County Commissioners Court Briefs

Young County Commissioners met on Sept. 23, and agreed to convert the Tax Assessor/Collector’s office into a new office for the County Auditor, to hold a concert to fund the Young County Arena, and to lift the burn ban.

The commissioners voted to proceed with courthouse renovations to bring the tax assessors office to the courthouse after receiving bids that initially significantly exceeded the county’s budget.

The plans were revised by the architect, commissioners, and contractor and kept the project within the budget, County Judge Win Graham said.

The Commissioners voted to partner with the City of Graham to host a concert at the Young County Arena to raise funds for the arena’s operating fund. Currently, the city and county share a 50/50 partnership for the arena, splitting both the costs and revenues. The concert is expected to generate funds that will help mitigate the annual losses incurred in operating the arena, Judge Graham said.

The Commissioners also voted to lift the burn ban.

“Young County received a substantial amount of rain over the weekend, prompting the Commissioners and VFD Chiefs to deem it an opportune time for residents to proceed with any planned burn projects from the past two months,” he said. “If you have a burn project in mind, I recommend completing it promptly, as we may reinstate the burn ban if we do not receive further rain soon.”

Judge Graham said he also met for the second time with the developers of a solar project near Eliasville.

“They are interested in obtaining a tax abatement for their project, so we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of doing so,” he said. “I also informed them about an upcoming change in the commissioners court due to Commissioner Rogers’ retirement in November. As a result, they decided to wait until January to present their proposal for an abatement to the commissioners court.”