The City Council passed a moratorium that temporarily restricts residents from placing shipping containers in their yards while the Council decides how to regulate the structures, which are popping up as tiny homes and storage sheds. The Council passed the measure on first reading, intending to amend it at its May 22 meeting and to give it final approval.
The City of Olney will reap about $43,000 from its sale of 10 foreclosed lots to Crombie Properties of Olney, a Jacksboro-based developer that plans to build homes and duplexes on the lots, City Administrator Arpegea Pagsuberon told the Council on May 8. The City had to split the $52,000 sales price for the block of lots with Young County and the Olney Hamilton Hospital and Olney Independent School District taxing entities. “All the documents have been signed by all the entities,” she said. Each of the taxing entities must now approve the amount of money they will receive from the sale, and forward the signed documents to the buyer. The buyer will then record the deeds with Young County, she said.
Young County Sheriff Travis Babcock told County Commissioners that he is starting a program for inmates who want access to Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous. Sheriff Babcock also said he plans to invite the Texas Workforce Commission to hold job skills training and job searches for inmates. “We could get some of these people who have been there for a long time learning a trade that they can use when they get out of jail,” he said. Sheriff Babcock also is working with Jack County law enforcement officials to send mentally ill inmates to Jack County, where they can receive counseling and medication, and to take inmates suitable for a general population in Young County. County Judge Win Graham also queried Sheriff Babcock about coming up with a daily rate for housing inmates from surrounding counties that do not have jails, as there seems to be demand for the service. Sheriff Babcock said he has been struggling to staff the jail and had been trying to recruit at job fairs and at local high schools.
The City Council expressed concern that the crumbling facade of the Old City Hall on South Grand Avenue is a danger to pedestrians but took no action as they considered their options at their May 8 meeting. City Administrator Arpegea Pagsuberon said the stucco material above one of the structure’s ornamental columns had begun falling onto the sidewalk during a recent windstorm. The City blocked off the front entrance to 117 S. Grand Ave. with cones and posted a warning, but that had not stopped the curious from standing under the unstable area, she said.
OES Students Visit Olney Heritage Museum
213 E. Main St.
PO Box 577
Olney, Texas 76374
Phone: (940) 564-5558
Fax: (940) 564-3992