Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 154, No. 47, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 14, 2004 Page: 6 of 16
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Page 6 - Cljcrokeeaif/Herald of Rusk, Texas - Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Appraisal district offers to help with 911 addressing inside Rusk city limits
Cherokee County Chief
Appraiser Lee Flowers offered
to help the City of Rusk with
its efforts to provide 911
addressing service inside the
city limits.
" I m not here to ask for money
but to offer a service,'' Flowers
told the Rusk City Council
during their regularly-sched-
uled meeting Thursday night.
The 911 addressing system
is now required by most util-
ity companies before they will
provide new hook-ups and
service,
The appraisal district
recently accepted responsibil-
ity for providing maintenance
service for 911 addresses from
Cherokee County for persons
living in rural areas. The
county's 911 addressing was
completed in late 2003 by Jack
White, county emergency coor-
dinator, who is still overseeing
the 911 implementation.
Since the computer hard-
ware, software and personnel
are already in place for assign-
ing numbers, Flowers said his
office is already set up to pro-
vide the new addresses.
The geographic information
software (GIS) assigns unique
identifying numbers every
10.56 feet. If a new house
or mobile home is added to a
neighborhood, a number can be
assigned that tells emergency
responders how to get to the
person's home or business with
numeric directions.
The vertical- market software,
which costs approximately
$3,500, requires someone with
specialized training to use it.
CCAD already has a GIS devel-
oper on staff, Douglas Allem.
The cost to the city would be
$10,000thefirstyear, but Flow-
ers admitted the number was
almost pulled from the air. He
said he was unsure how much
time would be involved the ini-
tial year. Subsequent years of
maintenance service might be
more or less than the quoted
price this year.
Councilman Donnie Woodard
shared a story about purchas-
ing a home in Rusk on Parrish
Street. The previous owner
moved across the street and
wanted to keep his same
address. He was told by the
post ofiiee that the letter car-
rier could make a decision,
and the house number shifted
to another home across the
street.
This is the type of number-
ing that would be corrected
and improved by CCAD if the
city awards the contract, which
Flowers estimated could take
a year.
"We just need the city to give
us a center and a place to start,''
said Flowers. "But we want
no part in re-naming streets.
We make enough people mad
already,'' he joked.
As a non-profit entity, he said
his primary responsibility was
to assess and collect taxes. He
said "we're here to offer what
help we can."
He mentioned that many
addresses would change inside
the city limits of Rusk. "We
would try to stay within the
block system,'' he said, citing
an example of a business in the
700 block. Their last two digits
might change, but he would try
and keep the "hundreds'' digit
the same.
Mr. Flowers said he was cur-
rently in negotiation with 911
addressing for the cities of New
Summerfielcl and Reklaw.
He asked the council to take
time to consider the proposal.
Mayor Horton said that 911
addressing has been an unre-
solved issue for the last six or
seven years. "I think we need
to get on with it now.''
Members agreed to table a
decision until the council meets
in special session Jan. 22.
Other business
In other business, the City of
Rusk voted to sign an exclusive
contract with a company called
GrantWorks, which will seek
money for parks, infrastruc-
ture, police and fire.
Under the exclusivity clause
in the contract, the city will
be forced to abandon its long-
standing relationship with
Gary Traylor and Associates
of Tyler, who has been instru-
mental in obtaining almost $3.5
million in grants over the past
28 years. Funded projects
include the Main Street project ,
a water tower next to TDC J and
a water tower on U.S. Highway
Rusk will decide whether to participate in task force in 2 weeks
continued from page 1
needed more time to consider
participation in the proposal,
which would cost taxpayers
$10,000 instead of the bud-
geted $5,000.
Steve Slater, commander of
the Dogwood Trails Narcotics
Task F orce, asked permission to
commission one of the current
Rusk police officers and re-
assign that employee to the task
force as a full-time employee.
Rusk would then need to hire
and train another officer to
replace the one assigned to
the task force.
