DETCOG receives transportation update

Members of the Board of the Deep East Texas Council of Governments (DETCOG) met in Shelby County Thursday and received a report on the progress being made on the DETCOG regional transportation plan.

The Jobs Access Resource Commute (JARC) grant will provide mass transit to and from Mansfield, Louisiana from Center, Texas for the Tyson poultry plant workers. A proposal to improve transportation for military veterans going to the Houston VA Hospital has been submitted and projects using busses purchased with funds from the TLL Temple foundation.

The third priority project identified in the transportation plan will provide public transit in the remaining six counties in DETCOG that do not currently have public transit services.

Houston County Judge, Lonnie Hunt, updated the board on the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools and Communities Act (SRSCA). Money provided by SRSCA compensates school districts and counties for lands the U.S. Forests take off tax rolls.

The DETCOG Board passed resolutions proclaiming April as both Fair Housing and Child Abuse Prevention Month. DETCOG Executive Director, Walter Diggles, noted the date for the Annual Membership Meeting in Lufkin has been changed to May 29 due to its usual third Thursday date conflicting with the 2008 Hurricane Conference.