Commissioners rename roads, honor Chief Mike Powell

Rename, relocate, redeem and resign.
Johnson County commissioners Monday renamed four roads, considered relocating the elections office and called for the redemption of a series of certificates of obligation.
They also accepted the resignation of Precinct 2 Commissioner Troy Thompson, who announced during the public participation portion of the agenda that July 9 will be his last day on the court.
Thompson was appointed July 5, 2011, by County Judge Roger Harmon to fill the position vacated nine days earlier by the resignation of former Precinct 2 Commissioner John Matthews. (See related story on Page 1)
It is expected the vacant seat will be filled by Kenny Howell who won the Republican primary in May for Precinct 2. There was no Democratic or third-party opponent.

Rename, relocate, redeem
Following a public hearing about the renaming of four roads during which no resident spoke on the issue, commissioners supported a recommendation by  Precinct 1 Commissioner Rick Bailey, Thompson and public works director Eric Dumas to rename four “backage” roads as County Road 1016-Z, CR 910-Z, CR 1024-Z and CR 904-Z.
The roads were created for construction crews to use during the building of the Chisholm Trail Parkway and are dead-end roads.
The “Z” designation identifies the roads to 9-1-1 emergency first responders as construction roads for the Chisholm Trail Parkway. Two of the roads are located in Precinct 1 and two are in Precinct 2.
“This is an excellent way to identify these roads,” Sheriff Bob Alford said. “It sends an instant message (to emergency dispatchers) as to what these roads are.”
 Elections administrator Patty Bourgeois asked commissioners to place her at the top of the list of personnel asking to relocate to space at 103 S. Walnut in Cleburne currently used by Adult Probation Services.
Adult Probation will be moving into a new building by the end of the year. The elections office is currently located in the basement of the Johnson County Courthouse.
“Our office is only 3,400 square feet and we need more room,” Bourgeois said. “The office I am requesting has 5,000 square feet.”
The elections office has five employees and stores a lot of voting supplies and equipment, Bourgeois said.
Commissioners unanimously supported a motion by Bailey, seconded by Precinct 3 Commissioner Jerry Stringer, to put the elections office as the No. 1 priority to move once other requests have been reviewed.
Taxpayer money was saved when the court decided to call all of the outstanding series 2004A certificates of obligation for redemption prior to maturity.
The county was paying 3.7 percent interest but has the money in its fund balance to pay off the certificates.
By paying off the notes early, the county is saving about $300,000 in interest payments, county auditor J. R. “Kirk” Kirkpatrick said.

Achievement for Chief Mike Powell
The meeting opened with recognition of the Cleburne High School baseball team for its climb to the Class 4A state championship game, and with the presentation of a plaque to Johnson County Sheriff’s Office Chief Mike Powell for completing the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Training Program.
“Mike was invited to participate in this program,” Alford said. “It’s a series of three courses involving leadership and supervision and Mike’s performance was exemplary. This prepares Mike to be a continued asset to our department.”
A goal of the program is to prepare graduates to seek out and cultivate leaders from the current personnel, Powell said. 
All commissioners were present. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Johnson County Commissioners Court will be 9 a.m. Monday, July 9, in the commissioners courtroom at the Johnson County Courthouse in Cleburne.

To learn more decisions by Johnson County commissioners, see the June 28 issue of the Keene Star or subscribe online.