By Jerry Morgan, Reporter

COMANCHE - The Commissioners Court met in a marathon regular session on Tuesday, May 29, with all members present to consider matters related to the county road designation controversy, the county burn ban and items related to emergency responders and management.

Judge James Arthur presided and Commissioners Garry Steele-Precinct 1, Kenneth Feist-Precinct 2, Bobby Schuman-Precinct 3 and Jimmy Dale Johnson-Precinct 4 were present, along with County Clerk Ruby Lesley, County Auditor Joey Boswell, County Treasurer Billy Ruth Rust, Sheriff Jeff Lambert and Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Helberg.

Ruby Lesley read the minutes of the preceding regular meeting and two special called meetings, both of which dealt with matters related to the recent local elections. Lesley reported that one provisional vote had been validated which narrowed the margin in the Comanche local option election from passing by six votes to only a five vote margin.

Wild Dogs

Sam Barron had requested to be on the agenda to discuss dogs in unincorporated areas of the county, however, he was not present at the meeting.

Garry Steele noted that he had received several calls on the subject of a leash law for dogs, all of which were opposed to any additional ordinance restrictions on dogs running loose.

The Commissioners discussed the current legal status of dogs running loose. Bobby Schuman argued that people need protection against pit bull dogs running loose.

Garry Steele noted that he had problems with passing a leash ordinance and added his opinion that if it were to be done, it should be supported by a public referendum vote.

At Jimmy Dale Johnson's request, Sheriff Lambert reviewed the current legal status of loose dogs that are causing problems.

Lambert said that strays could be taken to the Comanche City Pound for a $2.50 fee for residents living outside of Comanche. He said that the City of Comanche's animal control officer, Bobby Daniels, had a contract with the County for after hours work in catching wild and vicious dogs.

Ray Helberg noted that he lived in an area near Promontory Park where people tend to drop off unwanted dogs. He recited recent problems his wife had experienced while walking their dog on a leash.

Audience member Roy Newsom described problems in his neighborhood with roaming "mountain curs" chasing deer and other undesirable behavior.

Sheriff Lambert noted that there is existing state law that allows people to shoot wild dogs to protect themselves or livestock from attacks in progress. He also noted that additional legislation had been approved by the Legislature and was not certain if it had been signed by the Governor.

Garry Steele asked the Sheriff to keep the Commissioners informed. No further action was taken.

Complaint on County Road 394

The next order of business involved Roy Newsom discussing road conditions on CR 394 in Precinct 3 near Hamilton County.

Newsom stated that roads in adjacent counties seemed to be much better maintained than those in Comanche County. He suggested that some type of committee or fact-finding group be formed to seek solutions to the situation including sources of materials and funding for road work.

Newsom said he had a "cow pasture" quality road leading to his house. He noted that it had only been graded one time this year, and that it had grass growing in the median. He said that Hamilton schools frequently called asking him to deliver children to Highway 36 because their buses were unable to negotiate the road. He added that in some areas the road is the waterway and in others it becomes a lake.

Bobby Schuman, Precinct 3 Commissioner, responded that the road leading to Newsom's house was in a river bottom and was fenced right next to the roadway, which left no room to pull a ditch on the road.

Schuman added that caliche would not stay in a river bottom. Schuman cited the problems and efforts that his crew had experienced on CR 394 including dead trees falling into the roadway. The close fencing did not allow for any widening of the roadway to allow two vehicles to easily pass.

Newsom disputed some of Schuman's contentions, but added that he was not there to argue, or even to seek a response, but only to point out a problem common in Comanche County and to seek a means of arriving at a solution.

Schuman asked Newsom if he wanted caliche put all along the creek bottom.

Newsom responded that given a maintainer to work with, he could create ditches and make a crown on the road that would shed water. He added that the problem has been ignored for many years and that now it was of such a magnitude that current day fuel, labor and materials costs made it impractical to easily fix things properly.

Newsom estimated that it would take as long as ten years to fix the problem. He again stated that Hamilton County seems to be doing a good job just across the county line.

