A final discussion concerning the homestead tax freeze for the disabled or 65 and older citizens of Karnes County began the Commissioners Court meeting on Tuesday, March 11. When bringing the question to a motion, the court voted unanimously to pass the tax freeze, with this year’s 2008 tax assessments as the basis for the following years and going into effect in 2009.

A detailed description of the San Antonio River Authority (SARA) and its services, including the progress it has made, was presented to the court. Several members of the board of directors of SARA shared their support and concern for protecting our waterways.

"We are pleased to be able to share our booklet with members of the court and the audience with updated lists and pictures of the many projects that we are committed to," said Suzanne Scott, general manager of the organization.

The mission of SARA is "to protect and preserve our shared water resources, and together with our partners, pursue innovative solutions that will serve generations to come as indicated in the booklet," she stated.

Following the mission statement and the organizational chart, the booklet contains the names of its board of directors and general manager, its taxing authority and fiscal year, and its environmental sciences. General Manager Scott and Assistant General Manager Steve Graham gave a summary of the tasks SARA works on.

These environmental tasks include stream monitoring programs, clean rivers program, maximum daily load studies, TMDL public meetings, instream flows study, environmental investigations, digital flood insurance rate maps, regional GIS database project, map revision project, flood debris program, park services design assistance, the proposed Karnes County Paddling Trail along the San Antonio River, and other paddling trails programs, and a regional park coordinating council that is made up of representatives from Bexar, Goliad, Karnes and Wilson Counties.

There are also park services available to communities including park operations, land acquisition assistance, conceptual planning, and cost estimates. They also assist local area cities with water utilities problems, wastewater, training needed staff, and educational opportunities, especially for students who will work with environmental issues in the future.

County officials thanked the members of SARA, including members H.B. "Trip" Ruckman III and Gaylon J. Oehlke for their comprehensive presentation.

Two resolutions were then read and approved by the court. The first was proclaiming March 2008 as "National Red Cross Month in Karnes County" and the second was proclaiming April 2008 as "Fair Housing Month in Karnes County" The approved resolutions were signed by the Commissioners Court.

After a review of questions and concerns involving the recent primary election in Karnes County, it was approved for Alva Jonas, county clerk, to relocate Voting Precinct Box No. 1, located in the Karnes County Courthouse to another location in Voting Precinct No. 1, in Karnes City. Also approved was authorizing the procedure to move Voting Precinct Box No. 13 to be combined and located with the Precinct Box No. 12 at the City Hall in Karnes City.

County Clerk Alva Jonas said, "This will facilitate, in the future, a large turnout like we had this past week and will likely have in the general election in November."

Several other items were approved to ease routine business matters. The commissioners approved authorization to the county auditor to request proposals for county property insurance proposals to be due on or before 5 p.m. May 29 and will be opened on May 30. Award of the insurance will be made on June 10. A current bid accepted for the purchase of a used 6 x 4 for Precinct 2 was approved for the amount of $47,950. And the court approved changing the date for their end-of-the-month meeting in March from Monday the 31^st, to Friday, March 28^th, at 9 a.m. One measure on the agenda, the closure of a portion of County Road 150 was tabled until the next meeting.

Following the regular meeting, an executive meeting was held to discuss the possible employment of a person to assist and oversee, in behalf of the county, the construction of the new annex building.