Shepherd handles personnel matters

By Tony Farkas
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SHEPHERD — The Shepherd City Council appointed an investigator to do a background check on its prospective police chief.

City Secretary Debra Hagler said that at its regular meeting on March 13, the council hired Ray Atchley, San Jacinto County Precinct 2 constable, to conduct a background check on Clint Headley.

The background check will be done once the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement assigns a number to the fledgling department, which Hagler said should be done within the next two weeks.

The council also hired Matthew Greer as Public Works director.

Hagler said Greer, who is a resident of Coldspring, previously worked for Cleveland, and has a Class B wastewater license and a Class C license in ground water, as well as management training.

Greer will start March 27 at a salary of $53,000, she said.

In other business, the council:

•hired Raymond K. Vann & Associates to administer application and management services for the city’s 2023-2024 Texas CDBG-CD grant;

•hired Goodwin Lassiter Strong . This grant is for engineering services related to the grant;

•abandoned a portion of the alley in Block 64 of the Shepherd Townsite and approved the sale of it to Jefferson C. Langham Sr.;

•approved an ordinance regarding false alarms, which requires good contact information and communication with owners to cut down of officers responding to a false alarm;

•denied a variance request from Lindsey Davidson to place a portable building on Highway 150 to be used as a barbershop, as city ordinances state no portable buildings can be used as commercial property;

•delayed appointing a new Municipal Judge to replace Harris Blanchette, who resigned to focus on his duties as Justice of the Peace; and

•approved the installation of streetlights on new poles installed by Entergy on Finger Street.