Story by Judy Griffin, Forney Messenger

The Kaufman County Commissioners held a regular meeting of the Commissioners Court on Monday, September 14 at 9:30 a. m. with all Commissioners and County Judge Wayne Gent present.

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 September 8. Commissioner Ray Clark (Precinct 2) moved for approval of the minutes as presented, with Jim Deller (Precinct 4) seconding. All Commissioners voted in favor.

The first item of business after consideration of the minutes was to hold two concurrent executive sessions concerning the following topics:

Pending litigation in Cause No. 66164-86 styled “Jo Ann E. Combs vs. Kaufman County, Texas, et al., etc.” in the 86th District Court, Kaufman County, Texas, including any appeals or requests for post-order relief.

To discuss legal and factual issues related to Lawson Road and the boundary line with Dallas County.

The executive sessions were held with the attorney, who was present for consultation. Commissioner Deller moved to call the executive sessions, with Deller seconding. All Commissioners voted in favor.

The executive sessions began at 9:45 a. m. and ended at 12:30 p. m.

Upon returning to open session, County Judge Wayne Gent announced that there was no action to be taken on either topic.

In open session, the following actions were taken:

Commissioners held a public hearing by unanimous “yes” vote on a motion by Commissioner J. C. Jackson (Precinct 3), seconded by Deller, to discuss the 2009-2010 proposed county budget. No one from the public was present to speak and the public hearing was closed by unanimous “yes” vote on a motion by Rowden, seconded by Clark.

Approved implementing the new district court records archive fee of $5.00 for filing papers in district court. The fee will become effective October 1, 2009 and shall remain in effect until further action is taken by the Court. Motion to approve: Deller; seconding: Jackson. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Adopted the budget for FY 2009-2010, with changes as previously discussed. Motion to adopt: Rowden; seconded by Clark. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Set the 2009-2010 tax rate as follows:
?General Fund: .4545
?Road & Bridge Fund:
??.0680
?I&S; .0340
?Total: .5565

There will be no tax increase. No employees were laid off, and no raises for employees were given.

Judge Gent reminded everyone that this is a “very tight budget” with all departments requested to reduce their budget requests by 10 per cent or more. Motion to approve: Deller; seconding: Rowden. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Held a lengthy discussion with Constable Joe Don Law, Precinct 2, representing the constables throughout the county concerning approving salary structure for all of the constables’ offices as requested by the constables in each precinct. After the discussion, it was decided to table this matter for further study and receipt of further information. Motion to table: Rowden; seconding: Jackson. All Commissioners voted in favor. This matter will be put on a future agenda for further discussion.

Kathy Morris with Kaufman County Emergency Management requested that the Court consider approving the interlocal agreement between the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) and Kaufman County for the Cities’ Readiness Initiative (CRI) project implementation. She told Commissioners that this is the fifth year for the County to apply for the grant at no cost to the county, and that the county had received the grant for the last four years. Motion to approve the agreement: Rowden; seconding: Deller. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Ms. Morris also requested that Commissioners approve the Point of Dispensing (POD) sites for the Cities’ Readiness Initiative (CRI) project implementation. Motion to approve: Rowden; seconding: Deller. All Commissioners voted in favor.
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Approved the request of Carrie Sharp of AgriLife Extension to fill a vacant employee position for Program Assistant position. Motion to approve: Jackson; seconding: Deller. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Approved the Tax Assessor/Collector’s report for August, 2009 for the 2008-2009 collection report as presented by County Tax assessor/Collector Dick Murphy. The report shows that for the General Fund, 96 per cent of taxes due and 34 per cent of delinquent taxes have been collected. For the Road and Bridge Fund, 96 per cent of taxes due have been collected and 34 per cent of delinquent taxes have been collected. Motion to approve report: Rowden; seconding: Deller. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Approved moving Voting Precinct #10’s voting location permanently from Mt. Olive Baptist Church to Scurry ISD’s administration building in Scurry to be effective with the November, 2009 election. Motion to approve: Deller; seconding: Rowden. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Approved the consolidation of polling locations for the November 3, 2009 election as requested by County Election Judge Dick Murphy. Motion to approve: Deller; seconding: Jackson. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Approved advertising for bids for a prisoner transport bus for the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Department. Bids will be closed and opened on Wednesday, October 22 at the South Campus as requested by County Purchasing Agent Jack Sebastian. Motion to approve: Deller; seconding: Jackson. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Approved an interlocal agreement for road maintenance for the city of Post Oak Bend. Motion to approve: Rowden; seconding: Clark. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Approved an interlocal agreement for subdivision regulations for the city of Post Oak Bend. Motion to approve: Rowden; seconding: Deller. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Approved the 2010 Kaufman County resolution for indigent defense discretionary grand program and designated County Judge Wayne Gent as the authorized official to apply for, accept, decline, modify, or cancel the grand application; designating the county’s Public Defender as the program director and contact person, and designating the County Auditor as the financial officer for the grant. Motion to approve: Deller; seconding: Rowden. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Approved line item transfers as presented by County Auditor Hal Jones. Motion to approve: Deller; seconding: Jackson. All Commissioners voted in favor.

Approved the payment of bills in the amount of $966,168.39 as presented by County Auditor Hal Jones.

There was no further business. The next meeting of the Court will be Monday, September 20.

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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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