

Remedial action will be required on the football field before the 2023 football season begins. The board agreed to move forward in securing an architectural plan in transforming the Cochran Complex (soccer/track facility at the high school) in phases and to prepare a construction timeline to finish it out to also use as a football stadium.