Court acknowledges primary election results
After hearing a report from Lavaca County interim election administrator Tenia Hudson at its Monday morning meeting, the Commissioners’ Court acknowledged the results of the primary election held on March 5.
Hudson reported out of the 14,081 registered voters in Lavaca County there were 5,584 votes cast, which is 40.3% of voter turnout.
She said there were 382 absentee votes, 2,376 early votes and 2, 826 voting on election day.
In breaking down votes by ages, Hudson reported there were:
• 18 to 20 years – 32
• 20-29 years – 280
• 30-39 years – 536
• 40 to 49 – 600
• 50 to 59 – 925
• 60 to 65 – 626
• 65 - plus – 2,602
Hudson said with the primary election over, the next voting will be with local entities throughout the county.
She said the entity elections will take place on May 4 with early voting held from April 22 to 30.
The entities holding elections are the cities of Hallettsville, Shiner, Moulton and Yoakum, while Hallettsville and Sweet Home ISDs will also hold elections.
Bid Approvals:
The court approved bids for the purchase of gravel (Post Oak Pit Run with Red Binder) from both Prihoda Gravel of Altair and Fred’s Contract Store of Cuero.
The bid from H&C Construction Company was approved for the purchase of seal-coating and resealing.
A bid for the purchase of a new Ford F-150 pickup for Pct. 2 was tabled due to receiving only one bid.
Certificates of Exemption:
The court approved three certificates of exemption from subdivision requirements.
The first exemption was for Ryan Pope for property located on CR 16A in Pct. 1.
A second exemption was approved to James, Robert and Warren Williams for properties located on Highway 77 South in Pct. 4.
A third exemption was approved for Debra Smirak Technik for property on CR 175 in Pct. 1.
Party Chair Comments:
Outgoing Republican and Democrat Party chairs, Cheryl Thompson Draper and Carol Brincefield, respectively presented comments in complimenting Tenia Hudson and interim assistant election administrator Brandy Stuckey for their work in helping the primary elections run smoothly.
“I want to congratulate these two ladies (Hudson and Stuckey) and how they handled being interims, and I appreciate you,” Thompson-Draper said. “You’ve done a lot of hard work and a lot of training.”
Brincefield also complemented the two interim election administrators and said its been an honor to serve as the Democrat Party chair.
“These two ladies were great to work with,” Brincefield said. “They answer our questions and if they don’t know the answer, they would phone immediately to find the answer. They have made all of us confident that our elections are running smoother.”
Welfare Board Update:
Lavaca County Welfare Board president Kimberly Wilson provided an update on the services provided by the board.
Wilson said she would like to thank all for allowing funds for the board to help service children and foster children of Lavaca County.
“We are a very active board and we support about seven foster children in our community as well as their families,” Wilson said.
Wilson added that they also collaborate with Norma’s House and Family Protective Services and a new agency called Belong.
She said they help when they call with investigation request for additional assistance. Wilson said they had eight requests this past year.
According to Wilson, they help with monetary gifts through gift cards for getting food supplies and school supplies.
“We also started a program where we ask the kiddos if they would like to attend any events,” Wilson said. “A lot of them said they would like to go to Splashway, so we have provided the families with passes to the waterpark. We also do a Christmas wish-list for the children.”
Wilson said they try to be active posting their events on Facebook and next month is Child Abuse Awareness Month and they will be participating in a lot of events.
Announcements:
Prior to the start of the agenda items, County Judge Keith Mudd announced that May 28 is the date for primary election run-offs and is also a day the commissioners’ court meeting is scheduled. He said he will ask for a change the meeting date at the April 8 meeting.
He also reminded all county officials that a group photo will be taken at 9:30 a.m. prior to the Monday, April 8 meeting
In other action taken by the court:
• Discussed the Lavaca County Road Plan and Paving agreement. No action was taken.
• Approved the renewal of the 2024-25 property/contents coverage with the Texas Association of Counties (TAC) Risk Management Pool.
• Renewed coverages through the TAC Risk Management Pool Liability Program for 2023-25.
• Acknowledged an order for appointing the county auditor for Lavaca County and approving the bond for the auditor.
• Approved a grant agreement for the rural law enforcement salary assistance program.
• Approved the order to close, abandon and vacate a road for Todd and Teresa Rehm.
County Judge Keith Mudd presided over the meeting with Edward Pustka, Wayne Faircloth, Kenny Siegel and Dennis W. Kocian present for the meeting.