Story by Judy Griffin, Forney Messenger

During their regular meeting Monday, June 22, Kaufman County Commissioners voted to adopt a resolution regarding the spending of the remaining $10 million in RTC funds made available through the North Central Texas Council of Governments. The resolution allocates the money to the city of Terrell for its Highway 34 project.

County Judge Wayne Gent asked if anyone from either Terrell or Kaufman had anything new to add to the request, but no one did. Commissioner J. C. Jackson (Precinct 3) said he still supports the project and moved to adopt the resolution as presented. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Jim Deller (Precinct 4).

Before the vote was taken, Commissioner Deller asked for a discussion. He asked the Mayor of Terrell, Hal Richards, if $10 million would go toward completion of the project. Mayor Richards acknowledged that Terrell is $6.5 million short, but that the city is working towards getting the remaining funding. Richards reminded everyone that the Highway 34 project is a state highway project.

After the discussion, all Commissioners present and Judge Gent voted in favor of Jackson’s motion adopting the resolution.

Monday’s meeting began at 9:30 a. m. with three of the four Commissioners and County Judge Wayne Gent present. Commissioner Ray Clark (Precinct 2) was on vacation.

Commissioner Jerry Rowden (Precinct 1) gave the invocation. The Court led the audience in the pledges to the U. S. and Texas flags.

The first item of business was to approve the minutes of June 15. Commissioner J. C. Jackson (Precinct 3) moved for approval of the minutes as presented, with Jim Deller (Precinct 4) seconding. All Commissioners present voted in favor.

Under routine correspondence, Judge Gent announced that all of the Commissioners had received 16 hours of certified training for their offices, and he passed out certificates to each Commissioner. This training came from Texas A&M.

The Commissioners discussed and approved the following agenda items:
-Approved amending rules for rabies control as requested by Kafman County Sheriff David Byrnes. Motion: Deller; seconding: Rowden. All Commissioners present voted in favor.
-Accepted the County Treasurer’s reports for April and May. Motion: Jackson; seconding: Deller. All Commissioners present voted in favor.
-Accepted the County Tax Assessor-Collector’s report for May, 2009 from Richard Murphy. The report shows that collections are holding their own and that the percentage of collections as of May have been roughly the same for the last five years. Motion to accept report: Rowden; seconding: Deller. All Commissioners present voted in favor.
-Tabled consideration of the purchase of trucks for Precinct 2 with the re-purchase option through the BuyBoard Cooperative Program because Commissioner Clark was not present. The item will be on the June 29 agenda. Motion to table: Deller; seconding: Jackson. All Commissioners present voted in favor.
-Removed from the agenda consideration of a resolution regarding spending the remaining $10 million from NCTCOG because consideration of the matter was no longer needed.
-Appointed Randy Reznicek, Steve Robertson, Gary Graves, Glen Walker, and Julie Tijerina as board members for the Kaufman County Rural Emergency Services District #1. Motion to appoint: Rowden; seconding: Deller.
-Acknowledged receipt of the financial report of Kaufman County Rural Emergency Services District #1. Motion to acknowledge: Rowden; seconding: Jackson. All Commissioners present voted in favor.
-Approved the bond of Steve Robertson, Treasurer of Kaufman County Emergency Services District #1. Motion to approve: Rowden; seconding: Deller. All Commissioners present voted in favor.
-Acknowledged receipt of the financial statement of Rural Emergency Services District #7. Motion: Deller; seconding: Jackson. All Commissioners present voted in favor.
-Considered service and accepted payment from Kaufman County Emergency Services District #3 for county-incurred expenses in Precinct 3. This item dealt with work done for a volunteer fire department in Precinct 3. Motion: Jackson; seconding: Deller. All Commissioners present voted in favor.
-Appointed Larry Ewing, Precinct 4, and Tracy Drane, Precinct 2, to the Kaufman County Historic Commission. Motion to appoint: Deller; seconding: Rowden. All Commissioners present voted in favor.
-Approved the deputation of Kevin H. Ketchum or the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Department. Motion to approve: Deller; seconding: Jackson. All Commissioners present voted in favor.
-Approved line item transfers and budget amendments as presented by County Auditor Hal Jones. Motion to approve: Deller; seconding: Jackson. All Commissioners present voted in favor.
-Approved bills for payment in the amount of $1,041,348.79 as presented by County Auditor Hal Jones. Motion to approve: Deller; seconding: Jackson. All Commissioners present voted in favor.

There were no remarks from visitors. Before adjourning, Judge Gent announced that the Commissioners will begin holding budget workshops on Tuesday, July 14, 9:30 to noon, with the County Auditor, and again at 1:00 p. m. on the same day to begin interviewing county officials and department heads. Gent said that Commissioners will also hold budget workshops on Thursday, July 16, and Friday, July 17. All elected officials and department heads have been requested to cut their budgets by at least 10 per cent, Gent said.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 a. m. by unanimous “yes” vote on a motion by Deller, seconded by Jackson.

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This story and any accompanying photo(s) were originally published in the Forney Messenger and are Copyright © 2009, Forney Messenger, Inc. and have been used by permission. The Forney Messenger is the publisher of Kaufman County’s oldest newspaper and may be found online at www.ForneyMessengerInc.com

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