Jimmy Dale Johnson referred to a magazine article showing that neighboring counties took in more property tax revenues than did Comanche County.

Newsom suggested a long term plan for improving county roads through improved funding for equipment and materials be worked on.

Garry Steele agreed with his suggestion, saying that it was a big problem to solve, "But that's why we're paid the big bucks!"

Jimmy Dale Johnson added his agreement with the notion of a citizens study group.

No formal action was taken.

Pettit Road Controversy Decided

After a meeting break, Bob Bass, an attorney with the Austin law firm of Allison, Bass & Associates was given the floor to discuss legal aspects of the controversy over Pettit Road in Precinct 3, where the road was included in the official map of county roads but not on the official notice of county road designation.

Bass opened his presentation with an projection of information on the road as contained in the MapInfo computer program. He displayed county road mapping information as supplied by the Texas Department of Transportation, which included Pettit Road as a county road.

Bass noted that during his firm's preparation of the official county road map book, the fact that the road in question was unnamed was overlooked. He included himself as being at fault in the oversight, but also noted that the Commissioners who reviewed the county map book draft also did not notice the missing name.

Being unnamed in the mapping program, it was left off of the official listing of county maintained roads, even though it was drawn in the official map book of county maintained roads.

Bass stated that the road designation law (variously referred to as HB 1117 or Chapter 258) required that notices designating county maintained roads be provided to adjoining property owners through property tax statements and to be published in newspaper notices.

Not having been included in the official notices, Bass offered his opinion that the County could not legally claim to have rights of county maintenance on Pettit Road under the new law.

However, Bass stated his opinion that the public still has access rights to the road. Not being included in all the required Chapter 258 procedures does not mean that it has automatically reverted to private road status, only that it is not county maintained.

Bass added that there is no case law governing this particular error situation since the law is new and has not yet been fully tried in the courts. He said that there was some legal ambiguity in the situation.

There were questions posed to Bass from both the Commissioners and audience members.

Garry Steele asked for additional clarification of the distinction between a county maintained road and a public road.

Bass offered an example of a public, but not county maintained road, as public easements to rural cemeteries. He stated his opinion that the public still has access rights to the road in question since public access has long existed.

County Attorney Charles Williams spoke and described his understanding of the situation and his belief that the Commissioners Court needed to make a declaration of its official position regarding whether Pettit Road is or is not a county maintained road, thus providing the parties involved a basis for any further desired legal action.

Bass agreed with Williams that the matter would ultimately have to be decided by the courts if the parties involved with to pursue the matter, and agreed that the Commissioners Court would not provide the final answer in the matter. He noted that there were facts in the case that could support various types of public versus private status. He restated that discontinuance of public maintenance does not invalidate the public's right of access to a road, and also that there is no absolute requirement that a county must maintain a roadway.

Bass commented, "I agree with the analysis that you have been provided by your County Attorney. I've read his analysis. I don't disagree with it. I think he has analyzed the matter properly."

After Bass concluded a lengthy discourse on the legal complexities of Texas public road law, Garry Steele stated, "It sounds to me like this is a public road, and not a county road."

Bass responded, "I wouldn't disagree with that." He later stated that if the landowners wished to stop public access that they needed to petition the District Court for public closure. Charles Williams added his agreement to Bass' advice.

Garry Steele said it appeared to him that the only thing for the Commissioners to decide was whether or not they wished to declare Pettit Road as a county maintained road. Bass again agreed.

Jimmy Dale Johnson wanted clarification on the issues the Commissioners had earlier wrestled with on the road controversy. He asked Bass which carried more legal weight in determining whether a road is county maintained, the legal notice, or the drawing of the road in the official county map book.

Bass responded that since the law required that notice be provided to affected landowners, that he believed the notice, or the lack thereof, was more substantial than the map book. He said if the notice was not properly given, then the legal process of claiming it as a county road had failed.

After considerable additional discussion, Bobby Schuman made a motion that Pettit Road not be declared to be a county road, because it has not been maintained and the county does not want to maintain it.

