Dear Editor,

I want to express my appreciation to Brent Stewart who is an employee of the City of Canton for promptly replacing the flags at the Van Zandt County Sara Norman Library located in Canton. I emailed him about the need for replacement flags, but was told by the city that he would be very busy with First Monday events, but he immediately returned my email. I drove by the library Monday morning and there were the beautiful new flags.

Thank you, Mr. Stewart and the City of Canton, for so promptly handling this issue.

Donna Toups

Canton ~~~

Dear Editor,

As VZC plans to celebrate the longago scheduled final installment payment on its last remaining certificate of obligation, it’s a great time to look back and recognize the many benefits realized by the citizens of VZC through these investments.

In 2004, the County borrowed funds to build the minimum-security jail to alleviate some of the jail’s overcrowding issues.

In 2008, funding was acquired to construct the Precinct 3 Annex in Wills Point which moved the County out of rental property and into permanent office facilities for the Justice of the Peace, Constable, and Vehicle Registration. (Incidentally, freeing up that leased building made way for a local optometrist office, the second of only two in the whole county.) The commissioners also included a small investment in road and bridge materials.

The 2010 investment brought numerous improvements to the County’s facilities:

*The purchase and remodel of the Hwy. 64 building for the Tax A/C’s main office. This moved vehicle registration out of the Courthouse and into a much more accessible site. That purchase also included a large warehouse building which has been leased to South Van Zandt VFD since the property was initially purchased.

*The purchase and remodel of the South Buffalo building for the District Attorney’s office which had outgrown its previous building many years before. Remember the files stored in bathrooms? That also freed up the previous DA location to be renovated (at a very nominal cost) for the Texas AgriLife Extension Office.

*Courthouse renovations to the previous Tax A/C office to build a new office and courtroom for County Court/Commissioners Court to make room for the new County Court at Law. The original second floor courtroom was designated for CCL because it was larger, had a jury box, and had a jury room with a bathroom.

*The commissioners also included some road and bridge investments, and a mandate from Jail Standards required over $400,000 to replace jail door locks.

The citizens of VZC can be proud of their investment in the facilities and future growth of their county government.

April is National County Government Month. Stop by sometime and take a look at your county’s assets and learn more about what your local county government does for you every day.

Rhita Koches

Canton