Shelby County Today

August 31, 2015 - Firemen battled with a triple-house fire early on Monday, August 31, 2015 on CR 2025. When the Center Fire Department arrived on scene at 5:11am at the residence of Duane Collins located at 2852 CR 2050 (Africa Road), two houses were completely engulfed in flames while a third was just beginning to ignite.

The firemen quickly began dragging hose and and proceeded to fighting the fire at different ends of the property. As the firemen worked at extinguishing the fire, they focused a lot of attention on the third house to ignite as it was not fully engulfed like the others.

While firemen sprayed water on the front of the house, another group of firemen gained entry to the rear of the building. Once the majority of that house was extinguished, the proceeded to attacking the surrounding houses and a car with water. The Shelbyville Volunteer Fire Department arrived on scene with a tanker truck to provide additional water.

Half of a tree fell on the house to the front of the property during the fire; however, no firemen were in its path as it fell. A fourth house on the property remained untouched by flames once the fires were extinguished.

According to neighbors across the street from the residence, at the time Collins discovered what had been his grandmother's house was on fire at the back of the property, he evacuated his house which was at the front of the property and called for help. When firemen arrived, Collins was at another neighbor's residence up the road. The neighbor's also stated the third house which was igniting had previously been Collins' aunt's house.

The two houses that initially caught on fire appeared to be a total loss, and the third house received considerable fire and water damage.

Shelbyville VFD returned to the station at 6:30am and the Center Fire Department returned to the station at 8:20am.

August 28, 2015 - Shelby County Sheriff Willis Blackwell reports that unknown suspect(s) entered into a vehicle belonging to Mr. Terry Bailey at his residence. Suspect(s) stole several Apple iPhones and money.

Mr. Terry Bailey has offered a $10,000 dollar reward for the arrest and conviction of suspect(s) involved in this theft.

If anyone has any information regarding this case, please contact Shelby County Sheriff’s Department Sergeant Investigator DJ Dickerson at (936) 572-1468.

August 27, 2015 - A $1,000 contribution was presented to the city of Center at their recent meeting held on Monday, August 24, 2015. In peparation for several upcoming events, including the East Texas Poultry Festival (ETPF), the council approved street closures.

Gene Keenon, Manager Government Affairs at Republic Services Inc., presented the city with the contribution to benefit local organizations in the city of Center.

"I have an agreement with Chad [Nehring] that we will contribute $1,000 a year to be split between the watermelon festival and the poultry fest, so I just wanted to bring that in," said Keenon.

Mayor David Chadwick thanked Keenon for giving back to a community that supports the business he represents.

A public hearing of the proposed tax rate and budget were presented at the beginning of the meeting. The proposed tax rate is 54 cents per $100. No comments were provided by the council or public and the hearing was closed.

A motion was carried by the council to approve Resolution 2015-27 Interlocal Agreement with Shelby County Appraisal District (SCAD) – Aerial Photography. Nehring explained the company which handles the aerial photography and GIS mapping for the SCAD will be taking higher resolution images for the city to assist the utility department, public works and law enforcement in identifying structures, trails, right of way and man hole covers. According to Nehring, this operation will be at a cost of $7,000-$9,000 and Bobby Pigg, SCAD Chief Appraiser, requested the city enter into an interlocal agreement to ensure funding of the city's portion.

The council considered awarding a bid for wastewater treatment plant basin dredging. It was determined by city staff, operational improvement and elimination of long-term issues could be achieved through major cleaning of the primary aeration basin. The plant was placed in the early 1980s and sludge has accumulated since that time. Bob Staehs, Project Manager - Everett Griffith Jr. & Associates Inc., explained the city sought bids and of those received one presented a bid which differed from the other by less than $18,000. Nehring stated to the council this is an item which they have discussed at multiple workshop meetings. A motion was carried to award the contract to Dredgit Environmental Corporation for $180,000.

Assistance from a local business has been sought by the city in evaluating land assets and timber value at several locations owned by the city. Locations of property needing evaluation include the airport which has 35-40 acres and 120-135 acres below Mill Creek.

