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June 29, 2022 - The Shelby County Historical Society Museum and Library regrets to say their website (http://www.shelbycountytexashistory.net/) is currently down due to server maintenance. The website should be back up and operational tomorrow, June 30, 2022. The museum apologizes for any inconvenience; however, server maintenance is a necessary inconvenience at times.
June 29, 2022 - The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office would like to extend our thanks to Steel Building Supply. Steel Building Supply recently made a monetary donation to the office that will be used to further provide training for our employees.
“We are so thankful for this donation,” stated Sheriff Kevin W. Windham. “We are budgeted $3,000 dollars per year for training for our entire department. We have roughly 40 employees that need training every year. This equals out to $75 dollars per person per year. Often we have an employee that needs to attend multiple of types of training throughout the year. We cannot even send one person to a class for $75 dollars, much less afford to send them multiple times each year,” stated Sheriff Windham.
Pictured are (from left) Chief Deputy Ruth Gonzales, Magon Teske, and Captain Tanner Peace.
“This really is a blessing to our office. Thank you, Steel Building Supply for your support of the Sheriff’s Office. We greatly appreciate you.”
June 29, 2022 - The Shelby County Commissioners met in an emergency session to consider continuing the burn ban put in place by Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison on Monday, June 27, 2022.
"Within seven days you have to ratify it to keep in in effect, or it goes out in seven days," said Judge Harbison.
She commented there is rain the forecast in the weekend, but she doesn't feel like the area will get enough rain to merit lifting the ban.
Judge Harbison said every week the burn ban would be included on the agenda for the commissioners to consider either lifting or leaving in place.
The ban does not in any way prohibit fireworks. Judge Harbison just urged everyone in the public to use caution, and she encouraged any large displays in the area to inform their local fire department and have them on hand.
A motion carried by the commissioners to ratify the declaration of disaster order prohibiting outdoor burning.
The water on San Augustine Rural WSC no longer requires boiling.
June 29, 2022 - On June 23, 2022, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality required the San Augustine Rural Public Water System, #2030007, to issue a Boil Water Notice to inform customers, individuals or employees that due to conditions which occurred recently in the public water system, the water from this public water system was required to be boiled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes.
San Augustine Rural Water has taken the necessary corrective actions to restore the quality of the water distributed by this public water system used for drinking water or human consumption purposes and has provided TCEQ with laboratory test results that indicate that the water no longer requires boiling prior to use as of June 29, 2022.
If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact the office: 220 West Columbia Street, San Augustine, Texas, 936-288-0489, or Charles Sharp 936-201-5001.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation.
If a customer, individual or employee wishes to contact the executive director, please call (512)239-4691.
June 23, 2022 - Due to the City of San Augustine being under a boil water notice, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has required San Augustine Rural Public Water System PWS #2030007 to notify ALL Customers to boil their water prior to consumption (eg., washing hands / face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc). Children, Seniors and Persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions.
To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes.
In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes.
When it is no longer necessary to boil the water, the public water system officials will notify customers that the water is safe for drinking water or human consumption purposes.
Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received the notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact San Augustine Rural Water System at 220 W. Columbia Street, San Augustine, Texas, 75972, or call 936-288-0489 or Charles Sharp at 936-201-5001.
June 28, 2022 – A new traffic signal is scheduled to become functional later this week on US 96 in Shelby County.
The signal, located on US 96 at Foster Road in Center, is scheduled to be activated Thursday, weather permitting. Message boards have been placed indicating the new signal for motorists to observe as they approach the intersection.
The project was approved by the Texas Transportation Commission in August 2021 following a traffic study that was performed in May 2020. Traf-Tex, Inc., Houston TX, has served as contractor for the $200,000 construction project. The project was funded by TxDOT’s Road to Zero program, which is part of the End The Streak safety initiative.
As this signal is activated, motorists are urged to stay alert to signage and other vehicles in the area. Reduce speed and be prepared to stop. Fines are enforceable once the signal is activated.
