Polk County News - Breakout

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Livingston ISD Superintendent Dr. Brent E. Hawkins, the Livingston High School Career & Technical Education Department and The Mane Salon were the hosts for the Livingston-Polk County Chamber of Commerce’s Business After Hours Thursday. Located at 411 West Park Dr., The Mane Salon is LISD’s cosmetology lab and a working salon. Special guests in attendance were Lamar State College-Orange President Dr. Thomas A. Johnson, Lamar State College-Orange Provost & Executive Vice President Dr. Wendy Elmore and Lamar State College-Orange Dean Kristin Walker. Livingston ISD entered into an agreement with Lamar State College-Orange, Lamar State College-Port Arthur and Lamar Institute of Technology during the summer of 2023 for the three Lamar schools to teach dual credit classes to LISD students. Through the agreement, there is no charge for any enrolled student who is socioeconomically disadvantaged, which is approximately 75% of the high school population. Furthermore, LISD only pays $45 per credit hour for every non-socioeconomically disadvantaged student. (l-r) Livingston High School Assistant Principal Chad Lanham, Johnson, Elmore and Hawkins. Photo by Emily Banks Wooten

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By Emily Banks Wooten
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County Judge Sydney Murphy, accompanied by Jessica Hutchins, the county’s grants and contracts coordinator, presented an update on the ongoing extensive historic preservation of the Polk County Courthouse during Thursday’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Livingston.

The historic restoration and ensuing construction is part of the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program, a grant program administered through the Texas Historical Commission. Polk County’s grant application was successful in Round XI of the Texas Historical Commission Grant Program.

“Polk County has absolutely the best team that we could possibly assemble and we’re doing more work than ever before. Jessica is handling close to $30 million in grant projects and the big project is the courthouse and she has been there from the bottom up,” Murphy said.

Commenting that the original blueprint used for construction of the original courthouse was found, Murphy said it has been interesting going through the various layers of the courthouse, making discoveries.

“One of the unique things is the red concrete floor. We are one of two in the State of Texas that have that,” Murphy said. “The windows. The replicas are being built from a special metal sourced exclusively from Switzerland. The original frames of our courthouse possess a unique notch at the intersection of the grilles, which is no longer manufactured.

“On the east end of what we call the basement, we discovered a stage that was not unique to the original structure, but where events and performances for the county were held. A portion of it will be incorporated into the design,” she said.

“The primary purposes of the restoration are restoring history, consolidating county services and efficiently serving the public, but the main goal is the consolidation of services so the residents of Polk County will have a one-stop shop and not have as disjointed of service,” Murphy said, adding that the county will continue to maintain the sub-courthouses in Corrigan and Onalaska.

Something that many were unaware of is that the courthouse was built on an underground natural spring, located beneath the southwest corner of the courthouse square that disperses throughout the square.

“While it’s been blamed for multiple floodings, the time’s when the courthouse flooded was due to human error. It’s a common misconception,” Murphy said, adding that with the new construction, a French drain will be placed along the entire building exterior to redirect drainage.

She added that the brick used for the construction of the original courthouse was manufactured at the local brick company in Polk County during the 1920s.

Murphy said a historical room for documents and displays will be created, allowing the information to be available for public viewing.

“Statistics show that historically renovated courthouses become an economic driving force as well. Why would we have it and not utilize it? Our hope is to get all of our services more consolidated. The district courtroom will go back to its original appearance and size, going back to its full historic look,” Murphy said, adding that the projected date of completion is January 2025.

The general contractor is JC Stoddard Construction. The architect is Komatsu Architecture Inc. The structural engineer is Salas O’Brien. The MPE engineer is Solare Engineering Ultd. Inc. The civil engineer is Whitworth Engineering.

Texas has more historic courthouses than any other state, with more than 240 still standing that are at least 50 years old. About 80 were built before the turn of the 20th century. By the end of that century, most of these structures were significantly deteriorated due to inadequate maintenance, insensitive modifications or weather-related damage. The Texas Historical Commission documented the condition of 50 of the state’s oldest courthouses in the late 1990s and determined that counties lacked the resources to preserve the buildings for future generations.

Providing assistance to counties reached a critical point when Texas county courthouses were added to the National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered Places list in 1998. The state’s response was to create the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program (THCPP), the largest preservation grant program ever initiated by a state government. This nationally recognized preservation program has turned around the trend of disrepair and begun the process of restoring the state’s most treasured historic landmarks.

Established in June 1999 by the Texas Legislature and Gov. George W. Bush, through House Bill 1341, the THCPP provides partial matching grants to Texas counties for the restoration of their historic county courthouses. The program typically awards the following types of grants: planning grants for the county to produce architectural plans and specifications; construction grants for the county to undertake construction of some kind; and emergency grants to address issues endangering a historic courthouse or its occupants. The program awards planning and construction grants based upon the sum of scores assigned to 20 criteria and emergency grants based primarily upon the score assigned to the endangerment category.

The program began with a $50 million appropriation for the grants, which were awarded in two rounds in 2000 and 2001. Subsequently, the program’s success led to continued funding from the Texas Legislature.

The THCPP has been recognized by the Texas Society of Architects and the National Trust for Historic Preservation with honor awards. In May 2008, the program received the Preserve America Presidential Award. Today, a total of 136 Texas courthouses are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, 145 are Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks and 109 are State Archeological Landmarks, and as of 2023, 78 of those have been fully restored through THCPP grants and another 37 have received emergency or planning grants.