"We do feel like there's the need to move rather quickly, one either some kind of mild harvesting or thinning of both of these properties because it's been an excess of 20 years since either have been touched in any way, form or fashion," said Nehring. "I guess secondly, since we are not the experts and we don't have that on staff in any way, form or fashion we do need the technical assistance and guidance long-term."

A motion carried to approve a contract for timber management with Azimuth Forestry Services, Mike Walker.

The council went into executive session at 5:34pm and when they returned to open session a motion was made to purchase property next to the airport. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned. No additional information pertaining to the property including acreage, location or current owner were indicated.

Ballot for the Election of Shelby County Chamber of Commerce Directors

1. Amber Dodd
2. Lori Davis
3. Scott Stanfield
4. Jon Schillings
5. Alison Scull
6. Antoinette Polley
7. Matt Foster
8. Kelly Lucas
Meg Camp - President-Elect

Items on the agenda receiving approval include:

   1)  Minutes of the Workshop and Meeting of August 10, 2015.
   2)  Resolution 2015-27 Interlocal Agreement with Shelby County Appraisal District – Aerial Photography.
   3)  Award bid for wastewater treatment plant basin dredging.
   4)  Contract for Timber Management with Azimuth Forestry Services.
   5)  Facilities cleaning contract services with DNC Cleaning Inc. for City Hall, John D. Windham Civic Center and Community House at an annual total of $27,664.
   6)  Street closure request for East Texas Poultry Festival:
        a. Closure of Nacogdoches, Austin, San Augustine and Shelbyville Streets for Doo Dah Parade on September 23, 2015.
        b. Closure on inside of square on September 23, 2015.
        c. Closure of Shelbyville, San Augustine and Logansport Streets on October 3, 2015.
   7)  Maintenance request for Westview Cemetery - Enter relationship with Westview Cemetery Committee to responsible for the mowing of the cemetery of a specific acreage to be included in annual budgeting for maintenance.
   8)  Street closure request of C.H. Daniels' Alumni of parts of MLK Drive, Hicks and Garrett Streets on September 5, 2015 for parade route from Shelbyville Street to Perry Sampson Park.
   9)  Chamber of Commerce Board of Director Board Ballot.

August 27, 2015 - The Poultry Festival Open Photography Show sponsored by Vieux Carre’ Photography, in conjunction with the 39th East Texas Poultry Festival, presented by Farmers State Bank, will be held at the office of Dr. Charles R. Collard, O.D. located next to the Rio Theatre on the downtown Center Square, October 1, 2 and 3, from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

According to event Chairman and coordinator, Billie Jones, photography entries will be accepted at First United Methodist Church (basement), 211 Porter Street, Saturday, September 19 from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. For more information Mrs. Jones may be reached at 936-591-2426 or 936-598-3311.

Photography Show entry forms and rules may be picked up at the Chamber of Commerce office located in the old jail inside the Historic Courthouse Square from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., Mon. - Fri. or Farmers State Bank or may be found at www.shelbycountychamber.com. Please have all forms completed before entering.

Photography Show Categories include Fine Art, Scenic, Urban, People, Animals, Digital Manipulation, Flowers and Poultry. The age groups are, Children, 12 & under / Youth, 13-18 / Adults, 19 & over. The rule packets give additional information regarding the categories and classes.

Entry fees are $2.00 per entry. There will be a panel of three judges choosing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Honorable Mention in each category, and Best of Show for adults, youth and children and People’s Choice Award.

Entries may be picked-up on the final day of the Poultry Festival, Saturday, Oct. 3, between 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. at the exhibit location.

Gold Sponsors for the Festival are City of Center, Drewery Construction and Tyson Foods.

The Shelby County Chamber of Commerce is organized to promote and advance economic enrichment and development, tourism, and the social and civic interest of Shelby County and adjoining areas. For additional information, please call 936.598.3682, email info@shelbycountychamber.com or visit www.shelbycountychamber.com.