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COMANCHE -- The introduction of a new
County Extension Agent, a request for a new county road, obtaining
financial assistance from oil and gas exploration and production
companies for county road damages, seeking financial assistance for
road and bridge damage caused by recent flooding and consolidation of
certain voting precincts were some of the more notable topics covered
at the most recent Commissioners Court meeting.
On Monday, July 9, County Judge James
Arthur conducted the meeting and all four County Commissioners --
Bobby Schuman, Jimmy Dale Johnson, Garry Steele and Kenneth Feist --
were present and participated in the lengthy agenda.
Other county officials present and
participating included County Clerk Ruby Lesley, County Auditor Joey
Boswell, County Treasurer Billy Ruth Rust, Sheriff Jeff Lambert,
County Attorney Charles Williams and Emergency Services Coordinator
Ray Helberg.
The first order of business was the
reading and approval of the minutes of the previous two Commissioners
Court meetings, one a regular meeting and the second a called
emergency meeting concerning the state of emergency in the county due
to flooding and possible means of obtaining federal and state disaster
aid funding. Both sets of minutes were unanimously approved without
change.
New Extension Agent
Ronald Wooley, the District Extension
Administrator for the Texas Cooperative Extension Service, introduced
his nominee for a new County Extension Agent for Agriculture & Natural
Resources, Whit Weems.
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NEW
EXTENSION AGENT. Whit Weems. |
The position had been vacant since the
February resignation of Bob Whitney, who had held the job for 16
years.
Wooley said that Weems is a Dublin native
who has been serving in the same capacity in Hamilton County since
2003. Weems' wife, the former Mandy Mahan, grew up in DeLeon. The
couple have a four month old daughter.
Weems has earned both bachelors and
masters degrees in agricultural services and development and in
agricultural education from Tarleton State University. He is currently
in the first year of a four year, after-hours program to earn a
doctorate degree.
Weems previously served as a County
Extension Agent for 4-H and Youth Development in Falls County.
Wooley said he felt very fortunate to be
able to recommend Weems as the new Comanche County agent. He noted
that Weems would be able to start work here on August 20.
Commissioners Schuman and Steele and
Judge Arthur all made comments expressing their satisfaction with the
appointment. No formal vote of acceptance was taken.
Wooley stated his appreciation for the
Commissioners Court support for the Extension Agent program in his
district.
Subdivision Plat Not Considered
The next agenda item concerned a
subdivision plat that had been left at the Courthouse for approval.
The subdivision was to be named Oak Hill Estates and would be located
on Highway 36 about nine miles west of Comanche.
Garry Steele, in whose precinct the
subdivision would be located, moved to pass on considering the plat
since no one was present to discuss the matter. He noted that a
hydrology report would be needed along with information regarding the
utility plans.
Steele remarked, "I'm not approving
anything unless someone is here to discuss it with the Court."
Judge Arthur then passed further action
on the agenda item.
Request for Addition of County Road in
Sipe Springs
Sipe Springs resident Robert Vernon made
a request for acceptance of a road in the Sipe Springs community as a
county-maintained road. He noted that the county had placed some
materials on the road in the past, and he requested that it now be
regularly maintained.
Vernon acknowledged that there was some
question as to whether the old city street was public or not. He used
a blackboard to draw a map of the area and the road in question. He
noted that he would be willing to participate in the cost of the
requested road upgrade. He also presented a deed copy and an abstract
plat showing the roadway in question dedicated as a public street in
the 1911 town plat of Sipe Springs.
Garry Steele noted that he had looked at
the roadway in question and then added, "To be honest with you, I
can't see that it serves any purpose except as a private drive."
Steele then asked Vernon if he owned the home is question and Vernon
acknowledged an ownership interest.
Steele said that he could not tell that
the county had ever maintained the roadway in question and added his
doubts that it would qualify as a public road. He did acknowledge that
in the past the county had dumped a load of caliche in a bad spot in
the road that prevented the occupants in the residence from being able
to get out.
Steele commented that since the passage
of House Bill 1117 a few years earlier, that all the legalities
regarding county roads had changed, and that the road in question had
not been included in the formal county road designation process
completed in the prior year.
County Attorney Charles Williams notted
that Vernon's request brought up similar issues that the Court had
dealt with earlier regarding a dispute over whether a road was public
or not. In this case, however, it was clear that the subject road was
not currently a county maintained road, and that the procedures to
apply for and be accepted for county maintenance would have to be
followed.
Williams noted that he had the necessary
information and offered to assist Vernon in making application for
county maintenance.
