Rock Hill ownership assigned to county

By Melinda L. Lucas

The long-standing ownership issue at the Rock Hill School voting site has finally been resolved, Shackelford County commissioners learned at Monday’s regular meeting.

Commissioners also took action on an emergency adjustment in the budget to accommodate payment for an easement on One Mile Hill property where the county’s radio tower is located.

Pct. 4 Voting Site

County attorney Rollin Rauschl reported that documentation had been completed recently that gives Shackelford County definitive ownership of the Rock Hill School property in Precinct 4 that has served as a county polling site for decades.

County officials are not sure how long it’s been since the one-room building ceased to operate as a school, but until about two years ago, the building itself has continuously been used as a county polling place. 

When the Hamby school district, which originally owned the property, consolidated with Clyde in 1980, the Rock Hill School was basically abandoned by the school district, even though various commissioners did some repairs. Over the years, ownership became unclear.

As the building fell into disrepair, county officials felt that it was unsafe to use as a voting site, but since they didn’t have a deed to the property, they couldn’t justify the $8,000 to $12,000 that would be needed to make the repairs.

A small portable building was purchased and moved to the site in 2019, but Pct. 4 residents petitioned the county last summer to repair the historic school, stating that it was one of the oldest buildings in the Hamby community. Election judges in that precinct also felt the portable building was too small and had no awning.

After that, Rauschl and Pct. 4 commissioner Cody Jordan redoubled the county’s ongoing efforts to get legal documentation. Clyde school officials approved a “deed without warranty” earlier this month, assigning ownership to Shackelford County.

“Thank you to everyone who had a part in getting this issue resolved,” said county judge Robert Skelton. “This is a big deal. It’s been in the works for a long time.”

Tower Easement

Skelton presented a draft of an agreement with landowner Justin Trail for a transferable permanent easement for the county-owned communication tower, which sits on leased property on One Mile Hill.

Over the last few months, a local resident experienced in communication, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been helping to hammer out the agreement, for which the county will make a one-time payment rather than yearly lease payments. The negotiation discussions were held in closed session unless action was required.

Skelton said Monday that the citizen felt that the tower was so important to county communications that he approached the City of Albany’s Economic Development Committee (EDC) to help fund the easement, suggesting that $75,000 would be a fair price.

The EDC agreed to pay $37,500, with the commissioners voting Monday to adjust the budget for the remaining $42,500 for the other half of the easement payment and all legal costs.

Rauschl assured commissioners that a transferable permanent easement will cover the county even if the land is sold to a new owner in the future.

Other Business

•Commissioners voted to extend the burn ban.

•An agreement with CIRA Services for website maintenance at $3,550 per year was approved, even though the cost increased significantly from the current $1,550 per year.

•The county’s votes for representatives on the Shackelford County Appraisal District board of directors were cast for Lanham Martin (1000), Cody Jordan (1000), and James Shelton (487), who represents Moran ISD.