The one-year contract would
cost the city $10,000, with the
I ask force reimbursing the city
for lOOpercentoftheemployee's
salary and benefits through a
state-administered grant. The
city's current agreement with
the task force costs $5,000 to
participate and does not include
the transfer of a city officer to
the team.
Slater stressed that the grant
will not cover any overtimepay.
and that the city would have
to determine whether it would
pay overtime or require a strict
compensatory time off policy.
Council member Walter Ses-
sion questioned Slater about
what would happen to the
police officer if the grant is not
renewed in subsequent years.
"You're going to tell a man his
job isn't guaranteed? I think the
city will later be stuck with an
employee on down the road.''
Speaking from the audience.
RuskPohce Chief Ronnie Miller
said that one of his officers has
already expressed interest in
the position, and the employee
understands that the grant
could be terminated and he
would no longer have a job.
Miller said that an added
benefit of the task force is that
the state would be required to
clean up a methamphetamine
lab site, for example, if a chug
bust is made inside the city
limits. Typical cost for such
a clean-up is approximately
$5,000 per site. "We'd be in
trouble," Miller said, if the city
had to bear the expense.
Council member Collie Hagen
questioned Slater on the chain
of command over the task force,
which includes Slater, his com-
mander, a board of directors
and the Department of Pubhc
Safety.
The cities of Alto and
Jacksonville have pulled out
of the task force and declined
to participate. Slater responded
that the pull-out was a result
of budget constraints.
However, the Jacksonville
Police Department and the
Dogwood Trails Narcotics Task
Force, lost a lawsuit brought by
a City of Rusk employee. Doris
Robinson and her husband
Hubert received an undisclosed
awardin federal court when the
task force, operating on a tip
about chugs in a Jacksonville
neighborhood, entered their
home by mistake and illegally
searcheclitSept. 1,2000. Other
entities found hbel in the suit
were Cherokee County, the
City of Jacksonville, city of
Palestine and the Anderson
County sheriff's Office.
During the last legislative
session. Rep. Terry Keel (R-
Austin) attempted to shut clown
all task forces in the state, call-
ing them structurally unsound
with a lack of accountability.
Other task forces around the
state have come under legal
scrutiny, including one in San
Antonio, where an officer was
convicted of stealing drugs
from an evidence locker. In
Wimberly, a suspect accused of
selling half an ounce of mari-
juana was killed in a raid.
Keels was unsuccessful in
passing legislation.
Dogwood Trails Narcotics
Ta sk F orce p articipants include
Cherokee County, Palestine,
Anderson County, Wells and
Frankston.
The local task force is one
of 32 law enforcement groups
in Texas operating under the
umbrella of the Department of
Public Safety. Eight were not
funded this year.
Slater made a presentation to
Cherokee County Commission-
ers Court Monday for a similar
proposal with the Cherokee
County sheriff's office.
"We need to look at our par-
ticipation very closely,'' saicl
County Judge Chris Davis. We
must look at this very closely. I
have concerns over these other
cities pulling out, and whether
we woulclbe getting our money's
worth.''
The Rusk City Council must
decide whether top articip ate in
the task force by Jan. 31. The
city's current contract runs
through May 2004.
84 east.
City Manager Kevin Bowclen
saicl GrantWorks has contacted
him several times and he called
them "very aggressive'' in their
approach to grants.
The firm, baseclin Austin, rep -
resents 150 cities in Texas.
Council members askeel few
questions of Bow cien regar chng
the firm's ownership, qualifica-
tions, percentage fees or track
record in other cities. Grant-
Works chcl not send a company
spokesman to the meeting.
Council members quickly
gave a unanimous vote, with a
motion made by Collie Hagen.
A short question and answer
se Ssion with forestry consultant
James Houser addressed the
issue that the city does not
have a contract with anyone
for forestry services. Bowclen
saicl he wanted to make sure
"everyone is comfortable with
it the way it is."