Vernon noted that the county had been
active in grading several roads around Sipe Springs and asked how that
affected the situation.
Garry Steele responded that the grading
work was for fire lanes for public safety and that both he and Charles
Williams agreed that it did not affect the public versus private
nature of the roadway in question.
Williams added that the approval process required a public hearing in
which others would be given the opportunity to voice their opinions on
the request.
Vernon asked if it would make any
difference if he was willing to help in the cost of placing caliche on
the roadway.
Williams replied that it might help the
commissioners to accept the road for public maintenance, once the
formal procedures had been followed.
Vernon thanked the Commissioners for
hearing his request and added, with a smile, that the answer he had
received was not quite what he had hoped for.
Veterans Service Officer Report
Jim Coats, the Comanche County Veterans
Service Officer was requested to give a report on the activities in
his office. Coats noted that he had started work on May 1, and that
things had been slow at first, adding that he had gone almost two
weeks without any visitors.
Since that time, however, articles he had
published in local newspapers had generated more interest and traffic.
He said he had been learning much about the job.
Coats noted that there are two agencies
in the Veterans Administration offices in Temple, the Texas Veterans
Commission and the Disabled American Veterans, that are very helpful
to veterans seeking qualification for benefits. He added that he had
helped approximately 40 veterans, most of whom were new cases for the
Comanche County office.
Garry Steele said that he was more
interested in knowing that individuals are being helped, rather than
just a listing of the number of files in the office. He added that he
hoped to receive regular, quarterly reports of Coats' activities.
Coats said that he would be pleased to
report to the Commissioners, that he was really enjoying his work,
that he kept a log of all visitors, and that the Texas Veterans
Commission would soon be providing him a computer and software that
would greatly help in his work.
Heavy Truck Traffic & Compensation for
County Road Damages
Charles Williams noted that he had been
asked by Bobby Schuman to report about what Johnson County was doing
to obtain help in the cost of maintaining county roads subject to
heavy truck traffic related to hydrocarbon exploration and production
activities. He had earlier sought and reported information from Hood
County on the same subject.
Williams stated that the only time that a
county can require permitting is for overweight or oversized truck
traffic that would not otherwise be legal on any state highway. The
primary problem that both Johnson and Hood counties have reported,
however, arises from constant traffic on county roads by legal trucks,
and there is no permitting requirements that apply in that case.
Williams noted, however, that Johnson
County Commissioners had achieved some success in obtaining voluntary
contributions by the oil and gas drilling and production companies in
order to keep the roads well maintained and accessible in all weather
conditions. He added that counties have the legal ability to
temporarily close roads due to weather conditions, and added that the
oil and gas producers have a strong interest in keeping the roads open
and accessible.
Garry Steele asked what charges would be
filed if a trucking concern violated a temporary county road closing
and what the legal requirements were for a closing.
Charles Williams responded that he did
not know at that time and would have to research the matter.
Williams said that most of the help that
Johnson County had received was from the production companies, rather
than from the seismological testing and drilling companies.
It was agreed that Charles Williams would
work with Bobby Schuman in drafting a letter to a company that is
currently causing road damage in Precinct 3.
DPS Telephone Bills
The Commissioners again discussed a
controversy that had arisen regarding whether the county would pay a
bill for a particular telephone line that is being used by the drivers
license office.
During the earlier relocation of the
DPS's highway patrol and drivers license offices out of the Courthouse
basement to the annex building, the telephone line formerly used by
the highway patrol had been assigned to the drivers license office.
Two additional lines were installed for the highway patrol office to
use.
The county is paying for the highway
patrol telephone lines, as well as providing offices and other
utilities, since it receives revenue from a share of the traffic fines
initiated by the DPS troopers. However, the state does not share any
drivers license revenue with counties, and therefore, according to
Garry Steele, the county should not have to pay for that particular
telephone line. He noted that the cost of long distance services on
the line had caused its monthly cost to grow by three or four times.
After a meeting break, Judge Arthur's
court coordinator and secretary, Sherry Ward, brought a letter with
the subject telephone bill attached into the meeting. It was noted
that the bill had just been received from someone named Rodriguez with
the DPS that morning.
Judge Arthur read the letter to the
Commissioners. It disavowed any knowledge of the request for a
separate telephone line for the drivers license office and said that a
single voice line could serve both the troopers and the drivers
license operations.
Garry Steele noted that another DPS
official, a Sergeant Briley from the Stephenville office, had offered
to come and visit with the Commissioners about the matter. He added
that he thought that Briley's offer should be accepted and further
consideration postponed until the time he could meet with the
Commissioners.
