Let Her Rain

It has been a long time since we’ve had a spring like this one.

Rain every week.

Lake Thomas even caught some water.

It doesn’t even look like West Texas, the pastures are so green. And it is the good grasses that are growing.

Normally when we have this much rain, the weeds start to crowd out the good stuff, but due to a combination of early moisture and low temperatures, the weeds are the ones getting crowded out.

Even the mosquitoes haven’t yet shown their ugly heads.

Of course, the oil field service companies have been shut down at times and the farmers are starting to holler about planting.

But in West Texas, it’s hard to complain too much if it’s raining

Snyder Needs New Housing

In the city council debate the point was brought up by Jack West that lack of good residential housing is hurting growth in Scurry County.

For example, recently I met a lady who had moved here from Levelland.

All she could find was a small apartment.

She commented that if she had known the housing situation in Snyder was so bad, she would have hesitated to move.

Jack West believes that the city should help housing developers by paving the roads and running utilities to new developments.

The would encourage new housing developments.

The general policy, not just in Snyder, is for developers to pay the cost of paving, curbing and running utilities to new housing.

The city then pays for upkeep.

The argument is that the tax payers should not have to bear this expense.

The developer should.

I had always assumed that the city paved any new roads within the city limits where houses were located

I was interested to find that developers usually bear this cost and pass it on to the house buyer.

There are instances, however, where cities bear the cost for the developer.

Who is right?

If the city is badly in need of housing, should the they pay the cost of street paving, curbing and getting utilities to a development site or is this a legitimate expense of the developer as part of the cost of building houses?

It would then be passed on to the house buyer.

In any case there is one thing that I think we can all agree.

We need new housing in Snyder.