June 28, 2022 - The City limits of Joaquin is under a Burn Ban until further notice. Due to drought and other weather related conditions, Jeremy Boyett, Fire Chief/Fire Marshal, asks everyone to refrain from any outdoor burning. You are still allowed to cook outside and pop fireworks.
June 27, 2022 - Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison signed a declaration of disaster and order prohibiting outdoor burning today, June 27th making the county under a burn ban effective immediately.
Judge Harbison did advise the fireworks show is still planned in Tenaha as the City of Tenaha is taking extra precautions with the fire department standing by at the celebration.
Declaration of Disaster and Order Prohibiting Outdoor Burning
WHEREAS, the County of Shelby is under imminent threat of severe damage, injury of loss of life or property resulting from the threat of wildfires due to extremely dry grassland fuel, drought and other weather-related conditions; and
WHEREAS, the County Judge of Shelby County has determined that to mitigate the hazard posed by wildfires during the current dry conditions, extraordinary measures must be taken to alleviate suffering of people and to protect or rehabilitate property,
Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the County Judge of Shelby County:
1. That a local state of disaster is hereby proclaimed for Shelby County pursuant to § 4180108(a) of the Texas Government Code.
2. This Declaration of a local state of disaster continue for a period of not more than seven days from the date of this declaration unless continued or renewed by the Commissioners Court of Shelby County.
3. All outdoor burning is prohibited in the unincorporated areas of Shelby County. This order does not prohibit outdoor burning activities carried out by Federal Certified Agencies.
4. This Declaration of shall be given prompt and general publicity and shall be filed promptly with the County Clerk of Shelby County.
5. This Declaration of the local state of disaster activates the Shelby County Emergency Management Plan.
This Proclamation shall take effect immediately from and after its issuance; Ordered this 27 day of June, 2022.
June 27, 2022 - Over the week of June 20th to June 26th the Joaquin Volunteer Fire Department had 5 calls. All in all there were 2 medical related calls, 2 traffic calls, and 1 fire.
Starting at 12:51am on Monday, June 20th, the JVFD EMRs were dispatched to an unresponsive person who may have overdosed on medication.
Friday, June 24th saw 3 calls, the first at 3:08am for a house fire on County Road 3421 in Woodland Shores. Upon arriving on the scene it was evident that the house had been burning for some time, as it was already on the ground. The Joaquin VFD put out the remaining fire with help from DeSoto Fire District 1. No one was home at the time of the fire.
The next 2 calls for Friday came in between 1:39pm and 2:12pm, both for trucks broke down in lanes of traffic. The JVFD arrived to provide traffic control along with Constable Roy Cheatwood.
The final call for the week came in Saturday, June 25th at 1:21pm for a person burned with saltwater on Hwy 84 East. The Joaquin VFD EMRs responded to secure the patient until Allegiance EMS could arrive. An airlift was later called for the patient.
That concludes the report for the week. Until next time, the Joaquin Volunteer Fire Department hopes everyone has a great week.
June 26, 2022 - The Tenaha City Council was compelled to fill an open seat during their May 23 meeting following the election of O'Neal Jones to the position of mayor which then vacated his seat.
The majority of council members were in favor of appointing Florance Adams to the open position; however, there were combating motions and no final vote to carry any of them.
First Linda Vickery made a motion to appoint Florance Adams to the open seat, then a motion was made by Durand Steadman to appoint Lee Gibbs, which was followed by another motion from Janice Barton to appoint Florance Adams, Bryan Adams stated Ms. (Florance) Adams, and then mayor Jones called for a show of hands with three for Adams. Mayor Jones then asked for a second and Barton seconded Vickery's motion. Steadman stated he didn't accept.
Florance Adams was then sworn-in by Amanda Treat-Brock, City Secretary.
During the meeting the council heard public comment from Verna Stewart regarding garbage service in town. With the city council considering adopting garbage service for the entire city, she asked for them to exclude the housing authority if possible. She said they have been dealing with J&D Trash service there for years and she has a perfect agreement worked out with the supplier of that service. She felt it less expensive for her to stay with that agreement than with one of the new services the city was considering.