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Icicles hanging from a porch in Goodrich during the recent freeze. PHOTO BY BRIAN BESCH

From Enterprise Staff

The ice and cold weather closed school districts, county and city offices and some businesses in the area, but Polk County was able to avoid many of the problems experienced just three years ago.

As of press time Tuesday, Polk County was expected to receive around 60 hours of freezing temperatures. The only interruption was a two-hour-span that produced a high of 34 degrees. The feels-like readings plummeted to negative 2 degrees at its lowest.

All six county school distrcts remained closed Tuesday following the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday. Corrigan-Camden and Goodrich ISD began classes later than usual Wednesday because of icy road conditions.

County offices, as well as city offices in Livingston and Onalaska, closed due to inclement weather. Lake Livingston Water Supply gave a boil water notice for many areas due to an electrical repair in their system.

Polk County Emergency Management warned of slick spots on roadways and icy bridges. They advised all to avoid travel if possible. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported that the Trinity River Bridge at the border of Polk and San Jacinto County on Highway 59 was icy. Lanes in both the north and south side of the highway were closed at the Trinity River. Highway 59 from Corrigan to the Neches River was also reported to be iced.

The Onalaska Police Department reported slick spots at Old Trinity at US Highway 190 West. Livingston Police reported an iced bridge on Pan American Drive near the Boot Barn. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office also reported a couple of miles of icy road on S.H. 350 North at Horace Bonds Road. TxDOT had an icy bridge report on Highway 190 over Lake Livingston.

On Tuesday, the county’s emergency management reported additional dangerous conditions on roadways. Highway 146 from Red Barn Builders Supply to FM 1988 had ice, as did the big bridge in Onalaska over Lake Livingston. The bridge was said to have icy patches at the top, but was passible.

Those locally and statewide seem better prepared for the impact of winter weather than in 2021. In February of that year, the entire state of Texas was in a winter storm warning, with 100 hours of uninterrupted freezing in some areas. Temperatures in much of southeast Texas dipped into the teens or single digits, with wind chills down into the single digits and some below zero. The weather caused widespread power outages across the state that continued over the next several days. The rare Texas snow was around an inch near Houston, and up to six inches further north.

Polk County Judge Sydney Murphy called a declaration of disaster over four days during the 2021 winter storm. The northern portion of the county received 4-6 inches of snow, while Livingston received 3-4 inches. Temperatures dropped to a low of 4 degrees. The Polk County Office of Emergency Management reported that approximately 2,600 homes were without water and 292 were without electricity.

While there were isolated incidents of power outages, water issues and vehicle accidents, Polk County largely dodged many of the pitfalls of 2021.

“We’ve done pretty well for power,” Polk County Emergency Management Coordinator Courtney Comstock said Tuesday. “We’ve had some sporadic outages, but nothing major. It looks like SHECO (Sam Houston Electric Cooperative) got them back up fairly quickly.”

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From Enterprise Staff

Kathy Lott accepts the first-place certificate on behalf of Extreme Fitness and the third-place certificate on behalf of Greater Onalaska Heritage Society from Macey George for the annual Christmas decorating contest. George White & Sons Body Shop placed second. Courtesy photoThe Onalaska City Council recognized two members of the Onalaska Volunteer Fire Department during its Jan. 9 regular meeting. Onalaska Fire Chief presented plaques to Jacob Chapman for “fireman of the year” and to John “Bubba” Cleveland for “most calls.” Additionally, certificates were presented to winners of the Christmas decorating contest. Extreme Fitness placed first, George White & Sons Body Shop placed second and Greater Onalaska Heritage Society placed third.

Council approved authorizing the city administrator to surplus the 2020 Chevrolet Tahoe – “as is and without warranty” – setting a minimum bid of $5,000, posting it on the city’s website and accepting sealed bids for it for a period of no less than 10 days.

Ordinance 448, ordering the city’s May 4 general election, was reviewed and approved. In related activity, Council approved an interlocal agreement with Polk County for the use of certain equipment and services and an interlocal agreement with Onalaska ISD for the purpose of conducting a joint election, both of these agreements in compliance with the requirements of the Texas Election Code and regulations promulgated by the Texas secretary of state.

Council reviewed and approved a resolution amending the resolution for submission of the Body Worn Camera Program grant application.

In personnel matters, Council approved the hiring of Angel Vela as a fulltime police officer with the standard probationary period and accepted the resignation of Cassadi Steagall from fulltime dispatcher and approved a change of status to labor pool dispatcher.

Departmental reports will be presented on behalf of the police department, fire department, fire marshal/building inspector and library representative.

Onalaska Police Department conducted 153 subdivision checks and 52 business checks during the month of November, responded to 246 calls, made nine arrests, issued 66 warnings and 26 citations. The department provided assistance to other law enforcement agencies 10 times and to the fire department and EMS seven times. Six hundred fifty-eight miles were driven during the month of November, 24 cases worked, 25 city warrants served and eight follow-ups conducted.

During the month of December, the department conducted 134 subdivision checks and 80 business checks, responded to 351 calls, made 18 arrests, issued 92 warnings and 29 citations. They provided assistance to other law enforcement agencies 17 times and to the fire department and EMS 17 times. The department drove 1,163.2 miles during the month of December, worked 16 cases and issued three city warrants.

Onalaska Volunteer Fire Department responded to 37 calls in the city and 25 calls in the county during the month of December, providing mutual aid once. The fire department responded to 43 medical calls, three structure fires, one vehicle fire, two grass fires, three motor vehicle accidents, eight assistance calls and four landing zones.

Other business included approval of the minutes, vouchers and financial reports.