County Looks To Sell Property

Van Zandt County Commissioners on Friday opted to take sealed bids for purchase of its property on North Fifth Street in Wills Point.

The six lots to be sold will bring in additional money the county can use toward construction of a new office and court building in downtown Wills Point. The county recently purchased property from the city of Wills Point for that future building.

Van Zandt County Judge Rhita Koches said the county had two other options in trying to sell the land, those being by auction or through a commercial property broker. However, she recommended the court go through the sealed bids process first.

In a couple of related items, the court voted to ratify payment to Van Zandt County Abstract for closing costs on the county’s purchase of the land from the city of Wills Point. The court also adopted an order relative to the construction and operation of the new building for the Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace office.

Also in Friday’s meeting, the court received an update from Bill Rowton, the Van Zandt County representative on the Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NETRMA).

Rowton said the county should update its submission list of possible projects and mentioned the idea of establishing the Wills Point airport as a regional airport.

"That property is with the City of Wills Point now, but the NETRMA engineer can look at it," he said about the idea. "They are encouraging counties to look outside the box. Don’t limit yourselves to only rail and highways."

Precinct 2 Commissioner Virgil Melton later spoke about a need for more service roads along Interstate 20, something Precinct 3 Commissioner Kelles Miller agreed was needed for several reasons.

"It’s creating a lot of problems, especially with 18-wheelers jumping off when you’ve got a wreck or a backup, and using our rural roads instead," Miller said.

"We’ve got a lot of dead ends (on service roads) from Kaufman County to Myrtle Springs, the (State) Highway 64 exit," he added.

In other matters Friday, the commissioners’ court took the following action:

— Adopted an order extending county traffic rules to the roads of Willow Lake Estates Subdivision.

— Appointed Billy Smith of Van to the Van Zandt County Rural Rail District.

— Tabled action on a request for regular license plates on two exempt vehicles for the sheriff’s department.

— Approved a one-year contract with AVS Food Services of Tyler for vending machines for the courthouse, annex and county jail.

— Approved a lease agreement between Gary and Eric Kuhel and Precinct 3 for sand to mix oil.

— Approved submission of an application to the East Texas Council of Governments’ Local Enforcement Grant program for the salary of a full-time litter abatement officer.

— Approved submission of an application to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for grant funding to replace expired emergency first aid equipment and inventory on mass casualty trailers, and for a county-wide reverse 9-1-1 system.

— Approved county participation in a July 24 auction to be held in Myrtle Springs.