Garry Steele seconded the motion and Judge Arthur called for a vote. The motion passed with three voting for and Kenneth Feist abstaining.

Schuman then asked Bass if the wording of the motion was adequate. After thinking it over briefly, Bass stated how he would have made the motion.

Following a second break in the meeting, County Clerk Ruby Lesley read a restated motion as dictated by Bass that declared Pettit Road to not be a county maintained road. A second vote was taken with again three voting for and Kenneth Feist abstaining.

Feist said, "I still don't agree, because it was on the map to start with."

County Burn Ban Temporarily Lifted

The Commissioners next considered the county's restricted burn ban. Ray Helberg noted that around 1,550 calls for burns had been authorized since the start of the year, and that there had been many more instances where permission to burn had been denied.

Helberg added that with the area as wet as it currently is, that he believed the requirement for calling for permission to burn should be discontinued, at least until dry conditions return.

After brief discussion, Kenneth Feist made a motion to lift the burn ban until further notice. Jimmy Dale Johnson seconded and the vote of approval was unanimous.

GPS Addressing

The next business matter concerned GPS (global positioning satellite) addressing for all 9-1-1 addresses in the county, in compliance with federal requirements.

Ray Helberg said that he was not getting enough done while working part time and added his concern that much of the $20,000 grant available from the West Central Texas Council of Governments would expire without being utilized.

Helberg recommended that a temporary, full time person be authorized to be hired to work on GPS addressing. He recommended Trish Grimshaw as the person to be hired for the GPS addressing work for the balance of the county's fiscal year ending in September. Grimshaw would be paid $10 per hour plus mileage, but would not qualify for any retirement benefits.

Garry Steele noted that Comanche County is one of the last counties in the area to complete its GPS addressing.

Jimmy Dale Johnson asked if hiring a temporary full time person would get the job completed this year and was told by Helberg that it would cause good progress to be made, but would likely not be completed prior to the end of the fiscal year.

After further discussion, Johnson offered a motion to hire Grimshaw and possibly others as temporary employees for the GPS work. Garry Steele seconded and the vote of approval was unanimous.

Radios for Emergency Management

Ray Helberg then discussed his desire to purchase two ham radios for an alternative means of emergency communication and also eight handheld radios for use by precinct workers operating heavy equipment during wildfires.

The two ham radios, one each for the emergency management coordination office and one for the emergency management trailer, would cost $600 each. The handheld radios would cost $210 each.

Helberg reported that the Council of Governments is recommending that emergency management authorities have alternative means of communicating in the event of a widespread disaster when the normal means of communication would be disrupted. He added that he was working on obtaining a ham radio license and that there were not funds in his budget for the purchase.

The commissioners asked numerous questions. Kenneth Feist wanted to know why cell phones wouldn't be sufficient and Helberg responded that during emergency times that cellular towers typically become overloaded and only occasionally available, even if still in operation. The ham radios would still be operational, however.

After much discussion, the Commissioners failed to agree with the need for the ham radios, although they agreed with the need for the handheld radios for their equipment operators to use in wildfire emergencies.

Bobby Schuman made a motion for each precinct to purchase two handheld radios each. Joey Boswell commented that no motion was needed because each precinct could make that purchase out of their existing equipment budgets.

Shuman then made a motion to pass on purchasing the ham radios. Kenneth Feist seconded and Jimmy Dale Johnson joined in voting for and Garry Steele voted no.

Sheriff's Report & Meeting Wrap-up

In a joking reference to the length of the meeting, Sheriff Jeff Lambert laughed and said that he had had something to report, but couldn't remember what it was.

Lambert reported that his office was in the process of working with the hospital in getting the billing matters cleared up, but that progress was being made, and that it would take a little time to get everything running smoothly. He said that hospital personnel were being cooperative.

Officers reports were passed until the next meeting. Budget amendments and payrolls were approved, and accounts due and owing of $78,185 were approved for payment.

The next regularly scheduled Commissioners meeting will be on Monday, June 11.