GROVETON – On Monday Trinity County officially became the 33rd county to formally oppose the state’s proposed Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) highway plan.

During its meeting Monday, the Trinity County Commis-sioners Court unanimously approved a resolution asking the state legislature to put a halt to the highway plan to “allow further public input.”

In addition to the more than 30 counties opposing the plan, the Trinity City Council also approved a resolution last week rejecting the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) plan to build the super highway through Trinity County.

During Monday’s meeting of the county commissioners, Gary Smith of Trinity spoke in support of the resolution.

Smith said the county’ opposition would be an important ingredient in an effort to stop the highway.

In addition to resolutions from the county and City of Trinity, Smith said he will be asking the Groveton City Council as well as all county school boards to adopt similar measures.

Smith also presented commissioners with a petition opposing the highway signed by 1,109 people. He noted that several copies of the petition were still circulating and that the number of opposition signatures was expected to climb higher.

“TxDOT is telling the folks in Washington that everyone down here wants this highway and that’s not true. Resolutions like this are important to let the people in Washington know there is strong opposition to this plan,” Smith said.

County Judge Mark Evans told Smith the resolution approved Monday would be sent to TxDOT as well as to the governor’s office, the lieutenant governor, speaker of the Texas House and the county’s state and federal representatives.

Another area residents speaking in favor of the resolution, Craig Whealy, asked commissioners to continue to watch the TTC plan as it moves through the state and federal system.

“You are our first line of defense,” Whealy told com-missioners.

He suggested that commissioners include a TTC update on the agendas for their monthly meetings as a means of keeping track of what TxDOT is doing.

Evans noted while he previously supported an Interstate 69 plan, the expansion of the project to include the Trans-Texas Corridor and the rerouting of the proposed highway through Trinity County caught him and a number of people off guard.

He noted that when the federal government first proposed extending I-69 through Texas, it was planned as an expansion of the existing U.S. 59 right-of-way through East Texas.

When that was the planned route, Evans noted that he and other area officials endorsed the idea.

However, since TxDOT decided to expand the I-69 plan into a TTC and to reroute it, that support has all but vanished.

Under TxDOT’s plan, a number of TTCs would be built throughout Texas. While each TTC would be built in phases, when completed they would include up to six passenger vehicle lanes, four truck lanes and six rail lines as well as a corridor for utilities.

The TTCs would be toll roads operated by private contractors and would be up to 1,200 feet wide, which is three to four times wider than a normal interstate highway.

In the resolution approved Monday, commissioners contend the TTC is Gov. Rick Perry’s “vision for future transportation” and would dissect rural Texas by creating expansive toll roads that would not be accessible to local public roads.

It also notes that the TTC would divide farms and homesteads as well as “negatively impact the economy of local communities.”

The resolution also charged that the estimated $184 billion price tag for the project would place an unnecessary burden on taxpayers. It also stated the project would remove thousands of acres of land from the tax rolls.

Audit report presented
During the meeting, Trinity CPA Thomas Ramey presented the draft audit report for the 2007 fiscal year.

The final report is expected to be approved by commissioners at their March meeting.

Ramey noted that the county had a fairly good year and that its financial picture is improving.
He noted that total revenues for the year, which ended Sept. 30, were $5,592,000 while expenses totaled $5,297,000.

The $294,000 balance was offset by the 2006 deficit of $223,000, giving the county a fund balance of $71,000 that was carried over into the current 2008 budget.

Among the items in which Ramey praised the county came in the area of “comp time” that had been accumulating within the Trinity County Sheriff’s Department.