No action on Elm Fork watershed

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June 11, 2009

By NATALIA JONES The Daily Register Thu Jun 11, 2009, 03:28 PM CDT

As newly appointed Cooke County Judge John Roane led his first Commissioners Court Meeting Monday, he offered gratitude and a warning to the court.

“Thank you all for being here at my first court,” said Judge Roane. “As you can see, I am John Roane, the new county judge. Please expect some miss-steps and that sort of thing today. I’ll promise you right now that they will happen, so don’t be surprised when they do. We’ll get passed them.”

Both Roane and the commissioners decided to take no action on a proposed $2 million Elm Fork Watershed plan of action for the operation and maintenance of floodwater retarding structures in Cooke County. Both Sandy Nobile of National Resource Conservation Services (NRCS) and Carolann Corado of UER Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) were present to discuss the plan.

As part of a memorandum the commissioners have with other districts, the NRCS and UER SWCD, it is their responsibility to help take care of the flood prevention dams in the county. Every year, the county pays $9,000 to help with the operation and maintenance of the dams in the Elm Fork Watershed, however an Nobile said she did not recommend signing the action plan because she felt like the repairs would not be as costly as $2 million.

In an e-mail sent to the Gainesville Daily Register, Nobile clarified that, “NRCS is not in any way involved in the funding aspect of the agreement. The money goes directly to the district. The district is then the sole sponsor of the Elm Fork Watershed that has been controlling this money.”

Peggy Shelley, 911 program manager of the Texoma Council of Governments gave a brief presentation to commissioners. During which, Shelley said the county will no longer receive a $20,000 grant for assigning new addresses.

“We realize this has a financial impact on the counties and we have worked to find a possible solution for you to consider that might help alleviate the loss,” she said.

If commissioners were willing, she added, she would like to prepare to come back at their invitation during upcoming budget talks and make a proposal for TCOG to help.

TCOG could provide mapping and other services to the county, she added, if commissioners are interested in teaming together.

TCOG will continue to pass the funding through the current fiscal year which ends Aug. 31, 2009. Changes will be effective Sept. 1, 2009 and no changes will be made over how TCOG oversees the county’s 911 equipment.

Other agenda items discussed during Commissioners Court included:

• Cooke County Library Director Jennifer-Johnson Spence reported that circulation numbers have increased since last year. Also, children and adults can currently sign up until June 15 for summer reading programs to be held at the library. For more information, call 668-5330.

• A possible contract with the Cooke County Appraisal District for assessment and collection services for 2010 and 2011 was tabled for a future court meeting.

• An interlocal agreement between Cooke County and the Cooke County Fair Board was approved.

• The schedules for preliminary budget and departmental hearings were approved.

• It was decided that commissioners would schedule a workshop with the architects for the Cooke County Courthouse Restoration Project to finalize drafts for the project.

• The only bid submitted for the mineral rights lease on Cooke County was opened and awarded to HEB Oil Company. However, it was approved contingent on accepting the contract.

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