the daily news - The Galveston County Daily News

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2012
GALVESTON COUNTY, TEXAS
THE DAILY NEWS
A7
LOCAL
Waterpark seeks to take control Pills, cash missing; ex-cop charged
of island Racquet Club’s lease
By CHRIS PASCHENKO
The Daily News
Cook said the club has been for sale
since Hurricane Ike, which drove away
many island residents who had been his
regular customers.
“Since the storm, I’ve been wanting to
think about an exit strategy,” said Cook,
who added that the club’s membership
had dwindled from about 1,300 members before the storm to below 900.
“It’s going to be a bit hard not to have it
on my plate,” said Cook.
Both the health club and the water
park are on city-owned land east of
Scholes International Airport. Cook said
there are 37 years remaining on his lease.
he 26-acre Schlitterbahn Galveston
Island Waterpark opened in 2006 on
property that was once owned by Farmers Marine Copper Work. he park land
is fully developed, and parking has been
maximized, limiting the park’s ability to
grow and accept more customers, Henry wrote to the city council.
In August, Cook ofered to sell the
club’s pool to the city to use a public
swimming pool for $525,000, but that
ofer was not taken up due in part to the
pool’s distance from central Galveston
and its relatively small size.
he city council also considered outright buying the club in 2010, but thenCity Manager Steve LeBlanc rejected the
proposal because of the cost that would
be required to maintain the club.
A majority vote of council would be
required to transfer the lease from Cook
to Schlitterbahn. Barring unforeseen
problems, it should be passed easily, city
oicials said.
City manager Michael Kovacs said the
council could not vote against the proposed transfer unless it had a reasonable
objection against it.
he end of the health club would not
mean the end of racquetball on the island. he McGuire Dent Recreation
Center, which opened in 2009, has two
courts that can be used free of charge.
By JOHN WAYNE FERGUSON
The Daily News
» GALVESTON
he city council will vote on whether
to allow the Galveston Health and Racquet Club to transfer its land lease to the
owners of the Schlitterbahn Galveston
Island Waterpark, a move that would
most likely spell the end for the 38-yearold itness club.
Health club owner Tom Cook said
Monday that the club had not been sold
to Schlitterbahn Waterparks, but he
would be amenable to a sale if it could
be completed before the end of the year.
“We have agreed to assign the lease to
Schlitterbahn if they agree to purchase
the assets,” said Cook, who has owned
the health club for 38 years. Cook said if
a sale occurs, he would want it to occur
under the current tax law.
In a letter to the council, Schlitterbahn
CEO Gary Henry said if a sale was successful, Schlitterbahn would close the
club, 2318 83rd St., and repurpose the
property for “waterpark activities.” Some
of the existing land would be turned into
additional parking and buildings would
be turned into oice and storage space.
Other land would be used for new
rides, which could be built before the
2013 season.
“I think that this program would be
the high and best use of the club, bringing additional jobs, revenue and visitation to the city of Galveston,” Henry
wrote.
Cook, 73, opened the club in 1974 as
a swimming and tennis facility. He later
constructed a 12,000 square foot building to be used as a children’s itness center, but that closed in March 2012. Cook
said he has been trying to lease the space
since the business closed, and “for lease”
signs were recently spotted near that
building. But he also said a sale to the
waterpark would supersede any business there.
» NASSAU BAY
A former police sergeant was charged in
connection with improprieties in handling
evidence after cash and
prescription
medication went missing from
the Nassau Bay Police
Department’s property
room, authorities said
Monday.
Theresa
Yvonne
Relken, 41, was charged
with theft by a public servant and tampering with
evidence, according to a
statement from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
The theft complaint accused Relken of stealing
$500 from the department’s property room,
which she managed. The
tampering case also accused Relken of altering,
destroying or concealing
various pills that were
seized in an investigation
by a fellow officer, the
statement said.
In November, a district
attorney’s office intern assigned to the grand jury
division found that certain prescription drugs
weren’t sent to the Institute of Forensic Sciences
for analysis on a felony
case. The office contacted
the Nassau Bay Police
Department about the
discrepancy.
The statement claims
the pills were traced back
to Relken, and a property
room audit revealed there
were shortages in the expected inventories of prescription drugs.
Relken had not been
arrested as of late Monday afternoon. Bonds
totaled $15,000 on the
charges, a spokeswoman
for the district attorney’s
office said.
The district attorney’s
office contacted the Harris County Public De-
fender’s Office and the
Harris County Criminal
Lawyers
Association
when the investigation
began. It’s anticipated the
district attorney’s Post
Conviction Review Section would notify all defendants affected by the
investigation, which is
being conducted by prosecutor Tiffany Dupree
and investigators from
the Public Integrity Division, the statement said.
It’s unclear how many
cases might be under review.
A message seeking
comment from Nassau
Bay police Chief Joe M.
Cashiola wasn’t immediately returned.
A court date for Relken
was expected to be set
later this week. If convicted, Relken faces up to
10 years in prison on the
tampering charge and
from six months to two
years in jail on the theft
charge.
Man charged with pulling gun on salesmen
By CHRIS PASCHENKO
The Daily News
» FRIENDSWOOD
Police arrested a man
accused of pulling a gun
on a pair of magazine
salesmen, and the solicitors were charged as well,
authorities said Monday.
Bond for Ryan Lee
Upchurch, 27, of Friendswood was set at $40,000
on a felony charge of aggravated assault with a
irearm, stemming from
a 7:15 p.m. Friday incident in the 700 block
of Pine Hollow Drive,
Friendswood police said
in a statement released
Monday. Police reported
no injuries.
Police accused Upchurch of calling to request an oicer because
of solicitors.
An oicer arrived and
found a pair of salesmen, a 23-year-old from
Weatherford, Okla., and
a 20-year-old from Des
Moines, Iowa.
In a conversation with
police, the men accused
Upchurch of pulling a
gun on them. Upchurch
confronted the salesmen
who obtained money
from his mother, the
statement said.
Police said Upchurch
was upset because the
salesmen, to secure the
sale, lied to his mother
about selling magazine
subscriptions to her
neighbors.
Upchurch declined to
answer an oicer’s questions once the oicer
mentioned a gun, the
statement said.
he salesmen were
also arrested and charged
with soliciting without a
permit, which are misdemeanor ofenses.
Contact Reporter Chris
Paschenko at 409-6835241 or chris.paschenko@
galvnews.com.
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