Under the current arrange-
ment with Houser, he saicl,
"I clon't get paid until you get
paid," for the harvesting and
selective cutting of trees,
Council members used the
opportunity to speak with
him regarchng tracts of land
currently owned by the city,
including the Cannon property
and a 50-acre tract with timber
nearing maturity.
• Council members agreed to
re-appoint Larry Long, Charles
Hassell and Bobby Tosh to the
Rusk Economic Development
Corporation. The vote was
unanimous in favor of the
appointments, but Ms. Hagen
askeel for the record to show
her renewed effort to favor
more diversity on the board and
make it more open to people in
the community.
• Council members unani-
mously appointed Mary
Lawhorn, Betty Young and
Corine Price to the planning
and zoning commission
• Davicl Murray and Thomas
Lee Parsons were both
appointed to the board of
adjustments, and Davicl Long
was re-appointed. Council
members were confused with
the job responsibihty of the
oversight board, with Bowclen
asking quite simply, "What clo
they clo?"
City secretary Fran
Wencleborn explained that
this group is given authority
to grant variances on prop-
erty, and cited an example of
set-back requirements. "They
have the final say-so," she
explained.
• Utility Manager Gene
Ivelley made a presentation
before the council to chscuss
street paving. He explained
that the city had enjoyed a
long relationship with street
paver Kenneth Irwin, who chcl
not object to paving very small
sections of roacl in a piece-meal
fashion.
Kelley suggested to the city
that with the recent death of
Mr. Irwin, that the city will
need to identify a number of
streets at one time, and seek
bids for them in order to receive
a competitive price.
In their ¡jackets, council
members received a list of
streets in no particular order
which need to be re-paveel, not
patched.
Mr. Kelley pointed to the
un-spent street funds from the
previous year saying, "You can
thank Miss Mary Owen (Texas
Department of Transportation
district engineer in Tyler) for
that. "She gave us more than
$500,000 of material free.''
He saicl he would like to
request a "fair amount of money
at one whack," using a figure of
$45,000 as an estimate. "We
have to have a cushion for
patching," he saicl.
•Members touched on the
issue of annexing new prop-
erty into the city limits of Rusk,
including properly for a new
housing development being
built by Albert Munsinger on
U.S. Highway 84East, anclalso
the southwest corner of the city
and the west side of the loop.
Bowden saicl he had heard
from a few citizens who saicl
they are in favor of the annexa-
tion in order to receive city fire
protection.
•Members approved the
accounts payable.
Attending were Mayor Charles
Horton and Council members
Ruth Ross, Session, Ms. Hagan,
Wooclard and Bobby Thrash;
City Manager Bowden and City
Secretary Wencleborn.
Redistricting will not delay the March 9 primary election
continued from pg. 1
homeland security, job growth,
strengthening the economy and
provichng quahty health care.
It has been an honor to serve
the people of East Texas. It is
my hope that I will have other
opportunities to serve my state
in the future."
With an estimated $1.1 mil-
lion war chest for re-election.
Turner 's plans after retirement
remain unclear. Turner is now
in his fourth term of office in
the 2nd Congressional District.
Prior to that, he served 10 years
in the Texas Senate and the
Texas House.
The moocl in his office in the
Cannon Office Builchng was
glum last week. "It's not too
positive rightnow," saiclAnchew
Blotsky, a Turner aide tolcl the
Cherokeean Herald. "But that's
the nature of poli lies. We still
have a good year ahead of us
and a lot to clo."
The four-term Congressman
represents Cherokee County
and serves as the ranking
member of the house select
committee on Homeland
Security. He also serves as a
member of the Armed Services
Committee and the Terrorism
Subcommittee.
Congressman Ralph Hall
switched to the Republican
Party last week, which brought
the Texas delegation to 16Dem-
ocrats, 16 Republicans.
The new map is drawn to
favor Republican candidates,
with experts projecting that
as many as seven seats will
shift to that party.
