Commissioners Court
The Hopkins County Commissioners Court met for a special session Friday morning to certify the results of the Nov. 5 election.
County Clerk Tracy Smith presented the results to the commissioners. A total of 3,683 ballots were cast at the 12 polling locations across Hopkins County. The heaviest early voting turnouts occurred at the League Street Church of Christ and the Hopkins County Courthouse.
Voter participation was higher than expected at 15%.
“I was honestly surprised,” Smith said. “Typically, on constitutional amendment [elections] we don’t have a good turnout. A lot of people do not come out for those elections.”
The commissioners voted to accept the election results and have them entered into Hopkins County’s official voting records.
The court approved the participating entity service agreement for the Statewide Victim Notification Services (referred to as SAVNS, pronounced like “savin’s”). Hopkins County receives an annual grant that fully funds the program, but the contract must be renewed each year.
The commissioners briefly went into executive session to discuss a real estate matter, then returned to open session to pass the issue.
Pct. 3 Commissioner Wade Bartley explained proposed purchase contracts are for a total of 10 acres of land. The county has been leasing the land for several years, and the owners, who received it as part of an estate, now want to sell the property. The tract has frontage on County Roads 3564 and 3602 in Dike.
Bartley said he has two negotiated contracts to purchase the land at $4,000 per acre. He proposed seeking bids from local banks to finance the purchase for seven years and said the transaction would hopefully be complete by the end of the year.
Bartley plans to use some materials salvaged from the demolition of the building on the corner of East Houston and Rosemont Streets on the tract once it becomes county property.