Fannin County, Texas -- All five members of Fannin County Commissioners Court were present for a regular meeting held Tuesday, February 11, 2025.
The meeting opened with an invocation by Gus Barker of Telephone Baptist Church, and pledges were led by U.S. Marine veteran, Andy Garner.
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In public forum, Pct. 3 Commissioner Kurt Fogelberg remarked that bills need to be paid in a timely manner and commissioners court needs to get caught up on minutes from previous meetings.
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Routine items
By a 4-0 vote, commissioners court approved payment of bills totaling $321,305.14.
Pct. 1 Commissioner Troy Waggoner, Pct. 2 Commissioner A.J. Self, Pct. 4 Commissioner Doug Kopf and Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham voted to approve payment of bills and Pct. 3 Commissioner Kurt Fogelberg abstained.
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By a 4-0 vote, commissioners court approved minutes from special meetings held July 30, 2024 and August 2, 2024.
Pct. 1 Commissioner Troy Waggoner, Pct. 2 Commissioner A.J. Self, Pct. 4 Commissioner Doug Kopf and Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham voted to approve minutes and Pct. 3 Commissioner Kurt Fogelberg abstained.
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Report of monies received by the County Clerk’s office for January 2025; All courts, $12,631.50 and Land Records, $23,900.50.
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Report of monies received by the District Clerk office for January 2025; $22,469.03.
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Report of monies received by the Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 office for January 2025; $23,859.40 of which $6,506.00 are overweight truck fines.
Commissioners court continues to find ways to rein in overweight trucks that are tearing up roads, and curtail dangerous driving that, in the worst cases, kills people.
Judge Cunningham complimented DPS and all local law enforcement for focusing on that problem.
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Report of monies received by the Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 office for January 2025; $7,119.10.
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Report of monies received by the Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 office for January 2025; $7,162.70.
Discussion items
Commissioners court passed on an agenda item regarding working with Fannin County Sheriff Cody Shook and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to reduce the jail population, and also passed on an agenda item regarding the state of the Criminal District Attorney’s office.
Criminal District Attorney John Skotnik has been under the weather and was unable to attend the meeting; the court will likely revisit these agenda items in the near future.
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Discussion, consideration and action items
Fannin County Commissioners Court approved a Resolution authorizing submission of a grant application by the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) for the Body Camera Project through the Office of the Governor.
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Fannin County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) got the green light from commissioners court to pursue a private grant for the county volunteer fire departments to obtain wildland firefighter tools and equipment.
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Commissioners court briefly discussed a new assistant prosecutor in the DA's office, Vanessa Vice, who is scheduled to begin work February 17, 2025.
"I understand she is highly qualified," Judge Cunningham remarked, although there was some question regarding available funds in in the current DA budget.
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In a split decision, Fannin County Commissioners Court followed the recommendation of Bois d'Arc Lake Zoning Commission and denied a Change in Zoning application; from A&R, Agriculture & Ranching District to R&C, Retail and Commercial District on CR 2998 in Honey Grove, Property ID# 71025.
"Personally, I'm against it," Pct. 4 Commissioner Doug Kopf said of the request for a zoning change, adding that he might reach a different conclusion if it was clear what type of development would occur there.
Judge Cunningham said he favors the concept of having commercial development concentrated in specific areas and agreed with Kopf.
Pct. 2 Commissioner A.J. Self pointed out that recently the county changed zoning to improve the sale price of property the county owned on FM 897 without knowing what sort of development would eventually occur at that site.
Cunningham argued that commissioners court changed the zoning before selling that county-owned land in order to increase the value of the land, which would benefit county taxpayers in general.
Bois d'Arc Lake is the first lake in Texas to be zoned before it was built and Cunningham said the county has an opportunity to ensure the best development possible.
Bonham resident Rusty Deets shared a different perspective.
"You sold that property and changed that zoning to make more money for the Justice Center," Deets countered. "That's no different than this lady," he said in reference to the property owner.
Deets said the county set a price for the Justice Center, but when the project went over that amount, the county started selling property to cover the revenue shortfall.
The property owner making the request for a zoning change pointed out that other property relatively close to her property is zoned commercial.
Kopf asked if those other properties are in lake zoning area, and was told no.
Pct. 3 Commissioner Kurt Fogelberg told the property owner that commissioners court is not issuing a firm "no," but it isn't willing to commit to a zone change without knowing what type of development will take place.
Pausing before voting on this agenda item, Pct. 1 Commissioner Troy Waggoner shared, "I'm torn on this one -- you are taking away people's rights."
The agenda item passed 3-2. Cunningham, Fogelberg and Kopf voted to deny the zone change, with Waggoner and Self voting in favor of the property owner's request.
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Fannin County Commissioners Court approved a Change in Zoning applications to change from A&R, Agriculture & Ranching District to RE, Rural Estate Single-Family District on CR 2980 in Windom, 30 lots on 33.79 acres, Property ID# 75787 and 20 lots on 26.24 acres, Property ID# 75788.
The agenda item was approved 4-0, with Cunningham abstaining.
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Fannin County Commissioners Court followed the recommendation of the Bois d'Arc Lake Zoning Commission and voted 5-0 to approve Special Exception applications to reduce road frontage from 100’ to 60’ on cul-de-sacs and curved roads on CR 2980 in Windom, 30 lots on 33.79 acres, Property ID# 75787 and 20 lots on 26.24 acres, Property ID# 75788.
The developer indicated which lots would be modified.
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Commissioners court approved an Interlocal Agreement with Lamar County for in-kind services.
Fannin County civil attorney Andy Garner will work on the final language of the Interlocal agreement. Cunningham pointed out that state statutes require commissioners to bring significant projects with adjoining counties before commissioners court, with the critical exception of emergency situations.
Fannin County representatives will open discussions with other adjacent counties regarding similar agreements.
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Commissioners court approved the appointment of John Keen as Fannin County’s representative on the Red River Groundwater Conservation District Board of Directors; term to expire August 31, 2029.
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In a discussion regarding overweight trucks in Fannin County, the court discussed sending trucks to the Multipurpose Complex to be weighed.
Fines amounting to approximately $12,000 were handed out last month.
The county is examining how to get more constables and deputies certified to weigh trucks.
Cunningham brought up an interesting strategy; counties can impose specific weight limits on certain bridges unless there is no other route available. In some cases, that might help the county direct traffic to the most desirable routes.
"We need to see what we can do to get unsafe trucks off the road," Cunningham added.
Waggoner noted that the state legislature doesn't allow counties to impose weight restrictions that are more stringent than the state's weight restrictions.
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Open discussion items
Open discussion items will be passed on unless discussion requested by a member of the court or a citizen.
In regard to the Justice Center, Cunningham said the project is "moving on" and invited commissioners to have a look.
The estimated cost of a concrete parking lot at the Justice Center is $500,000, as opposed to $300,000 for an asphalt parking lot.
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Commissioners court had no need for executive session and adjourned at 10:40 a.m.
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There will be no regular meeting of Fannin County Commissioners Court next week.
