Published: May 12, 2008 05:38 pm            

Vote might put beer sales on ballot

Commissioners to discuss VSO, ME salaries

By Leia Jobe

reporter2@trcle.com



Johnson County commissioners are scheduled to discuss personnel matters, a possible groundwater district plan, and they might approve a local option election for Keene in November.

The Citizens for the Growth of Keene began a petition in February for the local option election, which would allow the sale of wine and beer for off-premise consumption in the city.

“They presented us the required number of signatures by registered voters,” County Judge Roger Harmon said.

Commissioners must now take a formal vote to approve the measure for the November ballot, Harmon said.

Only Keene residents will be eligible to vote in the local option election.

During Monday’s meeting, commissioners will discuss groundwater district options for the county in preparation for the state’s next legislative session, Harmon said.

“If we do not form a plan, the state will form one for us,” Harmon said, and the state’s plan would probably not be specific to Johnson County’s needs.

Harmon will present some of the options he has discussed with state Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, to the court on Monday, Harmon said.

Averitt agreed to present the county’s plan as a bill in the next legislative session, which begins in January, Harmon said.

Commissioners will also discuss raising the starting salary for the veterans service officer position to try to attract a more experienced candidate.

“I was wanting to discuss with the council the possibility of increasing the starting salary for that position,” he said. “The salary is a bit low in comparison to other counties, and we did not get a lot of applicants with the kind of experience we are looking for. That’s something that we are definitely looking for, the background and the experience.”

Commissioners have interviewed five candidates for the position and are still accepting applications. The position opened in February when Russell Mohr took another job with the Veterans Administration in Fort Worth.

The county also needs to hire a replacement for the medical examiner’s position held by Dr. Arthur L. Raines, who announced his retirement in April.

At least one candidate has expressed interest in applying for the position. Tarrant County’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Nizam Peerwani, will make a presentation to the court Monday of his proposed salary, Harmon said.

“Dr. Peerwani also works for Parker, Denton and Tarrant counties,” Harmon said. “There’s a real strong possibility that we could go that way, but it really comes down to the cost.”

The court will also consider hiring an architectural firm to complete renovation of some offices on the third floor of the Guinn Justice Center.

The offices of the Precinct 4 justice of the peace and the county clerk’s deed records section were not finished when staff members moved into the Guinn building. Now that both offices have moved to the new courthouse, an architect can be brought in to finish the project and open up more office space, Harmon said.

During a workshop session, commissioners will discuss the North Central Texas Council of Government’s county solid waste facility ordinance project and illegal vehicle inspection stickers under the Low Income Vehicle Repair Assistance, Retrofit, and Accelerated Vehicle Retirement Program. They will also meet in executive session to discuss real property.

The court meets at 9 a.m. Monday in Room 201 of the Johnson County Courthouse.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.