Wood County Commissioners Court
Gore brothers receive plaques; Pct.3 timber sale bid awarded
BY JOHN SPARKS

Meeting Friday, July 13 in regular session, Wood County Commissioners quickly dispatched a short agenda of twelve items, including the awarding of plaques from the FM-2869 Lake Hawkins bridge to the sons of a former commissioner and the awarding of a bid for harvesting timber from a county-owned site in Precinct 3.
 

Wayne and Hurbert Gore, sons of former precinct-3 Commissioner V. G. “Dad” Gore received the plaques from the bridge over the west end of Lake Hawkins. The bridge is currently being replaced with a new one by contractors for the Texas Department of Transportation. In presenting the plaques, Commissioner Roger Pace, precinct-3, said the men’s father had been “a mentor and great influence” to him as a young man. Gore served as commissioner for 25 years (1947-1973) and built the bridge originally in order to convince the state to construct FM-2869. Pace said Gore was also a pioneer of the use of oil sand for the construction of county roads here in Wood County as well as many other counties in the state. “The road oiling application as we know it today was perfected by Mr. Gore.”
 

The bid of George Hayes was accepted for the harvesting of trees and clearing of land on a 17-acre site in precinct-3. Three bidders had responded to the call, with Hayes bidding $35 per ton for pine, $20.00/ton for hardwood, $14.00/ton for pine pulp and $11.00/ton for hardwood pulp. Precinct- Commissioner Pace made the motion to accept the Hayes bid. The cleared land will be used to quarry sand for use as road material.
Wood County Elections Administrator Dawn Goldthorn presented a listing of judges and alternates for the upcoming Constitutional Amendment election this November. Precinct-3 appointees are (3-1, Quitman) Betty Dubbs, judge and Hoyt Camp, alternate; (3-2, Holly Lake) Gene Mann and Nancy Thomas, and (3-3, Hawkins) Herman Peace and Ennis Freeman.
 

A resident of Lake Winnsboro appeared before the court seeking relief in the form of approval to use county owned land for the drain field for his on-site septic system. He said the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) had already approved a sanitary easement for the project. Commissioners advised the property owner they are still awaiting an answer to the legal questions posed by the situation for all four county-owned lakes from the Texas Attorney General by the Wood County District Attorney. Judge Brian Jeanes said he would personally follow up with the Wood County District Attorney on the matter.
 

In other action, the Commissioners approved:
- Payment of claims in the amount of $263,775.65 and $5,000 for recharging postage machine.
- Payroll in the amount of $245,203.83.
- Employee/dependent health claims of $29,398.21.
- Constables report from Precinct 1.
- Plat of one-lot, phase II Blackmon Estates subdivision.
- Resolution for submitting application for State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) FY 2007.
Personnel actions approved included:
- Perry Pennington, wage increase, part-time auto deputy clerk, Tax Assessor/Collector, to $9.00/hour.
- Kelly Jason Smith, new hire, deputy sheriff, WCSO, $15.58/hour.
- Molly Louise Shelton, resignation, deputy sheriff, WCSO, $15.68/hour.
 

The next regular meeting of the Wood County Commissioners Court will be Friday, July 27 at 10 a.m. A special meeting of the court can be called with 72-hour public notice.