County OKs alcohol issue on ballot 3-2
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

Jasper County Commissioners' Court approved the presentation of the petition for a special election for the city of Jasper to legalize certain alcohol sales by a narrow margin on Monday, March 12, during the regularly scheduled court session.

County Judge Mark Allen, Precinct 1 Commissioner Charles Shofner and Precinct 4 Commissioner Vance Moss voted in favor, and Precinct 2 Commissioner Roy Parker and Precinct 3 Commissioner Willie Stark voted against.

Parker lead the discussion by saying, "I've been praying about this and I want to go ahead and say this; Jasper is the Jewel of the Forest and different than anyone else. It's family, church and government, and we're a part of that."

County Clerk Debbie Newman pointed out that Texas HB #1199 mandates the court approve the petition to go before the electorate when the signatures are validated; it does not mean the court agrees or disagrees with the petition.

Newman explained that the presentation of the petition was a formality required by the state; the petition signatures had been verified and more than enough residents of the city of Jasper had signed the petition to hold an election. State law mandates that the county hold the election, unless the city spans more than one county.

The election, which will be open only to residents of the city, will be May 10 and will be combined with the city council election in order to save money.

On the ballot will be two issues regarding alcohol sales; one would legalize the sale of mixed beverages in restaurants by food and beverage certificate holders only, and the other would legalize the sale of beer and wine at stores for off-premise consumption only.

County-wide run-off

The county-wide runoff election for sheriff between incumbent Ronnie McBride and challenger Mitchel Newman will be held April 8.

Early voting in Jasper will be held at the courthouse annex March 31 - April 4, Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Early voting will be available at Evadale, Buna and Kirbybille April 3-5. There will be no early voting in Browndell; Newman said only three votes were cast there in early voting at the recent election, and two of those were by election officials.

Other business

Dru Miller's appointment by the District Judges was approved by the court for two more years as Jasper County Auditor.

The court approved John Isaacks as deputy constable for Precinct 6, to fill in for Tommy Robinson until he has fully-recovered from a mild heart attack.

Leslie Waxman gave the court an update on the favorable changes to the ORCA grants for critical infrastructure, including that the date the contract will begin has been moved forward to March 24. To expedite the agreed projects, the court authorized Allen to sign the documents as soon as received.

The court approved for filing purposes Jon Angell's subdivision project in Buna.

The court approved entering into a sellers agreement with Government Deals, an online auction firm.

"It gives us more exposure for disposal of surplus and salvage equipment," Shofner said.

"The online auction is not an exclusive agreement," Miller explained. "Commissioners can still advertise in bids in the paper if they want to. It just gives you another tool."

Miller said the online company would train someone in her office to take the pictures and list the items on the website, and the court will still go through the usual steps to declare equipment salvage or surplus.

Under consideration

The court heard from two different firms regarding possible future business.

John Galbraith of Tyler Technologies (formerly TSG, The Software Group), spoke to the court about upgrading the Legacy software to the new Windows-based Odyssey.

The court authorized Tyler Technologies consult with department heads and demonstrate the new capabilities. In answer to a question posed by Stark, Galbraith said the Legacy system would continue to be supported for at least a few more years.

John Kingham, representing the company that built the Jasper County Jail, presented options to the court to meet present and future office space and storage needs.

Allen appointed Shofner, Moss and Miller to a committee to study whether utilizing the space at the corner of Houston and Austin Streets, either through remodeling or a new building, would best meet county needs.

The county presented Jennifer Gobert and Kimberly Brown, representing Workforce Solutions, with a framed resolution of appreciation for the training grants they have brought to both businesses and to the county government.