Financing for Flood Related Road
Damage Repairs
Judge Arthur announced that an emergency
Commissioners meeting had been called for the following day to take
place at the office of emergency management in the County annex
building. The purpose of the meeting was for the Commissioners to meet
with officials from the Federal Emergency Management Administration to
seek funding assistance with road and bridge repairs needed because of
damage from flooding.
There followed a general discussion
regarding possible sources of funds for emergency repairs. Joey
Boswell noted that there were various possible sources including the
National Resources and Conservation Service, the state's Office of
Rural Community Affairs, issuing certificates of obligation
(borrowing), self financing from the county's cash reserves, as well
as FEMA.
The need to immediately begin repair work
was obvious and apparent. Garry Steele said, "Our situation is, that
we can't wait."
Joey Boswell suggested that the county
general fund could set up temporary loans to the precincts for
emergency repairs and that work could then get started. The general
fund could then be repaid from any assistance received.
Garry Steele stated his belief that
nothing should be started until after the following day's meeting with
FEMA officials.
Emergency Services Coordinator Ray
Helberg said after the meeting that the purpose of the emergency
meeting was for the FEMA officials to do a spot check of some of the
worst flood damage and to work with county officials to determine the
amount of disaster relief funding that would be made available to the
county.
Bobby Schuman said after the meeting that
he was grateful for the assistance provided by State Representative
Sid Miller in getting the FEMA meeting set up.
During the meeting discussion Garry
Steele complimented Ray Helberg on bringing in Mark Shipman, the
Regional Liaison Officer from the Governor's Office of Emergency
Management, to assist Comanche County in its hour of need.
Jimmy Dale Johnson seconded Steele when
he said, "Ray did good by finding him."
Steele added that Shipman was very
knowledgeable and helpful.
Helberg commented that other counties had
been receiving only about half of what they were seeking in federal
assistance. He reported that FEMA officials had been in Eastland
County on the previous Friday and were in Callahan County on Monday.
Appointing Election Judges for County
Election Precincts
Ruby Lesley commented that she had
requested that the item be placed on the agenda, but had been
experiencing difficulty in finding qualified election judges for
certain small voting precincts and was not prepared to proceed.
Bobby Schuman asked Lesley when the
county was going to close some of the smaller voting precincts.
Lesley responded that a voting precinct could be temporarily
consolidated with a larger precinct if qualified election judges or
adequate building facilities were not available, or if there were no
voters living there any longer. To permanently realign voting
precincts would require action early in an odd year that would take
effect in the following year.
Garry Steele commented that certain
voting precincts were very expensive to maintain when viewed on a cost
per vote basis. He cited an instance where the expense in one box was
over $50 per vote cast due to only seven votes cast with three
election workers required to work for 12 hours each. He added added
his opinion that the matter of consolidating would soon have to be
considered.
Bobby Schuman said that if the county was
having trouble finding election judges, then the voting boxes should
be combined.
Lesley noted that the requirement for
there to be a Republican judge and a Democrat alternate made things
difficult.
Judge Arthur asked why a Republican judge
was needed, even though it was apparent he knew the answer.
Lesley responded that the party that won
the governorship in the previous election was given the right to name
election judges. She added that the hard part in approaching
individuals to serve as election judges was in finding out whether
they were Republican or Democrat, since many Republicans tended to
vote in the Democrat primary since there were not many Republican
candidates in local elections.
Lesley noted that finding bilingual
election workers was sometimes another problem.
Garry Steele asked Lesley if she believed
she could locate the needed election judges by the next Commissioners
meeting.
Lesley responded that she believed she
would be able to be able to find the half dozen or so needed to
complete the roster and requested that the matter be postponed until a
subsequent meeting.
The matter was passed without any formal
action taken.
Other Business
Sheriff Jeff Lambert had nothing to
report. He responded to a Garry Steele question that the insurance
company had totaled the Sheriff’s Office pickup washed off a county
roadway in recent flooding.
In other business, the Commissioners,
acting in unanimity,:
• Approved an advance funding agreement
with the Texas Department of Transportation for replacement of an off
system bridge on CR 167 over Jimmy's Creek.
• Authorized Billy Ruth Rust and Joey
Boswell to serve as alternate signers for Judge James Arthur for
releasing sureties pledged to the County as security on public fund
deposits in Comanche National Bank.
• Approved the renewal of a non-financial
agreement with the County Child Welfare Board and the Texas Department
of Family and Protective Services.
• Approved the payment of accounts due
and owing of $83,583.10 and of salaries and benefits coming due before
their next regular meeting. |
