The Bass Champs Team Championship Tournament is coming to Orange in October. The Commissioners Court approved Tuesday allocating $30,000 of Hotel Occupancy Tax funds to the Greater Orange Chamber of Commerce to help sponsor the event.
Chamber President Ida Schossow made the request for the funds with John Gothia who said the action by the Commissioners makes the tournament a done deal. Gothia stated, “We’ve been working with them for awhile and we were just waiting on it so that we could commit, we had to get the funding so that we could commit to them, but they’re as excited about coming here as we are about having them in Orange.”
Receiving the HOT funds was the final step, but Gothia added the state parks system approving the 12-inch limit for bass in the waters around Orange County earlier this year was also a huge factor. Gothia informed that there will not be a festival involved with the Bass Champs, but there will be more anglers since there are over 300 teams of two fishermen each which will practice here for three days before the two-day competition. The 12-inch limit change made it a possibility according to Gothia.
Schossow asked the county provide the HOT funds before September 30. She predicts the economic impact on the local community from this event could be larger than even the two Bass Masters tournaments because of the larger size of this group. The Bass Champs Team Championship Tournament will be held the weekend of October 8-9 in Orange.
Tax Assessor Linda Gunstream gave a report Tuesday to the Commissioners Court on last week’s sale of properties facing delinquent taxes. Gunstream indicated all 34 properties were sold not for a large amount, but they will be back on the tax rolls for 2016 and that will bring in some money for the county. Gunstream said the 34 properties received bids totaling $91,800. The county’s portion would be about $16,879.
The Court approved renewing the contract with Five Star Correctional Services for one additional year of providing food service to the inmates at the Orange County Jail. The Indigent Health Care Agreement with Family Pharmacy was also approved by the Commissioners. It will run from May of this year until September 30, 2017.
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