The Eldorado Success newspaper

Tom Brown with Naismith Engineering was present Monday for a public hearing held by the Schleicher County Commissioners Court. The purpose of the hearing was to receive comments regarding an application to the Texas Department of Rural Affairs for a grant to replace 8-inch sewer lines in the Edgefield, Orient Heights and Three Sisters subdivisions. No one from the public appeared to comment on the project.

Brown gave each commissioner two maps representing construction of Phase 1 and Phase 2  projects.
Phase 1 of the project proposes construction of a sewage lift station at the intersection of Denny and Cotton Streets. The lift station and associated sewer lines are expected to cost $499,527.
Phase 2 includes sewer lines only at a cost of $264,622.

After closing the public hearing, the commissioners then convened into regular session at which time they voted to submit the grant application, which is due June 3.

If the grants are approved, the county will provide in-kind services for “trench repair” and use a USDA grant to pay hook-up costs which will cost another $78,105.

The commissioners then tabled agenda item #4 which called for the sale of $1.5 million in bonds for the construction of a new swimming pool and improvements to the county park.

County Judge Charlie Bradley advised the commissioners that financial advisor Larry Skiles has yet to find a buyer for the bonds.

Tom Brown advised that the project calls for solar panels for the new pool to be installed first followed by new lighting for the little league field and park renovations. Construction of the swimming pool would be last, he said.

In other business, road superintendent Mark Graves reported that his crews will be hauling caliche and road base for the City of Eldorado in the near future. He said his crews are preparing to pave the Civic Center parking and hopes to get the job done this week, if weather prevents. Graves added that the has leased some equipment to help with the paving job.

The commissioners then approved minutes of meetings held on April 11, April 14 and April 19. They also approved County Treasurer Karen Henderson’s financial reports and authorized payment of the county’s bills.

Before adjourning, Judge Bradley explained that “No Dumping” signs have been prepared for placement at the end of Orient Street, which extends east from East Street.

Bradley added that he sought input from City Councilman Jon Cartwright and City Secretary Carolyn Mayo as he looks for a solution to the illegal dumping that has been occurring in the area.
The site is within the Eldorado city limits.

Monday’s meeting was attended by Commissioners Kirk Griffin, Johnny Mayo and Lynn Meador. Commissioner Matt Brown was absent.

The next meeting of the Schleicher County Commissioners Court is slated for 9 a.m. on Monday, May 9, 2011 in the first floor meeting room of the county courthouse.

Willie Mata of Eldorado shows off his 5 month old nanny goat that has the famous Texas Longhorn marking on her forehead. The white marking strongly resembles the University of Texas Longhorn its tongue hanging out.              — PHOTO BY KATHY MANKIN

Schleicher County Commissioners met Thursday, April 14, 2011, and took the first steps toward redrawing precinct lines within the county. Redistricting must be completed in time for the next county election and any plan used by the county must be approved by the U.S. Justice Department.

Attorneys Sydney W. Falk Jr. and Brad Young with the Austin law firm of Bickerstaff, Heath Delgado, Acosta LLP, were on hand for the meeting and reviewed the county’s decennial census numbers. It was noted that Precinct #3 is now the most populous of the county’s four precincts with 1,206 residents. That compares to Precinct #2 which has 813 people, Precinct #4 with 723 and Precinct #1 with 719.

Only ten years ago the four precincts were roughly equal, but that was before an influx of people to the YFZ Ranch in Precinct #3.
Now, the county must again redraw the lines and bring the four precincts into balance so that they comply with the “one person - one vote” principle outlined in the 14th Amendment to the U.S.

Constitution. Attorney Sydney Falk explained that when the redistricting process is done the deviation between the most populous and least populous precincts should be less than 10 percent.
But, total population isn’t’ the only thing under consideration.  Falk explained that the commissioners must also consider Voting Age Population (VAP) and the percentage of racial and ethnic minorities.

Interestingly, Precinct #3, has the highest overall population, but the lowest percentage of VAP, some 57 percent of its total. But that was enough to give Precinct #3 the highest Voting Age Population in the county, but by a much narrower margin than overall population.

Falk went on to say that balancing the overall population among the district just one of criteria that must be considered during redistricting. He noted that the 1964 Voting Rights Act requires most southern states, including Texas, to demonstrate that they have not attempted to dilute minority voting strength when redrawing precinct lines.

He further stated that the county must also be careful not to pack too many minority voters into a single precinct.
Falk said the county would need to establish criteria that would be used when formulating its new redistricting plan and he provided a sample set of criteria which the commissioners adopted by order following a closed-door executive session.
Among other things, the commissioners order states:
• Easily identifiable geographic boundaries should be followed;
• Communities of interest should be maintained in a single precinct, where practicable;
• Precincts should be drawn in a way that permits the creation of practical voting precincts with adequate polling places;
• Redrawn precincts should, to the extent possible, be based on existing precincts;
• Precincts should be relatively equal in total population. In no event should total deviation between largest and smallest precinct exceed 10 percent;
• Precincts should be compact and composed of contiguous territory;
• Preservation of incumbent-constituency relationships should be considered by recognition of the residence of the incumbents and their history representing certain areas;
• Plan should be narrowly tailored to avoid retrogression of the voting strength of racial and/or language minorities;
• Plan should not fragment geographically compact minority community or pack minority voters into a precinct.

The commissioners also adopted guidelines for persons who are interested in submitting their own redistricting proposals. Among the guidelines are:
Such submissions should be:
• Proposed plans must be submitted in writing and be legible;
• Any plan must show the total population and voting age population for Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Anglo/Other for each proposed precinct;
• Plans should redistrict the entire county;
• Plans should conform to criteria the Commissioners will be using;
• Comments must be submitted in writing and be legible;
• Persons submitting plans and/or commenting must identify themselves by full name and home address and provide a phone number, and if available, an email address.