Turf Troubles

ANAHUAC— The laying of turf on infields at two sports complexes caused a stir at commissioners’ court last week.

Chambers County Commissioners Court held its regular meeting on Tuesday, June 24.

Turfing the infields at Jim Silva Sports Complex and Don McCleod Sports Complex would have cost just under $2.3 million, which drew concern from a resident and County Clerk Heather Hawthorne, believing the money should go to more pertinent issues.

“This is just ridiculous to spend $2 million on plastic grass,” AC Lowe said.

Lowe said that until basic services to the county are provided or are funded and scheduled, commissioners should not put this amount of money into turf, adding that it would be a maintenance cost in the future.

Director of Parks and Recreation John Parrott said about half of the tournaments were canceled this year, noting it is a loss of revenue for the county.

Hawthorne then asked to make a comment, saying, “I think this is the biggest waste of taxpayer money I have ever seen in 20 years sitting here.”

Hawthorne added that the Chambers County Courthouse is currently without plumbing, going on the third week now. She called the item a “luxury,” noting the county could find a better use of the money.

“Until the streets are paved in gold, we need to worry about what we need to worry about, and I don’t think turf is our answer,” Hawthorne said.

County Commissioner Mark Tice said while working on drainage projects over the past six or seven weeks, a lot of issues have been uncovered, agreeing that the item is a luxury.

“I think the complexes that we have now are beautiful,” Tice said. “I think there’s room down the road to do this.”

County Judge Jimmy Sylvia asked Parrott if he had heard anything from parents, and Parrott replied that he hadn’t heard anything, but when asked, parents liked the idea.

The item died due to a lack of motion.

Commissioners then denied a previously approved item, which reallocated $297,537 from a maintenance fund to the park improvement fund for the turfing. During voting, the item was denied by Commissioners Ryan Dagley and Tommy Hammond and approved by Tice and Commissioner Jimmy Gore, with the tie broken by Sylvia.

Commissioners approved updating the Floodplain Management Regulations Manual, which will help the county enter the FEMA Community Rating System program. If approved, county residents with flood insurance could get a discount.

Brad Wilber, Road and Bridge Department, explained that there were two main changes to the manual.

The first change asks non-residential property owners to elevate their property by one foot above the base foot elevation. The second change adds other public facilities, such as schools and hospitals, which will be held to the residential standard.

Residential property will remain as is, which is either 2 feet above the 100-year floodplain map or 1 foot above the 500-year map.

Commissioners approved to spend a maximum of just under $4.4 million to build the new county library for the Anahuac area, which will include a 1,500 square foot addition for a museum.

“I’m excited we’re finally here to start construction,” Dagley said, which was a sentiment shared by Gore.

Commissioners approved giving a 50% discount to all veterans and military soldiers for green fees at the Chambers County Golf Course.

Also, for the golf course, commissioners approved renovations to the course, to begin around November, and bidding for a new pump station for water irrigation.

Commissioners approved the abandonment of a portion of Double Bayou and Smith Point Road.

Wilber explained that the abandoned portion is a grassy path, and that the 60-foot right-of-way has been around since about 1870 to 1875. The landowner owns both sides of the right-of-way and they are unable to build due to the path.

Commissioners accepted a grant from the Texas Division of Emergency Management Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to use for drainage improvements to Cotton Bayou and Hackberry Gully.

The project will be broken into two phases, with the first pertaining to design and environmental components.