Published: March 23, 2009 10:42 pm      

Eliminating evacuation bottleneck county’s top transportation priority

By Kelly Young

kyoung@jacksonvilleprogress.com

Cherokee County commissioners made their transportation priorities known Monday morning during their regularly scheduled meeting.

Of the five currently viable projects being considered in this county at this time, the commissioners selected the expansion of U.S. Highway 69, south of Wells, as the most important to them.

Action to rank the five options was taken by the county at the request of the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority, which will use those priorities — and the priorities of numerous other agencies — to determine which projects will receive the most funding. Barry Hughes, Cherokee County’s representative on the mobility board, attended the meeting.

The court ranked the projects in the following order of most important to least important:

• the widening of three miles of U.S. Highway 69, south of Wells to the county border;

• the expansion of 10.72 miles of U.S. Highway 175 between Jacksonville and the county border;

• a U.S. Highway 69 relief route around Jacksonville to the west of the city;

• a rail spur to service the Jacksonville Industrial Park; and

• the widening of U.S. Highway 79 between Jacksonville and New Summerfield.

“Because of the heavy flow of traffic on 69 during disasters like the hurricanes, that narrow stretch of road where it goes down to two lanes creates such a bottleneck,” Commissioner Byron Underwood of Precinct 4 said. “I think the widening of 69 in Wells is probably the top priority in my book.”

Despite ranking it being in last place, several commissioners spoke of the importance of the expansion of U.S. Highway 79 east of Jacksonville. When the Lake Columbia project receives its 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, they said it will be necessary to alter their choices.

Hughes said it is the county’s prerogative to change their priorities at any time.

“I don’t think we want to put too much priority on the 79 expansion until the project moves forward some. These other projects are doable now, and we don’t want to be waiting on this project while the others could be getting done,” said County Judge Chris Davis.

In other county business, County Clerk Laverne Lusk and Voter Registrar Linda Little petitioned the court to create a two-person Election Administration Department to begin operations at the start of the next budget year.

“We would like for everything to be in place by Oct. 1 so they will be ready to get the November amendment election under their belt, which should help them be prepared for the primaries next year,” Lusk said. “Elections are something that are very important and that have got to be done right. It is going to take a while to get everything set up to do this, and that is why we are coming to you early, before the budget workshops begin.”

If created by the commissioners, applications for the election administrator job would be collected, and a five-person committee of Lusk, Little, Davis, Democratic Party Chairperson Caesar Roy and Republican Party Chairperson Josie Schoolcraft would select the most qualified candidate. That person would then hire one person to work under them.

Creation of the new department will require the formation of only one full-time position for the county, with a starting salary of $30,000, as the tax office has volunteered to transfer one of its positions to the new department.

Little said the position of election administrator is greatly needed.

“Handling voter registration is not a snap — it used to be — but it is not any longer. It has become a very complicated process, and if the legislature passes some of the laws that are on its plate right now, it would continue to put even more pressure on this position,” she said. “With year-round voter registration and the elections, I easily foresee this department needing two people full-time.”

Although no action to form the new department was taken Monday, the court agreed an election administrator is needed.

“We have been looking at this for a while now, and now we need to sit down with some money figures and come up with what we are doing to need to do to make this possible. Just give us a little time to ask some questions and get it all worked out,” Davis said.

In other business the court approved:

• the monthly report from James Campbell, sheriff;

• the monthly report from Ricky Moore, license and weight officer;

• the monthly report from Lynn Kelley, constable for Precinct 1;

• the monthly report and racial profiling report from Jack White, constable for Precinct 2;

• the monthly report from Jamie Beene, constable for Precinct 4;

• the airport advisory board meeting of Jan. 27;

• an interlocal agreement with the city of Rusk regarding the upcoming local option election;

• Darrel Schimnowski to serve as a reserve deputy;

• transferring the license and weight officer’s commission from the district attorney’s office to the sheriff’s department;

• the completion of public records classes for Jack White, constable for Precinct 2;

• a plat in the Thomas Jones Subdivision No. 1;

• the Department of Family and Protective Services to use the courthouse lawn at noon on April 7 for Child Abuse Prevention Month;

• one or more precincts to purchase rollers from cooperative purchase agencies;

• one or more precincts to purchase rollers from Ritchie Brother Auction in Houston;

• one or more precincts to take bids for seal coat;

• Precinct 4 to purchase a used mixer from Franklin County;

• the minutes from previous meetings; and

• paying the bills.

The Cherokee County Commissioner’s Court regularly meets at 10 a.m. the second and fourth Monday of each month, at the county courthouse. The public is invited to attend all meetings.