Folk will finish term as DETCOG president

The last regularly scheduled meeting of the Jasper County Commissioners Court was routine business, in a year that began in the tumultuous aftermath of Hurricane Rita.

Three of the five members of the court were feted at a retirement party at the courthouse yesterday, retiring County Judge Joe Folk, and retiring Precinct 2 Commissioner Rod Barger and Precinct 4 Commissioner Mack Rose.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Charles Shofner and Precinct 3 Commissioner Willie Stark will be joined by new electees County Judge Mark Allen, Precinct 2 Commissioner Roy Parker and Precinct 4 Commissioner Vance Moss.

Jasper County Death Investigator Phil Denney reported 40 deaths for November, unusually high for Jasper County.

The court approved Katherine Davis as a replacement for Ed Harrington on the Board of Directors for the Southeast Texas Groundwater Conservation District.

Folk agreed to continue to serve as president of the Deep East Texas Council of Government’s board through the end of the current term, July 1, 2007.