NEWS
Tensions rise as county VSO asks court to rescind assistant VSO appointment
By BARBARA GREEN, editor@bowienewsonline.com
The battle over trying to increase county “secretarial staff” pay appeared to be over as the Montague County Commissioner’s adopted the 2021 budget without increasing those five positions, but it moved to a different front as one supervisor asked to have his assistant’s appointment rescinded.
Tensions rose Monday morning as Veteran’s Service Officer Colm Murphy made the request to a less than receptive court. Several years ago the court provided five reduced rate secretarial staff positions in lieu of funding a full-time person. In some instances the office part-time person moved up to this position.
During this year’s budget process several officials asked the position be moved up by $18,200 to be a full deputy due to expanded responsibilities. Tax Assessor Kathy Phillips and Murphy both made pitches in their budgets requests, and they were backed by County Clerk Glenda Henson and District Clerk Lesia Darden, who also have similar jobs in their offices. All of them indicated the jobs have evolved to involve much more than their original description.
In the VSO office, last fall Murphy asked to send this office assistant to training that would allow her to become certified and to work as his assistant accessing veteran records and working with the Veterans’ Administration. He asked the court to rescind her appointment as assistance VSO if she was not going to be compensated accordingly.
Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.
Members of the Bowie City Council will face a brief agenda when they meet at 6 p.m. on Oct. 13 in the council chambers.
Following routine reports and consent agenda items, the council will consider a resolution authorizing submission of the city’s 2027/2028 Texas Community Development Block Grant application to the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Then council members will consider approving Bob Blackburn for appointment as a reserve police officer with the Bowie Police Department.
Following an executive session, the council will discuss and potentially take action regarding the annual employment evaluations and duties of both the City Secretary and the Municipal Court Judge.
After nearly three months of no rain, Mother Nature brought the showers this past week.
Downtown Bowie rain reports varied from 7 to 8 inches, while the Saint Jo area reported a 10-inch total. The city water plant in Bowie reported 5.55 inches on Sept. 30 with 1.6 Oct. 1-3.
Nocona saw a total of 6.31 inches of rain across Sept. 26 to Oct. 3.
On Oct. 6, Lake Amon G. Carter saw a level of 917.39 mean sea level rising to 81.31% full. Just one week earlier the lake was 73.6% full, while one year ago it was 94.01%. The lake is full at 920msl.
Lake Nocona was 73.7% full at 823.02 on Oct 6. One week earlier it was 70.41% full and one year ago it was 92.41%. The lake is full at 827.5 msl.
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
One Montague County City has joined the battle against any data centers being built in this county and there is a petition drive underway to urge the commissioner’s court to keep data centers out of Montague County.
At a Sept. 28 called meeting of the Saint Jo City Council, officials unanimously approved a resolution stating its opposition to the “siting, permitting, construction or operation of data centers and similar hyperscale computing facilities within the city limits or the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.”
City Secretary Debbie Dennis said several citizens approached Councilor Jack Dunn about their data center concerns and he helped prepare a resolution. The council gave unanimous support.
Read the full story in your Thursday Bowie News.
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