The Eagle has landed

Local Howe Eagle Scout Cody Hartleben decided in seventh grade while traveling to out-of-town football games and seeing other city's welcoming signs that he wanted Howe to have a sign of their own in a prominent location

"Every time I went to another town, no matter how small they were, they had a giant saying telling you where you were " said Hartleben "One night in Farmersville, I looked over at my mom and told her what I wanted to do for my Eagle Scout project I wanted to build a sign for our city" continued on page 11

Camp had 167 young athletes

Jan Jernberg, one of the winningest coaches in the country collects many local coaches and places them together to help facilitate the week of hoops Lady Bulldog Head Coach Derek Lands and former longtime Bulldogs Head Coach Tim Rose helped from Howe Several recent graduates of HHS, Nick Wilson, Holly Hawkins and Levi Mrozinski served as assistant coaches as well photos on page 5

The economic development department of the City of Howe held a meeting on Thursday evening to form the Howe Development Foundation (HDF) The HDF is a 501(c)(6) corporation that will work to supplement the sales tax revenue that the Howe Community Facilities Development Corporation (otherwise knows as the 4B) receives. The plan for the HDF is to be the operator of the former First Christian Church when it becomes a revenue producing wedding and event venue Two members of the "Save the Church" committee have been placed with voting power with the newly formed HDF

The board consists of a variety of directors and officers Seven Ex-Officio officers serve the board which includes Howe Post Master LeAndra Beckemeyer, Howe Chamber of Commerce President Robert Cannaday, Howe City Administrator

Joe Shephard, Howe Mayor

Jeff Stanley, Howe ISD Superintendent Kevin Wilson, Howe 4B Board Member Joy Stevens, and Howe 4B Board Member Laura Duree

Lone Star Hoops Camp has Howe Development Foundation adopts bylaws; officers placed Kids across Texoma have come to circle a week in July nearly just as important as Christmas itself It's the annual Lone Star Hoops Camp and 167 young athletes participated in this year's camp The Howe Enterprise was there all week and photos of each day can be found at howeenterprise com

Of the six-member Directors with voting power on the board, Jack on page 2

Hdf

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Leavenworth was voted Chairman of the Board, Jean Norman was voted as vice chair and Anna Anderson was voted as secretary Tom Defrange was voted as treasurer The two other voting directors are Georgia Caraway and Sheryl Bentley.

The president of the HDF is Monte Walker who serves as president of the Howe Development Alliance Walker says those two positions are linked together due to commonality in roles.

The newly formed foundation is modeled after the Denison Development Foundation (DDF) which holds property and works seamlessly to supplement the Denison Development Alliance (DDA) Walker, who gives a lot of credit to DDA and DDF President Tony Kaai for sharing information to help get this organization started

"We want to piggy-back off of what Denison has done with their foundation, because I think it will be good for us and our ability to help leverage jobs to our city" Walker told the board "The longterm goal for the foundation is to own property and use that to entice manufacturing or other large jobcreating companies to Howe."

In the by-laws, the purpose of the foundation states that it is to position Howe as a competitive location for business and industry by providing land, buildings, incentives, and financial support needed to attract and retain them

Walker said that the HDF has a unique opportunity to create a lease from the City of Howe for the use of the former First Christian Church building The building would create a reveue stream for the HDF when used as a wedding venue and event center Thanks to Jean Norman and her work with the Save the Church committee that raised over $25,000, the group is in the process of renovating the 122-year-old structure Norman, who serves as president of the Save the Church committee will remain so throughout the renovation process, which may involve another fundraiser.

"It was crucial for Jean Norman and Georgia Caraway to have voting power on this board due to their extensive efforts in securing the long-term future of the old church " Walker said "We made sure that the Save the Church committee was highly represented because initially, their efforts will be a great revenue stream for the foundation "

Leavenworth and Norman's role on the board will expire in 2020 while Anderson and Beckemeyer's term will end in 2021 Defrange and Bentley will serve their roles until 2022

The Ex-Officio (non-voting) officers and president do not have term limits Walker stated to the board that whoever is the paid EDC Director for the city should also serve as the unpaid president for the foundation

"Having the quality of leadership in the room such as Kevin Wilson, Joe Shephard and Mayor Stanley severely increases ability for strategic planning and sustainable decision-making " Walker said hotel was made by current property owner, Attorney Phillip Shaffer of Denison

On Friday, The Howe Enterprise spoke with Patel about the hotel and his background in the industry He is a hotel builder and then flips the properties once completed Patel said that his nearest hotel to Howe that he built is what is now the American Best Value Inn in McKinney Other sites are the Quality One Motel, Weatherford Heritage Inn Motel and American Best Value Inn Motel all in Weatherford

There are differences between a hotel and a motel A hotel provides paid lodging to tourists and may also provide a number of other services or amenities, such as a restaurant, swimming pool, and or spa Many hotels are also arranged to hold conferences and meetings, thus making them useful locations for business meetups A rating system of one to five stars exists as a means to compare the quality of hotels and their amenities.

On the flip side, a motel is an establishment that provides shortterm and long-term lodging usually located with good access to the national road network but with less guest comforts They are often less expensive than hotels due to lack of amenities, basic rooms, locations, etc The McKinney location has no restaurant, swimming pool, or conferencing rooms making it more comparable to a standard motel

Checking the Priceline's reviews of the American Best Value Inn of McKinney, the motel was rated a 2 5 out of 10 and ranked 13 of 13 in hotels in McKinney Expedia reviews of the McKinney location found it to be rated a three out of five on the ratings scale.

The other locations in Weatherford had nice reviews, but the American Best Value Inn in Weatherford scored similarly to the McKinney location

When the Howe Enterprise asked continued on page 4 request next to my home for a hotel I have denied the request because the property in which they wish to place this hotel on is not large enough for the kind of hotel that would be envied by the community The property is only large enough for a small complex which would, in my estimation, fit more along the standards of a motel The property does not have ample parking and space for amenities such as a pool or business conferencing

Due to the word 'hotel' people might get the inclination that Howe is getting an Embassy Suites or a Holiday Inn But anything of that quality just doesnt' fit the property What I think is being presented to Howe officials is a cheap motel that will only invite drugs and that certainly is NOT the growth that Howe needs continued from page 1

We call this town our home Our family has called Howe home long before this or the last century began I don't want to see this community become the economic armpit of the Highway 75 corridor

I'm urging anyone that has an opinion of this situation to please make your voice heard at tonight's planning and zoning meeting and then tomorrow's city council meeting The meetings will be at the police station P&Z meets at 7 pm tonight and the council meets at 6 pm tomorrow night

This is an urgent matter and we as a community have to rally together to tell the city leaders that we don't want what comes with cheap motels in our city We want to shape our growth into something to be proud of

P&Z

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Patel what brand of motel he would have in Howe, he said that it was based upon the city requirements - meaning if the city's requirements are set to where he could build the cheapest motel - that would be the preferred measure

The P&Z will also hear a request for a Special Use Permit at 309 E Young St for the use of an InHome Child Care The request was made by Neilson Jones, the property owner

The P&Z is a public meeting in which citizens can make statements regarding the proposals to the City of Howe

Should the proposals grant approval by the P&Z, the next step in the process would to be to put the requests in front of the city council on Tuesday (tomorrow) night at 6 pm at 700 W Haning St in Howe The city council meeting is also open to the public The council meets each third Tuesday of the month.