The council unanimously approved contracts with Abatement Inc. and Honesty Environmental Services totaling $250,000 to abate the building, but per the purchase contract between the city of Big Spring and the Settles Hotel Development Company, the Dallas-based company will not yet take ownership of the building.

“After numerous months getting to this point with the Settles Hotel Development Company, we're very excited to bring these two contractors to you tonight,” said Darden. “The city staff has reviewed their credentials, checked their references for the proposed abatement, which the city is responsible for.”

The primary design consultant will be Honesty Environmental Services; the abatement contractor is Abatement Inc.

“These bids were taken through a RFQ process, which is a request for proposal,” Darden said. “You take the most qualified contractor for the project. There are numerous contractors around the state and country, and SHDC did most of the negotiations. We just basically checked their references and the projects they have done of this magnitude, and they have done several projects of this magnitude.”

According to City Attorney Linda Sjogren, the funding — which comes to $200,000 for Abatement Inc. and $50,000 for Honesty Environmental Services — will be the responsibility of SHDC and its manager, Big Spring native Brint Ryan.

“It will be approximately $250,000 put into the escrow account to pay the consultant and contractor,” said Sjogren. “If the cost is more than that, they (SHDC) will either have to put more into the account or cut the amount of abatement to be done short. This is all part of our purchase agreement (with SHDC), that we do it this way and get the environmental abatement done before we change ownership. However, they (SHDC) are paying for it.”

McEwen said the council is following SHDC's lead in the matter.

“They are going to reimburse us 100 percent,” said McEwen. “We're basically following their (SHDC) lead as to who they want to do the work and they are paying for it.”

Also during Tuesday's meeting, the city council voted unanimously to approve a suspension of a proposed rate increase from Oncor Electric Delivery.

“We have until Aug. 8 to suspend that rate increase or it will go into effect,” said Peggy Walker, city finance director. “This resolution will take care of that. We will hire a legal consultant, a legal representative to review the rate to determine if it's necessary and if it's reasonable. If it's not, we'll go forward with them through negotiations with the steering committee, which we are a member of.

“The overall increase is about $275 million. We have built into our rate case through the steering committee that all rate case related costs will be absorbed by Oncor. So all costs associated with this suspension will be reimbursed to the city,”

McEwen expressed his frustration over the proposed rate increase, claiming the majority of similar requests the city receives are over-inflated.

“It is so frustrating that we can't have people we do business with that we trust and will give us an (honest) rate increase. They ask for this much,” said McEwen, stretching his arms out wide, '”wanting this much,” he added, bringing his hands close together. “It really is frustrating.”

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it