A candidate and their salary has been approved to fill the position of legal counsel for the Commissioners Court. County Attorney John Kimbrough submitted the name of a candidate for the Commissioners Court’s consideration at its meeting Friday with a suggested beginning salary for a P-3 with 15-years of experience which would be $96,366 a year.
The Commissioners Court unanimously approved the candidate and the recommended salary. The candidate’s name was not mentioned by the members of the Court, but they all said “she” was acceptable to them. The position of legal counsel for the Commissioners Court is being held by Assistant County Attorney Doug Manning who is retiring next week after 20 years in the position, thus the need for a replacement.
The Commissioners appointed three citizens to serve as directors on the newly created Long-term Disaster Recovery Board. Pastor Demetrius Moffett of the Orange Church of God, Ida Schossow from Bridge City who is the director of the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce, and Vidor business owner Charlie Holder were unanimously approved to serve on the three-county board of directors.
Jefferson and Hardin Counties will both choose three directors to serve on the board working to help the area recover from Harvey. The appointed directors will all serve an initial term of office until December 31, 2019.
Commissioner Barry Burton said the county is working with the Texas General Land Office to possibly open special trailer parks for FEMA trailers. Burton will be surveying several sites on Tuesday, January 23, that could be used to house the FEMA trailers. Burton indicated that the prospective trailer parks could accommodate as many as 145 trailers.
Burton himself will be getting new quarters to serve as Commissioner in Precinct Two. His previous office on Highway 62 was seriously damaged by the flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey. The Commissioners Court on Friday approved a lease agreement for Burton to have his office in the Woodridge Land Company building on Highway 62 in Mauriceville north of Highway 12.
Special Projects Coordinator Michelle Tubbleville informed the Commissioners that the FEMA operated Disaster Recovery Centers are still receiving a steady flow of citizens seeking assistance following Harvey. Tubbleville stated as many as 70 people a day visit the two recovery centers located at the Convention and Expo Center on FM 1442 and the one in Vidor.
Locations and dates for early voting for the March 6 primary elections were approved by the Commissioners. The early voting locations will be the Orange Public Library on Fifth Street, the Mauriceville Volunteer Fire Department off Highway 62, the Bridge City Public Works Building on Nitsche, and the Raymond Gould Community Center in Vidor will return as a polling location after being closed during the last election because of damage from Harvey.
Early voting will start Tuesday, February 20, and continue through Saturday, February 24. Early voting will resume Monday, February 26, and conclude on Friday, March 2. Voting hours will be from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM with extended hours until 8:00 PM on Tuesdays, February 20 and February 27.
The Commissioners Court meeting was moved to Friday morning because of the expected hazardous road conditions from the freezing weather on Tuesday. The Commissioners Court will resume meeting at its normal time of 2:00 PM on Tuesday in the coming weeks.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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