Tyler County News - Breakout

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By Chris Edwards
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New Woodville High School Assistant Principal Andrew Ireland introduced himself to the Woodville ISD Board of Trustees at Monday night’s meeting. CHRIS EDWARDS | TCBWOODVILLE – In the lone action item on Monday night’s agenda, the Woodville ISD Board of Trustees voted to pull the district out of the Tyler County Special Education Cooperative.

The co-op program services all of the county’s five school districts. At the board’s regular monthly meeting in June, the trustees and administrators heard a presentation from Emily Wilson, who serves as the co-op’s director of special education.

Wilson reported that when it began in 2014, the co-op serviced 364 students, and was at 564, at the end of the last snapshot of reportage.

WISD Superintendent Lisa Meysembourg recommended to the board to sever the agreement due to the number of students being serviced from WISD. Meysembourg said at the last meeting that while other districts contribute financially, the program is housed at WISD facilities, and the district is responsible for all of the staffing. She noted that keeping some of the students staffed can be difficult, due to the varying degrees of disability the co-op services.

Meysembourg said that withdrawing from the co-op is a year-long process, and the district will have to notify Texas Education Agency, and work on the transition to implement the change, but will continue to take part in the co-op for the 2023-24 academic year.

While Meysembourg said that no one had reached out to her with questions after announcing intentions to possibly pull-out in June, Wilson said that some of the students are able to return to their home districts to get an education due to how TEA is monitoring results-based accountability.

Adjustments have been made, she said in her report, and more students are being put into general education, as a result, which has allowed them to attend their home districts.

Facilities project update given

During Monday night’s meeting, the WISD board also heard a brief update from Brayden Griffin, project manager with Gallagher Construction Management, which is overseeing the construction of the new Woodville Elementary School campus.

Griffin said that bids for the project are due by July 25, and by the second week of August, the firm would like to request a special meeting with the board.

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Woodville’s Walmart store has undergone many changes to its exterior and interior during a months-long remodel process. A re-opening ceremony is set to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, July 20, with the Tyler County Chamber of Commerce hosting a ribbon cutting for the store. CHRIS EDWARDS | TCB

By Chris Edwards
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WOODVILLE – Patrons of the Woodville Walmart store might have noticed a few changes afoot to the store’s interior and exterior throughout the past few months.

The store has undergone a complete remodel, and to celebrate its facelift, a re-opening ceremony is scheduled, beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday, July 20. The Tyler County Chamber of Commerce will be on hand to usher in the re-opening phase with a ribbon cutting.

According to Walmart team member Paula Jones, the public is invited to the event, which will feature dignitaries, as well as food and craft vendors, and even the “Weinermobile” is scheduled to make an appearance.

Representatives from Rep. Brian Babin’s Sen. John Cornyn’s offices will be on hand, Jones said.

The store, in its current location, first opened on Jan. 26, 2005, and brought in 117 new jobs to the county. Before that, Tyler County was served by a smaller Walmart store for 25 years, which opened in 1979.

In the 1990’s, the move to the “super-center,” all-in-one shopping destination for Walmart stores began to take hold, nationally, and when the lease was due on the original Walmart store,

the company decided it would be more beneficial to build a new store for the Woodville market than to renegotiate the lease and remodel the old facility.

The old Walmart building is now used as a shopping center, and once housed the now-defunct Stage as an anchor store.

In addition to groceries, a bakery and deli, as well as housewares, Woodville Walmart also has a gas station and convenience store located on its premises, which was added in 2015.

Another feature, which was added recently, is also expanding. The store’s online grocery pickup option will now feature more spots for customers, according to a representative.

The inside and out facelift for the online pickup will allow for more orders, faster dispense times and better customer service.

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WARREN – The Cade and Whittie Scholarship Committee would like to congratulate Tara Hollyfield for being the recipient of The Cade and Whittie 2022 - 2023 Academic Scholarship.

Hollyfield is graduate of Warren High School with a 4.70 GPA and a college 3.71 GPA. She was also a member of The National Honor Society during her high school career.

The Cade and Whittie Scholarship Committee stated “It was definitely a honor and pleasure to present their scholarship to an exemplary student.”

Tara will attend Lamar University in Beaumont this fall to pursue a degree in nursing.

The Cade and Whittie Scholarship Committee would like to thank Pastor Domoneck of the Warren Chapel Baptist Church and the entire congregation for giving them the opportunity to present their scholarship at their church on June 11.

Finally, The Cade and Whittie Scholarship Committee would also like to thank WHS Counselor Ms. Means for posting their scholarship on the school website.

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By Mollie LaSalle
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WOODVILLE – Woodville City Council met Monday evening and got an update on the situation at City Hall from City Administrator Mandy Risinger.

Risinger briefed council on the timeline of events that transpired the evening of June 19.

An employee had stopped by city hall (which was closed for a holiday) and they found a water heater had burst and had basically flooded the majority of the first floor. Employees were able to isolate the port area and A/R area, the rest of the first floor was flooded.

“We immediately called Servpro, and they arrived around 8:30 that night, and stayed until 1:00 a.m. the next morning trying to suck up all the water. They installed about 15-20 fans to try and dry everything out”. Risinger was told that Servpro needed and asbestos report to proceed with cleanup. Risinger and city secretary Terri Bible found the original report in a vault that said most of the asbestos had been removed. The report was presented to Servpro and they determined that the asbestos tile was left, “as long as the asbestos is contained, and not in the air, it’s not going to hurt you”, Risinger said.

In the meantime, moisture continued to rise up the sheetrock, and got up to two feet up the walls. The next plan was to cut the sheetrock to keep it from getting all the way up the wall. Another concern was the elevator, which was discovered to have six to eight inches of water in the shaft (pit). The lobby was closed to the public the next morning, and services were done through the drive-thru window. The city contacted the engineers who did the remodel (in 2001) when the city bought the building, and they referred them to the company that did the original report. The company came down from Tyler on June 26, and did an updated asbestos report, at a cost of $985; in the end, they determined it was the asbestos in the tile. It was recommended that all the tile be removed because some of it had broken loose. The city got a bid of $6K to remove all the tile and has accepted the proposal. As of July 10, the company that is going to do the work has not given the city a date or timeline for the removal.

Risinger reiterated that that “the only reason we’re removing the asbestos is the water damaged tile has got to go.”

The lobby was opened back up on July 11, and hopefully, all the issues related to the water damage will be resolved in a timely manner. The roofing company has also begun work on the new roof.

In other business, council discussed the approval to hold a joint election on Nov. 7. This item was tabled until next month, as the city has until August 21 to get this approved.

Bythewood appointed mayor pro-tem Joyce Wilson and alderman Mike Cabaniss to the 2023-24 budget committee, with council’s approval, and former mayor and Walmart team member Paula Jones spoke to council about the grand re-opening at the store scheduled for July 21, at 9 a.m. Jones mentioned that everyone is invited, and store managers have received confirmation that a representative from John Cornyn and Brian Babin’s offices would be on hand; they have a “maybe” from Rep. Trent Ashby’s office.

“There’s going to be food and craft vendors, and the Weinermobile is scheduled to appear, also”, Jones added. The ribbon cutting will be at 9:30 a.m. with the Tyler County Chamber of Commerce.

Council went into executive session at 6:30, and upon returning to open session announced that the female office employees who have been working under hazardous conditions since June 19 should receive extra compensation for working in a less than ideal environment, due to the flooding; this was quickly approved by the council, and at this point, Wilson made a motion to adjourn for the evening.