New County Road Expected

              At the regular meeting of the county commissioners’ court Jan. 11, consulting engineer Don Bonifay reported that he has met with engineers from TXDOT regarding the location of a proposed new county road east of Garden City. He said he foresees no problems getting formal TXDOT approval. The road would be approximately 1.7 miles east of Garden City and would extend approximately one-half mile north from Highway 158 to join County Road 300 (Bearkat Road inside Garden City). The county will proceed with obtaining right-of-way easements and construction when TXDOT approval is secured.

             Commissioner Mark Halfmann reported problems where County Road 220 intersects the south side of Highway 158 east of Garden City. He said Laredo Energy has offered to rebuild the entrance a few feet further away from Hwy. 158 for no charge, and include a wider cattle guard. Halfmann said there is a problem when two trucks meet at that point. There isn’t enough room for a southbound one to clear Hwy. 158 if a northbound one is at the cattle guard.

            There was discussion of widening that north-south stretch of C.R. 220. County Judge Wilburn Bednar said the county has no easements there. The county “adopted” that road years ago by prescriptive right, he said. Halfmann said there are three landowners involved, and said he would check into what problems there might be. Bonifay said it appears that part of CR 220 was originally a trail, which over time came to be a road.

New Wireless Billing Plan

           Questions of who uses the cell phones in the sheriff’s department were raised at the December meeting while commissioners discussed switching to a new billing plan with Verizon Wireless.  County Treasurer Alan Dierschke said he had since checked all the cell phone numbers with Sheriff’s Department Secretary Kayla Roberts, who said only one is not actively used, and is a reserve phone. The court approved the change to Verizon’s government billing plan after Commissioner Michael Hoch recommended eliminating the reserve phone. Halfmann said each law enforcement person has two cell phones, so there shouldn’t be a need for a reserve. Dierschke said one of the five land lines in that department might be an old, unused one and possibly can be disconnected.

             Commissioner Jimmy Strube reported that he had turned two proposed oil and gas leases over to attorney Josh Hamby, and had not heard from him.

County Holidays Set for 2009

           Commissioners approved twelve 2010 holidays for both road crew and courthouse employees. They are as follows for the road crew: Jan. 1, April 2, May 31, Sept. 6, Nov. 25-26, Dec. 24, 27-31. For the courthouse: Jan. 1, Jan. 18, Feb. 15, April 2, May 31, Sept. 6, Oct. 11, Nov. 11, Nov. 25-26, Dec. 24, 31. (Independence Day and Christmas Day both fall on Saturday in 2010.)

            Warren Multer, Rebel Royall and Charlene Belew reported on their 2009 activities. Multer discussed a 6-year project that researched when to stop drip irrigation on cotton in the fall, and said he is beginning one using deep soil sampling to determine fertilizer use. He is also working on treating cotton root rot, which he said is a problem in both Reagan and Upton counties.

           Royall said he has worked with swine producers for the last two years and will be beginning range management programs this year, including reclaiming old oil well locations.

‘Walk Across Texas’ Program a Hit

          Belew said Walk Across Texas, an eight-week physical activity program at the elementary school in conjunction with Nurse Christy Seidenberger and PE teacher Kristin Schwartz, produced very positive results with kids and their parents. Belew said she wrote and got a grant for pedometers and video for use in the program, which saw a collective 1400 miles walked in eight weeks. She said the school wants to continue the program this spring.

          Belew also discussed the “Shattered Dreams” program, for which she praised all the volunteers involved, and said it made a difference in how local youth view drinking and driving, but she said that problem still needs more attention.

         She said the local 4-H has 80 members, but through their work at the school, Extension agents reach virtually all the county’s youth with positive educational programs.

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