County considers street repairs

County, city may partner on Old Fentress Rd.
By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

In preparation for the annexation of more than 2,000 acres of property, the City of Lockhart recently approached Caldwell County to discuss repaving Old Fentress Road.
According to Caldwell County Judge H.T. Wright, the city made an offer to supply the materials needed t

o repave the road, provided the County could provide the manpower and equipment.
“Paving that road was in our plan,” Wright said. “We have the repairs ready, but we got caught by the weather and couldn”t pave it yet. If the city is going to annex, it makes sense to go ahead and repave it now so those repairs don”t go to waste.”
The suggestion, though, was met by resistance from some of the Commissioners and representatives of Caldwell County Unit Road.
“The problem we [the Unit Road System] has with this idea is that this will put our workers in the city limits when they should be out in the county,” said a Unit Road representative. “We have plenty of work we need to be doing in the county.”
In response, Wright pointed out that city residents also pay taxes to Caldwell County and have thereby helped to purchase the equipment to be used.
Commissioner Joe Roland brought up another road, County Road 300 (Crane Ln.) that the county also committed to pave, but will be annexed by the city in the future.
“If they”re willing to do this one, they might want to go ahead and do the same thing out on Crane Lane,” Roland said of the City of Lockhart. “I wouldn”t feel right about making this agreement without at least checking on that, because it”s basically the same thing.”
The idea was tabled until the proposal to add Crane Lane to the work agreement can be discussed. However, Crane Lane is not part of the City”s immediate annexation plan, where Old Fentress Road is.
In a related item, Wright pointed out to the Commissioners that an offer made to the Court last week was ill-advised, if not illegal.
“Last week, Mr. Vickery said that he would give us a certain sum of money to pave his road,” Wright reminded the Court. “After discussing that offer with [District Attorney Chris Schneider], he suggested that it is not legal for the County to enter such a deal, and he advised we stay away.”
In other traffic business, the Court unanimously agreed to impose a speed limit of 30 mph on County Road 200. The vote came after a public hearing spurred by requests from area residents complaining about traffic and the ensuing dust on the road.
In brief Court news:
The Commissioners heard a report on spending toward indigent health care. After a reimbursement from Seton of more than $20,000 last month, total spending for the year is at $11,538.
They approved the sale of a five-acre tract of property out of a nine-acre tract on Hill Crest Lane.
They opted to leave an outdoor burning ban in place.
The Court accepted a Task Force on Indigent Defense grant in the amount of $21,917 for the coming fiscal year.
The County paid bills in the amount of $42,406.20.
The Caldwell County Commissioners Court will not meet again until after the holidays. Their meetings are regularly scheduled on the second, third and fourth Monday of each month at 9 a.m. in Room 100 of the Caldwell County Courthouse.