With six months of sales tax revenue on the books, Ennis has set records in four of them, but the impact of the May 16 tornado could put the brakes on the trend.

This year’s revenue leads City Manager Steve Howerton to one of the strongest statements on the local economy he has made since the 2008 fallout: Ennis is recovering from the nation’s worst economic hit in decades.

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City commissioners signed off Monday on  delinquent tax foreclosure sales for 10 properties left vacant as far back as 1998.

Properties on E. Freeman Street, Daffan Avenue, Pittsfield Street, N. Breckenridge Street, S. Owens Street, Quinlan Drive, E. Decatur Street, E. Latimer Street and W. Brown Street were included in the list of property sales accepted as a group by commissioners.

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Ennis enjoyed more than 20 percent more sales tax proceeds this period over the 2012 June allocation from the Texas State Comptroller’s office, setting a local record.

The city’s allocation of $356,840.55 represents growth of 20.24 percent over the prior year total of $296,760.04. It is the highest allocation for June in the city’s history, with the closest prior June being $327,161.65 in allocations in 2007.

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Ennis Daily News photo by Nick Todaro /
Ennis Avenue reopened today after nearly a month of tornado-related safety closures.

Nick Todaro, n...@ennisdailynews.com

Ennis Avenue, Dallas Street and McKinney Street reopened today to traffic a little after 10 a.m.

Driving paths are marked with cones and protective barricades remain up in areas where buildings remain in need of repair after the May 16 tornado.

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Ennis Daily News photo by Nick Todaro /
Hard wooden barriers on McKinney Street were the first to move in downtown Tuesday.

Nick Todaro, n...@ennisdailynews.com

Residents may have noticed barricades moving around downtown Tuesday and today, but City Manager Steve Howerton said it’s still too early to say the streets are ready to reopen.

McKinney Street is the first to see tornado-related street barricades moved, and the walls have been moved to flank the street along the wall of Sports Connection, which suffered significant damage from the May 16 tornado.

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Doc’s Beverage continues its rise from the wreckage of the May 16 tornado.

The store was already under construction when the storm hit, as store owner Imran Meer said they were in the process of installing a car wash.

Now, Meer hopes to have both the store and the car wash operational by Independence Day.

“We’re going to be fired up as soon as we can,” he said. “We’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re working day and night seven days a week.”

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Members of the Ennis Historical Society clapped as the planning and zoning commission unanimously denied a rezoning request to change a property within the Templeton McCanless District from single family to multi-family use Monday night.

The request, from property owner Sam Ventura, has been met with consternation by members of the society, who have lobbied along with city officials to see the historic downtown-area neighborhood preserved as single-family residences.

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The Ennis City Commission is planning $14 million in roadwork from 20140-2015, and is beginning the process of choosing which roads are in the mix.

Two separate programs will run back to back — $6 million of asphalt overlay work in 2014 and $8 million of concrete construction in 2015. The city’s existing list of roads up for improvement, it’s “Proposed 2008-2018 Street Bond Program” contains dozens of roads spanning all five of the city’s wards, and a commitment to spread work as evenly as possible across the city stands for both years of work in the planning stages.

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Residents and business owners have one more day to visit the local center for disaster loan assistance from the Small Business Administration.

The SBA’s Fort Worth office sent out notice Wednesday afternoon that it would be closing down locations in Ennis, Cleburne and Granbury on Friday.

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Today’s rain could help with a plan the city commission authorized this week to dispose of the more than 270 garbage truck loads of storm debris left over after the May 16 tornado.

Commissioners gave City Manager Steve Howerton the go-ahead to seek out a contractor that could grind down the tree waste into wood chips.