Council allows Houston company to drill oil well; other Port Arthur Council notes

Published 12:17 am Wednesday, October 9, 2019

The Port Arthur City Council granted to Aspect Energy of Houston following a public hearing to drill an oil and gas well on Section 9, Texas & New Orleans Railroad Survey, Abstract No. 242, in the city.

The drilling will take place on private property, Mayor Thurman Bartie said, and is not tied to any development commissioned by the city. Two citizens during the hearing expressed concerns as to whether the project would lead to any hazards to the city and if there was potential for creating jobs.

The council approved the following resolutions Monday:

  • for the city manager to execute contracts with PC Trucking Co. of Port Arthur, CJ Express Inc. of Beaumont and Lake City Trucking of Lake Charles to haul clay to the landfill in an amount not to exceed $775,000;
  • to approve a contract with the Port Arthur Historical Society to fund the Museum of the Gulf Coast for the 2019-20 fiscal year in the amount of $246,336;
  • for the city manager to negotiate a contract with Weaver and Tidwell as an independent auditor for the city for fiscal year 2019 with the option to renew for four subsequent years;
  • to appoint Armando Ruiz, Sandy Villanueva, Karina Shields and Loan To to the Beautification Commission; and
  • to amend appendix A (zoning) in Section 7, Use of Land and Buildings, and Section 13, Mobile Home District Regulations, in the city code. The amendment provides that violation of the ordinance is punishable by a fine of no more than $2,000. It will go into effect immediately after publication in The News.

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About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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