Dateline: December 14, 2006

Wallendorff resigns constable's office

Donley County Commissioners accepted the resignation of Constable Mike Wallendorff when they met in regular session Monday.

Judge Jack Hall said Wallendorff made the move in a letter to the court and said the constable’s resignation would take effect December 15.

“He just said he wanted a change in his occupation and had some other work he wanted to pursue,” Hall said.

Wallendorff was elected to the constable’s position in 2000.

Commissioners did not take action to replace Wallendorff, and Hall said the county is not looking to abolish the office of constable in Precincts 3&4 as it did the same position in Precincts 1&2 in 2003.

Hall said he knows of three potential candidates to succeed Wallendorff but said the county was not going to rush into a decision and would probably wait until January to fill the vacancy.

In other county business, TxDOT representative Jimmy Bridges also gave commissioners an update on plans to replace the bridge on CR 28 over Buck Creek. The project is in the contract letting stage and will get underway in 2007.

The county’s match for the new bridge will be $12,000, but Hall said that has already been taken care of by some in-kind labor the county did for the state back in 2001.

Training and continuing education courses were approved for the county attorney and county treasurer. The court also authorized the county treasurer to administer some accounts for the district attorney’s office.

The county policy manual was altered to require all part-time employees to participate in the county’s retirement plan.

Commissioners approved the county’s liability, auto, and property insurance coverage through the Texas Association of Counties in the amount of $51,500, which is $10,000 less than last year.

The court approved an agreement with TxDOT to keep trees trimmed near the Giles railroad crossing on CR Z, and commissioners also approved a resolution supporting the attorney general’s grant for Victim Assistance Coordinator Kim Jeffrey.

Judge Hall’s attendance at a preservation workshop in Austin next February was approved. The workshop, which will be on the maintenance of restored courthouses, is being funded by the Texas Land & Title Association.

Hall also said the Donley County Courthouse will be featured on a program on KACV-TV this Thursday at 9 p.m.