Cliff Lloyd addressed the council about agenda item 12 from the April 25, 2022, meeting where a motion was made by Janice Barton, and seconded, to postpone the item until the May regular meeting so that Lloyd could be on the agenda to speak about the item. The council then voted to approve the motion.
Lloyd reminded the council that was what was approved at the April meeting; however, he said the current mayor has stated to him it was not approved, and that the city secretary told him it was not approved. Lloyd played a recording from the April meeting where the motion and second could be heard, as well as the vote to approve it. Lloyd continued then by saying he didn't understand why he couldn't get on the agenda, and he asked for someone to answer
Mayor Jones asked Lloyd what his agenda is, and Lloyd said it was item 12. Jones asked again what his agenda is which he then read was discuss and consider water. Jones persisted in asking Lloyd what his agenda was when it clearly was item 12 from the April meeting.
Steadman clarified Lloyd was wanting to speak with the council about the water taps. Lloyd continued to state he wanted on the agenda to speak on the item and Jones persisted again in stating he needed to present an agenda.
In the end, the council didn't comply with their original motion to put Lloyd on the agenda to speak on that particular agenda item, which is an altogether different circumstance from public comment.
During council comments at the end of the meeting Bryan Adams made a statement regarding allowing citizens to speak.
"We're basically here for the citizens, you know, so anytime a citizen comes and ask to be put on the agenda no matter they could be talking about their dog, they should be put on the agenda," said Adams. "Regardless of what they want to talk about, that's why we're here for citizens input."
A motion was made during the meeting to approve the minutes of the April 25, 2022, meeting and it was seconded, Steadman made a separate motion to not approve the minutes because Cliff Lloyd was approved at that meeting to be on the agenda which he was not.
A vote then carried to approve the motion with one voting against.
Following the executive session, Florance Adams stated they evaluated Public Works Operator Kendrick McClure, and that he maintained or exceeded what was expected of him the past year and so they decided during executive session to give him a raise of $1. A motion was then seconded and carried by vote to give him a $1 increase.
Agenda items approved during the meeting include: 1. Appoint Council Member Florance Adams for Place No. 5. 2. Appoint Council Member Florance Adams to the Mayor Pro-Tem position. 3. Minutes for the April 25, 2022, City Council Meeting with one vote against. 4. April 2022 Financials with one vote against. 5. Execute Interlocal Agreement to Participate in the Shelby County Hazard Mitigation Plan Update and pay $1,326.47. 6. Approve Pineywoods Sanitation for waste services contract. 7. Open Bids for Mowing Services and then Discuss and Consider Approving the Mowing Contract. Durand Steadman made a motion to approve Ms. Hamilton, Florance Adams then made a motion to approve Blake Cranford, mayor Jones asked how many were in favor of Cranford and Bryan Adams said he was going with Hamilton. Jones then asked for a show of hands in favor of Hamilton with two and in favor of Cranford with three. Mayor Jones then stated the motion carried for Cranford. 15. Executive Session: $1 raise for Public Works Operator Kendrick McClure 16. Adjourn. Agenda items tabled during the meeting include: 1. Discuss and consider revising the Water, Wastewater and tap fees.
June 22, 2022 - The Shelby County Commissioners Court approved the purchase of a server from which both the County Appraisal District and Tax Assessor/Collector will operate during their meeting held Wednesday, June 22, 2022.
Bobby Pigg, Shelby County Appraiser, and Debora Riley, Shelby County Tax Assessor/Collector, presented the commissioners with a proposal including several options; however, the main one they were focused on was the purchase of a single server for the two offices to share both in expense and use.
Pigg explained the Appraisal District is expecting to pay half of the $21,000 for the server plus the $7,800 setup expense.
A motion carried to move forward with a combined server for the Tax Assessor/Collector's office and the Appraisal District at a cost of $30,900.
