Courtesy Photo/Henderson County
At the Nov. 18 Henderson County Commissioners’ Court meeting, Bill Sekel of the Athens Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (center) helps the county continue to mark the lead-up to the 250th anniversary of the July 4, 1776, signing of the Declaration of Independence by reading a resolution commemorating the summer and fall events of 1775. Joining Sekel are Precinct 4 Commissioner Mark Richardson (from left), Precinct 3 Commissioner Chuck McHam, County Judge Wade McKinney and Precinct 1 Commissioner Wendy Spivey.

ATHENS–Nov. 18, Henderson County Commissioners’ Court continued its series of meeting moments marking the events leading to the Declaration of Independence’s July 4, 1776, signing, as the United States of America prepares for its 250th anniversary (the semiquincentennial) in summer 2026.
During the meeting, the court adopted a resolution commemorating Revolutionary War events in summer and fall of 1775. Said Bill Sekel of the Athens Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, “Two hundred fifty years ago, a collection of colonies considered a crossroads: on one side was the most powerful empire in the world, Great Britain, armed with wealth, ships and soldiers. On the other… well, on the other side, farmers, tradesmen and ordinary people who believed against all odds that freedom was worth the risk of everything.”
Continued Sekel, “Many expected the rebellion to be crushed quickly, yet the colonists stood, fought and endured at the Siege of Boston.”
Sekel said the installation of George Washington as commander united the colonial fighters into a single army. The colonists tried to avoid war if self-governance were granted; King George III rejected that petition, according to Sekel. “With diplomacy ended, the fight expanded,” said Sekel.
Sekel then read the resolution, which recounted more notable American Revolution activities from 1775, including the establishment of the Continental Navy and Continental Marines. Bringing things closer to home, Precinct 1 Commissioner Wendy Spivey said one of her ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, Jacob Kinabrew.
In other business, the court:
• Approved accepting a picnic table being donated to the Henderson County Juvenile Probation Department from a juvenile donor.
• Approved a donation from the City of Carrollton of surplus radio equipment (totaling 577 that were formerly fully operational, according to County Judge Wade McKinney), of which he said some can be made operational.
• Approved a request from County Court at Law 2 to move a temporary part-time position to a permanent part-time position.
• Approved a request from the Henderson County District Attorney’s Office to use seizure funds to increase an investigator’s salary by $2,500.
• Approved an interlocal cooperation contract with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for DPS crime laboratory services.
• Approved enrolling county employees into the Texas Association of Counties’ annual cybersecurity training course, in accordance with state law.
• Approved a resolution of approval for submission of a grant application for bullet-resistant components for law enforcement vehicles, tied to action taken earlier in November.
• Approved the performance of drainage maintenance and erosion repair at the Westwood Beach solid waste area off County Road 3105 (Westwood Beach Drive at Lake Palestine) on property owned by Westwood Beach Property Owners Association (POA), with work done by Precinct 3 Road and Bridge, and also accepting a $1,397 check from the POA for materials used to make those repairs, all in accordance with state law.
• Approved performing road work in the New York Cemetery in the southeast part of the county and within Precinct 4, as per state law.
• Approved a contract for use and maintenance related to software enabling the county’s open records request portal.
• Approved a right-of-way permit for Brightspeed to install fiber-optic cable along county roads 1703, 1708, 1709, 1710, 1712, east and north Beverly drives, Maple Lane and Briarwood Harbor Road, located in Precinct 1 near Malakoff.
• Approved a right-of-way permit for Spectrum Gulf LLC to install fiber-optic cable along County Road 1213, located in Precinct 1.
• Approved allowing Moore Station Water Supply Corp. to perform leak repair at two locations within the County Road 3605 right-of-way, located in Precinct 3.
• Approved paying fiscal year 2026 bills of $10,758.
• Approved paying fiscal year 2025 bills of $1,068,905.68.
• Approved extending for 12 months the county’s waste-hauling contract with Republic Services.
• Approved the county jail’s inmate food services contract with Five Star Correctional Services.