County commissioners received a clarification on what the Chamber of Commerce wanted when it asked for churches to be allowed to post their hours on tdhe marquee sign outside the courthouse during Monday’s meeting.

Jacksboro Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Redonna Pulis had gone before the Court last month asking to allow churches who were Chamber members to put their service times on the sign and was denied by the court, citing a separation of church and state and wanting to keep the county away from liability.

“If we get sued, the city and Chamber aren’t going to be paying the legal bills, we are,” Judge Mitchell Davenport said. “We need to keep county residents out of that.”

The item was originally tabled and did not come off the table, meaning no action was taken on it.

Pulis said what she was asking for is a way for churches to put their office hours on the sign, much like any other Chamber member can do as a part of their membership. 

“The marquee is something we offer as a benefit of joining the Chamber,” Pulis told the court Monday. “Churches want to put their hours on the sign as part of being in the Chamber just like other businesses. They need to be able to advertise just like other Chamber members.”

Davenport said rules were established when the sign was first installed against churches using the sign and the judge wanted to know what had changed.

“If they were Chamber members at the time and had no problem with the rules, why are they wanting to use it now?” Davenport asked.

Pulis said churches are businesses in this instance and questioned why regular businesses are allowed to advertise their hours and the churches aren’t. Davenport said since the marquee is on county land, he needs to protect the county from liability.

In other activity, commissioners approved spending up to $14,000 on a project which would mean the construction of a dock at Lake Jacksboro.

JHS senior Johnny Callan came before the court to explain his concept of having a 20’ by 24’ dock built as part of a service project, which he said will be ADA accessible and can be used by anyone. The dock would have three access points to the lake for people to fish or picnic or simply “enjoy nature.”

He says the project, after talking to a number of contractors, would run about $28,000. He went before the Jacksboro city council last month to get some funding for the project.

City Manager Mike Smith told the court the city had agreed to fund the project with Callan agreeing to get donations from other entities and civic organizations to reimburse the city. 

Callan has a chance at some scholarship money through FFA with a successful project but has a deadline of Jan.7 to secure finding. He would like to have to dock completed before he graduates to leave a legacy on the town where he grew up.