County Judge Allison Harbison stated there have been several presentations on the possibility of video and audio equipment being installed. She stated one previous quote presented by a district judge was quite costly; however, she said a more local company presented a quote that was not as expensive. District Attorney Karren Price has requested this be done, and presented the most recent quote to Judge Harbison.
"It is with Encore Music out of Nacogdoches, and both courtrooms for video and audio, the total amount is $31,017," said Judge Harbison.
Judge Harbison reminded the court that years ago the court had approved for the District Attorney's office to get a drop-down television installed, yet it did not happen.
"This is just pushing it forward and making it happen," said Judge Harbison.
Judge Harbison remarked to the court the video will be beneficial for the use of the court, and the audio will help everyone in the courtroom be able to hear. She stated the current quote is a lot better than the over$100,000 quote they had received from someone else before.
A motion carried to approve installing video and audio equipment in the District Courtrooms at a cost of $31,017.
There were line item transfers for the commissioners to consider during the meeting and Clint Porterfield, County Auditor, explained what these were.
"For the Coronavirus Relief Fund, these are the actions that you took last week in commissioners' court to approve the laundry room at the jail and the industrical washer," said Porterfield. "So, we're setting up a budget through this process."
Additional adjustments were also made to the commissioners individual gravel accounts.
A motion carried to approve the FY2022 Line-Item transfers.
The commissioners discussed the weekly expenses and Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer, spoke with them about issues with a couple of the bills. The first was for work on the Old Records Building where the bid from Hagler Construction was $13,800 and instead the bill came in at $14,000.
"We had a bid of $13,800 so that's what I put it in as, what the bid was," said Blackwell.
Blackwell said there was no description with the bill as to why the additional cost. Judge Harbison stated he did have an issue, but he didn't elaborate on the bill. Roscoe McSwain, Commissioner Precinct 1, said there should have been an explanation of why the cost went up.
"Mr. Teddy Hopkins was over there one morning and told them that that's not the way it was supposed to be and instead of listening to their boss, or asking me, his workers pulled it off," said Judge Harbison. "They'll never do that again."
McSwain said he had also been there on the same morning and questioned the workers as to why they were taking off brand new tin and he said they explained.
"The bid's still $13,800, he should have come to court," said McSwain.
Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4, had also been at the site that morning and spoke with the constractor about the issue.
"I said, then if you're going to add it to our bill we'll have to get the Historical [Commission] to pay that delta," said Bellmyer. "He had a hard money bid and the instructions that he had was to replace like in kind."
Porterfield stated there was no supporting documentation presented to for payment to prove anything was different from the bid.
"I'll get Paul [Hagler] to submit us a change order, we can have the Historical [Commission] come in and find out where they're going to pay that change order, in my opinion," said Bellmyer.
Another bill of concern was from Timberwolf Lake Works.
"We had an issue with them charging the wrong amount and I thought we had it straightened out," said Blackwell.
The invoice for Precinct 4 was in the amount of $2,882.76 and, according to Blackwell, the corret amount should be $2,874. Blackwell said they would void the invoice and pay the correct amount.
A motion carried to pay the weekly expenses with changes.
The meeting adjourned at 10:24am.
Agenda items approved during the meeting include: 1. The commissioners approved paying the weekly expenses and considered a couple of variations to bills which didn't come in as they were originally bid. The commissioners approved paying the weekly expenses with those two bills being paid that their original bid amount 2. Payroll was approved to be paid 3. Action was taken to increase the mileage rate on travel from .58 to .625. The IRS rate has been 58.5 4. The commissioners approved FY2022 budget line-item transfers, and Clint Porterfield explained this is a weekly action that has been being taking place to set up budget and do house keeping on items approved during the previous week's meeting. 5. A donation from the City of Timpson of a bulletproof vest for the benefit of the Precinct 5 Reserve Deputy Constable Billy Lusk . 6. The commissioners moved forward on the purchase of a server for the Tax Office and Central Tax Appraisal District at a cost of $30,900. 7. The commissioners approved equipping the District Courtrooms with a video and sound equipment system at a cost of $31,017. 8. The meeting was adjourned at 10:24am.
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