Cherokee County for exam-
ple, will be a part of the 5th
Congressional District under
1374c, with approximately
49.16 percent of the voters
hving in Dallas County, includ-
ing the wealthy White Rock
Lake area.
Compared lo Dallas County's
320,369 voters in District 5,
Cherokee County has 46.659,
or seven percent of the district's
total.
Republicans were jubilant
over the victory handed them
by the courts.
"It is reassuring to see the
process has worked," saicl
State Sen. Toclcl Staples, (R-
Palestine), who was one of the
chief architects of map 1374C.
"The legislature fulfilled its
responsibility and both the
courts and the Department
of Justice have affirmed the
actions of the legislature were
conducted in full accordance
with the U.S. Constitution
and all applicable laws."
Chamber banquet planned Thursday night
continued from pg. 1
live on Lake Palestine.
Bodacious Barbecue will
cater the meal and a Hawaiian
theme is planned. Tickets are
$12.50 and may be purchased
at the chamber office or from a
chamber director.
The recipient for the citi-
zen of the year award will
be announced by last year's
co-winners, Angela and Mark
Raiborn.
Past winners are for 1966,
Raymond Cooper; 1967, The
Rev. Dr. Jewel McClure; 1968,
Ralph Travis; 1969, Dr. W.E.
Gabbert; 1970, Johnnie McKay;
1971, Gene Meyers; 1972,
None; 1973, Mary Buchanan;
1974, Joe Terrell; 1975, E. H,
and Marie Whitehead; 1976,
Frank and Sarah Summers;
1977, George Doclcl; 1978, Joe
Ray Ocker; 1979, Zula Pear-
son; 1980, None; 1981, Will
Cumbee; 1982, Tony Murray;
1983, Charles and Flossie
Nixson; 1984, Virginia Penney;
1985, Charles Hassell; 1986,
Glenn Miller; 1987, Stephanie
Caveness; 1988, Jack White;
1989, Jerry and Anita Ocker.
Also, 1990, Mike Crysup;
1991, Paul and Del Cox; 1992,
Ruth Ross; 1993, Robert Odom;
1994, John and Cindy Cunning-
ham; 1995, James Campbell;
1996, Martha Neely; 1997,
Dr. Jim Hunter; 1998, James
I. Perkins; 1999, Buz Parrish;
2000, Frank and Mary Madden;
2001, Charles and Boots Bur-
foot; and in 2002, Mark and
Angela Raiborn.
Outgoing President Austin
Young will give a review of the
year's work and incoming Presi-
dent Maxine Session will give
an overview of her expectations
for the upcoming year.
County Commissioners meet Tuesday
continued from pg. 1
as soon as the new addition is
opened.
Sheriff Campbell was autho-
rized to employ aclchtional jail-
ers to staff the new facihty. He
is budgeted for one extr a j ailer,
but the county will need two
aclchtional ones. A jailer will
cost the county approximately
$25,000 each.
Reserve officer
Kevin Huckabee was
approved as a reserve deputy
sheriff. The sheriff's racial
profiling report was also
approved.
Unfunded mandates
Resolutions approved
included one to protect taxpay-
ers from unfunded mandates.
Another resolution approved
was in support of the El Camino
Real ele Los Tejas National His-
torical Trail.
Historic tra il will get
national designation
The historic trail (Highway
21) in Cherokee County is
planned to become a national
trail. Work has been underway
on the project since the early
1990s.
Commitment hearings
An interlocal agreement for
mental health, mental retar-
dation and chemical depen-
dency commitment hearings
and psychoactive medication
hearings between Cherokee
County and Kerrville State
Hospital was approved. A
minimum thresh hold of $2,000
for booking of roacl and bridges
into fixed asset inventory was
approved.
Maintenance, safety plan
Commissioner Kevin Pierce
askeel commissioners to
approve his plan for mainte-
nance and safety issues for
CR 2403 and CR 2404. He
has removed trees over the
right-of-way and cleaned out
ditches along the roadway. A
speed limit will be set for the
two county roacls. "I am trying
to make the traffic travel on
CR 2404 instead of the one by
the church.
