Wood County Commissioners Court
Pack seeks back-pay; bridge to be relocated
By JOHN SPARKS

 

Meeting Friday, December 14 in regular session, Wood County Commissioners took no action on a request by former Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Larry Pack for back compensation and voted to permit the relocation of an historic iron bridge from a county road to Winnsboro.

Former JP Larry Pack, Hawkins, was represented by attorney James P. Wheeler in seeking back compensation and retirement benefits. Pack resigned from office as a condition of probation in a case against him that was prosecuted by state attorneys. Pack appealed the verdict, which has since been reversed on appeal. No action was taken by commissioners on the request. Wood County Judge Bryan Jeanes, who was not in office at the time of the Pack trial, commented that the county had officially accepted a letter of resignation from Pack and had no role in the trial or the verdict.   
 

A second historic iron bridge is to be removed from a county road and relocated in a Wood County city. The City of Winnsboro agreed to pay half of the relocation expense for the bridge which is currently in service on CR-3155. Winnsboro plans to relocate the bridge to a city park near the auditorium. Several years ago a similar bridge was relocated from Precinct 3 to the Mineola Preserve. The State of Texas has asked the county to take the bridge out of service.
 

Commissioners approved several Interlocal agreements for tax collection services, including the City of Hawkins ($12,912) The Hawkins Independent School District ($49,328) and the Wood County Emergency Services District (Holly Lake Volunteer Fire Department). Others approved included: City of Alba, City of Quitman, City of Winnsboro, City of Yantis, Alba Golden ISD, Winnsboro ISD, Yantis ISD and Wood County Central Hospital District.
 

In other action, the Commissioners approved:
-          Payment of claims in the amount of $332,559.54.
-          Payroll in the amount of $330,559.54.
-          Employee/dependent health claims of $95,140.61.
-          Report by Celia Boswell, the county’s representative on the board of the East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (12 counties).
-          Elimination of two “personal leave” days and roll into vacation to simplify record keeping.
-          Constable report by Stephen Bowser, Precinct 1.
-          Pauper burial expense for Precinct 3 resident.
-          Treasurer’s report.
-          Advertising for new dump truck for Precinct 2 with bid opening scheduled for January 25.
-          Adjustment in term of seven insurance policies for Wood County furnished through Texas Association of Counties. Policy renewal date moved from February 28 to June 30. Included are: 1) automobile liability, 2) general liability, 3) public officials liability, 4) law enforcement liability, 5) automobile physical damage, 6) property and 7) crime.
-          Authorizing the County Judge to seek attorney to represent Wood County should there be cases which may involve conflict of interest.
Two personnel actions were approved as follows:
-          Ryan Wayne Boykin, new hire, information technology technician, Information Technology Department, $13.70/hour.
-          Michael Alan Johnson, new hire, deputy sheriff, WCSO, $16.31/hour.
 

The next regular meeting of the Wood County Commissioners Court will be Friday, December 28 at 10 a.m. A special meeting of the court can be called with 72-hour public notice.