Salvage yard denied permit for county
By Kyle Mooty
LPR Editor
By a 3-2 vote, a permit for a proposed auto wrecking and salvage yard for Caldwell County (north of Lockhart) was denied Tuesday at Commissioners Court.
Commissioners Ed Theriot and Joe Roland voted for the permit contingent upon several items, but Commissioners B.J. Westmoreland and Barbara Shelton, and Caldwell County Judge Hoppy Haden voted against it.
Representatives of the salvage yard discussed several items of previous concern to the court before being denied.
“We don’t like the term junkyard,” said one of Flint Rock’s representatives. “We recycle end-of-life vehicles. A junkyard typically accepts anything. We are strictly an auto recycle yard.”
Theriot had questions about a liner and the water quality for the operation.
“We have a drainage plan,” said a representative. “It won’t let any water runoff. There are two interceptors for water. It is heavily regulated. We adopted California standards that are very strict. The interceptors are a great tool for us. They take care of oil, sediment, nutrients. There are usually four- to five-feet deep and are cleaned out every year or two.”
Theriot said he approved of the permit as long as there would be testing of the runoff water and that the records would be available upon request. He also said fencing around the property must be an earth tone and set back from the road and could be screened with vegetation.
“It also cannot operate as a junkyard,” Theriot said.
Upon the permit being defeated, Haden cited the operation would be within 1,000 feet of a residential property line and within 1,500 feet of a body of water, violations of a county ordinance.
After a short recess, Haden read a resolution denying the permit. It was approved 4-1.
In other business:
An update was given regarding the Black Ankle Road and Political Road situation. Project Manager David Clark said the contractor had accelerated the schedule and would continue to do so, weather-permitting. Clark noted that the contractor was working gingerly around the AT&T lines buried underground.
Haden said he was not interested in giving any extension to the Sept. 9 deadline since the contractor had already been given a six-month extension.
Westmoreland congratulated all involved for a successful school year and specifically noted “graduating seniors.”
Shelton added, “We have a lot of kids going into the workforce. I’m hoping we have some employers that will find room for them, and they can help bring our economy back.”
There will be a tire collection event on June 11 in Maxwell from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Martindale Mayor Katherine Glaze made note of her town’s 4th of July celebration. There will be a movie for the kids on Friday evening, a carnival on Saturday and a band that night, two-stepping lessons on Sunday and a parade on Monday.
The burn ban remains off for Caldwell County.
JJ Wells of Linebarger Attorneys at Law told the court that there are a lot of specialty grants available for people in the county regarding tax relief purposes for those who lost income or had increased expenses due to the pandemic. Some of the grants date back to 2016. Wells said citizens can call the local tax office for information.
