Commissioners eye road encroachment
Trinity Standard - December 2007

GROVETON – A problem with a fence encroaching onto the West Pine Valley Road near Trinity and the setting of speed limits in the Woodlake area were among the topics tackled Monday by the Trinity County Commissioners Court.
During the monthly meeting, Pct. 2 Commissioner Jannette Hortman said she has received citizen complaints about a fence that has been erected near a blind curve on West Pine Valley Road.
“It’s really creating a problem for traffic there,” Hortman told the other commissioners.
She said the “make-shift” barbed wire fence appears to extend into the county’s road right-of-way and “narrows the road considerably.”
While two cars can still pass there, Hortman expressed concern that because of the nature of the curve approaching drivers may not be able to see one another in time to avoid colliding on the narrow road.
County Attorney Joe Bell said the first step to correcting the problem is to determine who owns the adjoining property and to approach them about moving the fence.
He noted that if the fence does encroach into the county’s road right-of-way and the property owner refuses to move it, the matter could be resolved in district court.
“Before we get that far, it would be best to negotiate with the property owner. He may not even realize there is a problem,” Bell said.
Both Hortman and Pct. 3 Commissioner Cecil Webb indicated they would check county tax records to determine the name of the property owner and would contact him or her about the fence. They indicated they would report back to the commissioners’ court at the Jan. 14 meeting.
Although located in Precinct 2, the road is maintained by Webb under an annual agreement with Hortman.

Speed limits
In other road-related business Monday, commissioners held a public hearing and approved 25 mile per hour speed limits for Piney Creek Road, Regan Road, Scott Road and V.B. Woods Road on the north side of the Woodlake community in Precinct 1.
Pct. 1 Commissioner Grover “Tiger” Worsham noted that the action was being taken at the request of residents along those four county roads.
“As a direct result of the notices posted for these roads, I’ve got the residents of roads on the south side of Woodlake who also want to set 25 mile per hour speed limits on their roads,” Worsham said.
During the meeting, the commissioners accepted petitions from the residents along Mericle Road, Rasberry Road and Evans Road near Woodlake regarding the 25 mph limits.
Commissioners voted to set a public hearing on those roads to be held during their Jan. 14 regular meeting, which will start at 9 a.m. Following the hearing, the commissioners are expected to approve the new speed limits for those three county roads.

Courthouse renovation
During the meeting, County Judge Mark Evans announced that the application for grant funds to renovate and restore the Trinity County Courthouse had been submitted to the Texas Historical Commission (THC).
“The application should be in the process of being scored and we should hear the results sometime in January,” Evans told commissioners.
The county is now seeking more than a $5.9 million THC grant to completely renovate the three-story brick structure, which was completed in 1914.
In addition to restoring the exterior and portions of the interior to its original 1914 appearance, the grant would fund the installation of an elevator, new electrical and plumbing systems and new heating and cooling systems.
The county was awarded a $373,000 THC grant in 2004 to draw up the plans for the renovation work but the construction portion of the project was placed on hold for two years due to problems with state funding.
Because the county was awarded the planning grant in 2004, officials believe that under the THC scoring system, the Trinity County project should receive construction funds for the project in 2008.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that we will receive the funding,” Evans said. “We’ll know for sure in about 45 days.”
Once funding is approved, the county would be able to move fairly quickly into the construction bid process.

Other action
During the meeting, the commissioners also:
• Authorized spending $5,400 in Title III federal forest money to be used as the local 10 percent match on the purchase of a brush truck by the Friday Volunteer Fire Department. Evans noted that the fire department received a grant to cover 90 percent of the cost of the $54,000 truck and that the county would use the Title III money to cover their local share.
• Approved an annual agreement between commissioners Hortman and Webb regarding the maintenance of Precinct 2 roads. Under the plan, the Precinct 3 road and bridge department will maintain the 16 miles of Precinct 2 roads during the coming year. In return, Precinct 2 will pay Precinct 3 $2,369 per mile or about $37,900.
Hortman noted that this system has been in place since January and “it’s working out beautifully.”
• Held a public hearing on and approved an order to continue taxing tangible personal property in transit. Evans said the order maintains the status quo and was needed because of a new law approved by the state legislature earlier this year that would exempt such property unless each taxing entity approves the order.
• Approved an order officially opening York Road off FM 356 near the Polk County line. Worsham said the short, quarter-mile long road has been maintained by the county for years but he was unable to find a record of it being accepted by the county.
“Rather than having to dig through all the records, I thought it would just be easier to accept the road and put it in out minutes now,” Worsham said.
• Accepted a plat for Section 5 of the Trinity Plantation Subdivision located south of Trinity.
• Conducted a public hear on and approved application and regulations for authorizing utility/pipeline construction in county road rights-of-way.
• Approved an agreement with the Apple Springs Independent School District that will allow Pct. 4 Constable Kent Blanchard to provide security services at the school during high risk periods. Blanchard noted the county has the same agreement in place with both the Groveton and Centerville school districts.
• Approved a memorandum of understanding with the American Red Cross dealing with disaster services.