Bobby Brooks, a citizen who
hves on one of the roacls, pre-
sented a map with needs that
residents living in the vicinity
had agreed on. He suggested
that the sheriff enforce the
speed limit and that there be
four speed limit signs placed on
the two roacls; four no littering
signs and stop signs. The roacls
are the ones that will lead to
the new race track being con-
structed by Johnny Isaacs.
Miscellaneous
Commissioners approved
laying of utihty lines in all four
precincts. Also, commissioners
approved a proposal made by
the law firm Allison, Bass &
Associates LLP in Austin to
comply with HB 1117 that
defines county roacls.
A contract with Cherokee
County Environmental Ser-
vices, Chris Pledger, was
approved for nine months.
Jucly Beck, Jane Paxton anda
coorchnator were authorized to
attend the Texas Training Ini-
tiative for Emergency Response
in Bryan Jan. 26-30. Janet Hub-
bard was authorized to attend
the Austin Strategic National
Workshop Jan. 20-21.
Attenchng the meeting were
Judge Davis; Commissioners
Johnson, Pierce. Glass anclBilly
McCutcheon; County Clerk
Laverne Lusk; and County
Auditor L.H. Crockett.
CMYK
County delays decision on drug task force
continued from pg. 1
of the servicesrencleredby the
agency.
The agency's contract runs
from June 1 to May 31 of
each year, but in order to
make application for grant
funds he needs to have com-
mitments from entities prior
to Feb. 2.
The cities of Jacksonville
and Alto have declined to
renew their contract with the
agency Rusk has not made a
commitment. A meeting is
expected to be called in the
near future for the council to
determine whether it will go
or not.
"I have problems with the
task force. We are not get-
ting the service that we need
in Cherokee County and the
chug problem is not getting
any better," County Judge
Chris Davis saicl.
Mr. Slater noted that there
had been a bust at Mayclelle
with federal indictments
returned.
"We need to clo some inves-
tigating before we sign a con-
tract," Judge Davis saicl.
Commissioner Moody GlasS,
Precinct 3, questioned Sher-
iff JameS Campbell about
whether he was happy with
the task force or not.
The sheriffrepiliecl, "I didn't
know that this was coming up
today. I have been so wrapped
up with the jail, but I clo wish
that we would see more of the
officers in this county. I know
they have clone good in the
county, but we just clon't see
them in our office like we use
to. I would like to see their
officers sometime other than
when they have a problem or
want a grant. I clon't want to
shut them clown, but I would
like to see more work out of
them."
Mr. Glass asked what would
the county clo if they found a
meth lab, if the county was not
a member of the task force.
Mr. Slater tolcl him that the
county would telephone the
Department of Pubhc Safety.
If county officers begin an
investigation of the lab then
the county will have to pay
approximately $5,000 to get
the lab cleaned up.
"This $10,000 would be a
good insurance policy," Mr.
Glass saicl.
"I thought we were paying
money to get the chugs off the
streets. I think we need to clo
some research," Judge Davis
continued.
Mr. Slater saicl they were
trying to get an officer to
come through the Rusk PD
and one through the sheriff's
depari men i.
Mr. Glass made a motion to
go along with the task force.
The motion died for the lack
of a second.
Bob Johnson made a motion
to table the decision until the
nexit meeting. That motion
received a second by Kevin
Pierce and was approved
unanimously.
After Mr. Slater left the
meeting. Judge Davis askeel
Sheriff Campbell if the county
coulcl get more for its money
somewhere else.
The sheriff replied that he
had been contacted by the
Jacksonville Police Chief
about forming an in-county
task force.
Mr. Pierce saicl there was a
Tri-County task force a few
years
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 154, No. 47, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 14, 2004, newspaper, January 14, 2004; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152605/m1/6/?rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.