County hires Shafer as crime victim investigator

By Jan White
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CROCKETT – The Houston County Commissioners Court called for a special meeting on Tuesday morning in order to take care of some time-sensitive agenda items.

The first agenda item approved was the salary for a Crime Victim Coordinator/Investigator. County Attorney Daphne Session explained to the Court that a grant paid for 25% of the wage and requested additional funds to meet the position’s pay scale. The  commissioners approved the request and welcomed Thomas Shafer as the county’s new crime victim investigator/coordinator.

The court moved quickly to the next item, which was to appoint Jimmy Henderson to negotiate for the right of way and construction/easements on the Texas Department of Transportation bridge improvement projects on County Road 4555 at Lake Creek and County Road 4545 at Camp Creek.

The pace stalled when it came to taking action on advertising and accepting bids for road materials and delivery and gas and diesel for County vehicles and equipment. After a lengthy discussion between the commissioners and County Auditor Melissa Jeter about the quality of materials and the cost of material transportation, the court chose to pass on the motion until additional information could be obtained.

The final agenda item was ratifying the extension contract with Constellation NewEnergy, Inc. for electrical service to two additional County buildings: the EOC/Armory and the storage facility at the airport.