New West Kerr Annex is recommended to county leaders

Kerr County elected leaders have begun to seriously evaluate local facilities/operations and put together plans for controlled growth to meet current and future needs of county residents. One part of that plan involves the possibility of creating a new West Kerr Annex, which is an extension of the Kerr County Courthouse.

Currently, the annex is operated at 3350 Junction Highway in Ingram in a rental building that once served as an animal control facility, “and it looks like it,” said Bobby Templeton, a member of the county’s Capital Improvement Projects committee, in a presentation to the Kerr County Commissioners’ Court meeting on Monday.

Templeton added that the current facility is very small, not ADA handicapped-compliant and doesn’t offer enough parking. As of now, the site houses a courtroom, a tax and vehicle registration office, the office of Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace, the honorable William E. Ragsdale and Precinct 4 Constable Brad Rider, along with space shared by several law enforcement officers with the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office.

Templeton suggested to the Court that a new county annex would be the best recommendation, and that it would not only serve West Kerr County citizens but also anyone who chooses to utilize the site due to a busy Kerr County Courthouse. A 6,000 square foot rendering from architect Peter Lewis was shown to county leaders depicting one possible idea for a new annex in theory.

Commissioners were told of one possible location for a future West Kerr Annex, a tract of land which fronts TX 39 that sits across the two-lane road from the Hill Country Arts Foundation on Point Theater. The county recently purchased the acreage and committee members say that the property would be highly visible, another benefit for citizens.

Monday morning’s presentation in commissioners’ court was slated to be the first in a series in which CIP members will be presenting findings to elected officials as to what local needs and project options may entail. Other focuses the committee is researching include security changes at the Kerr County Courthouse being mandated by the Texas State Legislature, the Hill Country Regional Public Defenders’ Office, Kerr County Animal Services control facility and the Hill Country Youth Event Center.