Pinehurst Council hears citizen's concerns

At the March 10 meeting of the Pinehurst City Council two residents of Lark Street addressed the council and related concerns about suspected drug activity, loud music, and an aggressive dog at a rent house located at 3631 Lark Street.

One resident has lived next to the house since it was purchased and became a rent house about eight years ago.

He stated that the owner has numerous renters in the house and that each of them has been evicted by the owner.

The owner seems to rent indiscriminately to anyone once the house becomes vacant.

Both of the residents stated that they have reason to believe that there is constant drug activity at the rent house.

“I have seen people walk up to the middle of the yard and be met by one of the people living in the house.

They make some motions with their hands, like things are being exchanged.

The person then leaves; people are constantly coming and going all around the clock.

There is no telling how many people are living in the house”, said one neighbor.

Both neighbors said that people come to the house and get out of their cars and leave the windows down and loud music playing. The people living in the house reportedly play music so loud that neighbors windows vibrate.

Neighbors are concerned about an aggressive dog that is kept on a chain until after 5:00 p.m. After that time the dog is let off of the chain and allowed to run loose. It seems that the owner knows that after that time the city animal control officer is no longer on duty.

Members of the council were prohibited from discussing the issue because of the Texas Open Meetings Act which states that items not on the regular agenda cannot be discussed in the meeting.

After the meeting police chief Fred Hanauer met with both citizens and discussed the issue to see how the police department could patrol and keep the residence under observation. The neighbors had stated that they had called about noise and the noise soon stopped before a patrol car could get there. It is suspected that there is a police scanner in the house and that the calls are intercepted.

Jay Deville appeared before the council with the plat for a projected apartment complex he wants to build on Raven Street. Due to misinformation the address on the agenda was listed as Pheseant Street, so the issue had to be tabled until the address could be corrected. It will be an agenda item at the next meeting. Deville left copies of the plat with the council for their review.

Plans are to convert a current mobile home park to fixed housing. There will be six small duplex apartments of about 544 square feet. Deville has worked with city code enforcement officer Harry Vines for about two years on the project. It will be discussed at the next meeting, action can be taken at that time.

Discussion of the proposals to amend the city’s sick leave policy as it relates to the Teledoc program has been postponed pending making an appointment to have Teledoc representatives meet with the council and fully explain the program and the procedure for obtaining a back to work release.

City Secretary Debbie Cormier present her recommendations for election judges and alternates. The council voted to accept Jean Long as Election Judge with Karen Comeaux as alternate judge. Karen Comeaux and Lorraine Camp were accepted as Deputy Clerks, with Virginia Williams and Lorrie Pellerin as alternate clerks.

After city administrator Joe Parkhurst reported that the wording of the new police contract had been worked out to the satisfication of both the city and the police rfepresentatives, Councilman Dan Barclay made the motion to accept the contract as written, after a second by Councilman Mike Anderson the motion passed by a unanimous vote.

In his report Fire Chief Shon Brannon reported on a recent fire in a detached garage. “We want to thank the Bridge City Fire Department for their assistance. They had a K-12 saw, which we do not have. We had no way to cut into the garage doors to get to the fire. They had the saw, so we could cut the doors. I am planning to price a saw and see about buying one for our department”, said Brannon. “The K-12 is a cutoff saw that will cut nearly anything we would need to get through to get to a fire, or for rescue work.”

Code Enforcement Officer Vines reported that he has a rough draft of a sign ordinance ready for review by the committee and they will be meeting in the near future to review the draft and make a recommendation to the council.

The members of the Eagle Riders Motorcycle Club have volunteered to work with the city on the makeover of the park on West Park Street. The city has plans to build a walking track and install picnic tables and grills in the park. In addition they will install some additional lighting for night use and safety.

Cormier reported that the deadline for applying for the city administrator position has passed and she has 23 applications. “We have 20 from Texas, seven are from the Golden Triangle and one is from Canada. I will review them and have a package made for the committee so that we can start the selection process”, said Cormier.

Pictured is Jay Deville addressing the council about his proposed apartments on Raven Street.​