Anna Ruth Locke

CELINA-The Clay County Commission’s appointment of Anna Ruth Locke to the 3rd District’s seat vacated by the resignation of Wayne Rich headlined the governing body’s April meeting last week, but other important action was also taken, according to recently released meeting minutes.

Minutes showed Locke was almost a unanimous choice, with all commissioners approving her appointment except commissioner Daniel Stewart who voted for Travis Swan.  The information said Locke would serve in place of Rich “for the remainder of his term.”

Other notable news from the meeting included the appointment of a new veteran’s service officer and the renewal of the county’s ambulance service contract with the City of Celina.

Minutes said Robert Cole would be “the individual who will handle Clay County veteran affairs” and showed he “made a request for the clerk to enter in the minutes to inform the public that if they know an individual or are the individual in the military and they are about to retire out of the military the individual needs to obtain their copy of medical records, annual performance report and discharge papers before leaving the service and bring these said papers and forms to him” in order for Cole “to assist them in creating and composing their resume,” which Cole explained would “be beneficial for the purpose of obtaining disability, if needed or for any other veteran benefits.”

Cole said in the minutes that he “would appreciate if there were any complaints or concerns that people come to him directly with any questions they may have.”

Minutes from the meeting also said Cole can be reached at the Celina UCHRA office on Monday and Tuesday of each week from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and gave his contact numbers as 931-268-8428 or 931-510-5709.

A budget amendment to the county general fund was also approved “for the sole purpose of a budget amendment for the new position of veterans service officer.”

The ambulance contract with the City of Celina was extended, but not unanimously, according to the meeting minutes.

The information said “all commissioners voted aye with the exception of commissioner Pam Breeding and commissioner Denzil Cherry who voted nay,” and explained “Breeding was concerned about where money will come from.”

Other action taken at the meeting included the approval of:

• a budget amendment to the county general school fund for the sole purpose of a budget amendment for a grant, medical insurance and salary for a SRO officer (Bryan Coons voted nay, Stewart abstained);

• a resolution to oppose legislation to create a school voucher program (Parrish Wright voted nay);

• a budget amendment to the county general fund for the sole purpose of a budget amendment insurance recovery for the sheriff’s department;

• a resolution to declare the month of April as Fair Housing Month (Breeding abstained); and

• a motion to approve the turn over of delinquent taxes, errors and adjustments from the trustee’s office (note that trustee’s office collected $21,000 more than last year).

Minutes also showed a resolution to oppose legislation to change the judicial district’s structure was withdrawn for irrelevancy and that local library board member Elaine Cherry “gave an update on the library” before the meeting adjourned.