Nuisance debris, junk becomes issue

Many citizens of Gonzales County want something done about the accumulation of junk and debris in various parts of the county, and Gonzales commissioners on Monday morning evaluated possible ways to resolve the matter.

“We need to get something done about a certain property in the Leesville community,” said Leesville resident Sedley Martin. “One resident in particular has a lot of lumber and junk piled up on his property, it has become an eyesore in our community.”

Commissioner Donnie Brzozowski proposed that per state law, the constable for the precinct in question should be responsible for enforcing the laws that require people to keep their property cleaned up.

“We have state laws already in effect,” noted Brzozowski. “The constable should take charge of the situation.”

Martin also asked the commissioners if a volunteer fire department were standing by, then could the resident burn the junk.

“A lot of this resident’s debris, as I said earlier, is lumber,” said Martin. “Maybe it could be burned without the threat of a fire if firefighters were standing by.”

In other news, the court received the oath and bond for the current Fire Marshal, Keith Schmidt, in the amount of $5,000. The bond is to protect Gonzales County and Schmidt in the event of any faulty judgment.

Commissioners also decided to extend the Gonzales County burn ban another 90 days when the current ban expires on May 16. The ban will continue on through August 16, 2011.

In addition, the commissioners voted in favor of renewing the service agreement with All Seasons for the air conditioning plan regarding the Gonzales County Annex. The price for the continuing air conditioning maintenance will remain unchanged at  $1,750.