Commissioners hold line on tax rate

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  Commissioners hold line on tax rate

  Commissioners hold line on tax rate
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  Commissioners hold line on tax rate

  Commissioners hold line on tax rate

tax rate, either for or against. ABOVE: Freestone County Judge Linda Grant, center, flanked by Precinct 3 Commissioner Lloyd Lane, at left, and Precinct 2 Commissioner Will McSwane, at right, responds to comments by county resident Charles Morgan at the court’s Aug. 21 meeting. Morgan encouraged the court to fight against the oil-andgas industry’s use of machinery that emits low-frequency noise. LEFT: Freestone County resident Charles Morgan addresses the County Commissioners at their Aug. 21 meeting, encouraging them to do what they can to stop the low-frequency noise produced by the oil-and-gas industry. Photos by Roxanne Thompson/Fairfield Recorder

Freestone County Commissioners aimed to keep next year’s tax rate the same as this year’s, and they succeeded.

The court passed the new tax rate and budget for the upcoming fiscal year at the Wednesday, Aug. 21, meeting, during the final vote on the matter for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Before taking the final vote, the court members took a while to look for final changes needed. The current and new tax rate is $0.3219 per $100 appraisal. No one from the public attended Wednesday’s meeting to comment on the proposed

All county employees to receaive raises

Also concerning the budget, the court approved a salary increase of $2,400 for every county employee.

The court also welcomed at Wednesday’s meeting the new, interim county treasurer, Whitney McKinley, who will temporarily replace Jeannie Keeney, the current county treasurer. Keeney is soon and permanently moving with her husband to South Texas. Whoever wins the Nov. 6 election for County Treasurer will be installed in January to replace McKinley.

Consideration of the burn ban was also on Wednesday’s agenda, but, perhaps unsurprisingly, the court left the ban in place since the court only passed the burn ban last week.

Also at the meeting, the court awarded a bid of $174,000 from McLeod Construction to replace the District Attorney’s Office roof.

In other matters, the court members agreed to extend the disaster declaration by 90 days.

On a different matter, IT Director Dane McBroom presented his proposed security policy for system and access controls for new hires and separations. The motion was tabled so the court members could study the proposed security policy and make a decision on the policy at a later date.

Also at the meeting, the court approved an amended contract with Windstream for phone service.

Low-frequency noise discussion

Another item discussed at the meeting was consideration of any changes to the county’s policy on low-frequency noise from oil-and-gas machinery. County resident Charles Morgan urged the county leaders to take action to limit the low-frequency noise, but County Judge Linda Grant said county officials could not go against what the State Attorney General has said.

“The first issue is the EPA has delegated the authority to the state and local governments,” Grant said. “Every state is different as to how the state is run. They have their own state constitutions. In Texas the state has created the TCEQ (Texas Commission of Environmental Quality) and other agencies to address those. That’s why it has not come down to local governments. The only things we can address are things that are specifically statutes that are within the law; or within the constitution. We cannot address anything else.”

Morgan argued that the Attorney General of Texas is trying to do something he is not allowed to do.

“The Attorney General of Texas is trying to do something he is not allowed to do,” Morgan said. “He has said that oil-and-gas can put out all the noise they want to do. That is violating federal law.”

Grant encouraged Morgan to go to the Texas Legislature and try to get it to adjust the law to include noise.

After the meeting, Morgan said he has been trying, without success, to speak to Texas Representative Angelia Orr to convince her to try to make a change to the law.

Morgan said he has experienced brain damage from the low-frequency noise of the oil-and-gas machinery; and he predicted people would die from the noise.

Interim treasurer introduced

Also at the meeting, the court introduced Whitney McKinley, who the court selected as the interim county treasurer from now until the winner of the Nov. 5 election is installed in January.

Other changes

In other matters, the commissioners: • Accepted from the Department of Agriculture a donation of $1,664;

• Accepted a donation of $100 to Senior Services from the Corsicana Apartment Association; and

• Approved a road use agreement with Comstock Oil and Gas.