The Lampasas County Commissioners Court on Monday settled a road dispute by agreeing to maintain a portion of County Road 2804 in Adamsville.

The court voted 5-0 to resume maintenance of about a quartermile of road west from the intersection of U.S. Highway 281 and CR 2804. The county’s maintenance responsibility will extend to a gate that marks the beginning of property owned by Dr. David Spence.

Although a marker on a state stop sign designates the dirt road as “County Road 2804,” the roadway was not included in a list of county roads the Commissioners Court approved June 13, 2005.

Spence requested county maintenance of the road that leads to his property, and he submitted to County Judge Wayne Boultinghouse several Adamsville residents’ signed statements that county crews have maintained the road for decades.

Chapter 258 of the state Transportation Code says that a county “has a valid claim of the existence of a public interest in a road if it provides written records or other information documenting the county’s continuous maintenance of the road beginning before September 1, 1981.” Chapter 258 also specifies that “the failure to include on a county road map ... does not affect the status of the omitted road.

Because of Spence’s documenta- tion, and because of a recent meeting with Adamsville residents, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack B. Cox recommended resuming county maintenance. “It is a complicated situation, but we’re willing to try our best to serve the community of Adamsville well and to do what’s best,” Cox said.

Also Monday, commissioners voted 5-0 to reject a petition for a local option election to allow the sale of beer and wine within the Kempner city limits. Although the petition contained 83 signatures — 15 more than required — only 56 met legal requirements, Elections Administrator Dorothy Person said.

Each valid signature on a local option alcohol election petition must be accompanied by the signatory’s printed name, residence address, date of birth and the date of the signing, Ms. Person said.

Proponents of a local option election likely will organize another petition so a vote about alcohol sales in Kempner can be conducted during the November election, Ms. Person added.

Also at the recent meeting, county residents Terry Lowe and Lea Kenyon asked the court to establish a noise ordinance.

Lowe, who lives on CR 4330, said his neighbors often play music until 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. on weekends. Although the neighbors live 300- 400 yards from his house, Lowe said a sheriff’s deputy recorded a decibel reading of 79 at Lowe’s property line. State law sets the “disorderly conduct” threshold at 85 decibels, Sheriff David Whitis said.

Sheriff’s officials have told Lowe several times they have no authority to enforce a limitation on noise, he said.

“I’m at the end of my rope,” Lowe said. “I don’t want to hear one more time, ‘I’m sorry, sir, but we can’t do anything.’”

“My wife works weekends,” he added. “She’s got to get up at 5 a.m., and she can’t sleep because of the music.”

Lowe asked commissioners to set a volume limit between 60 and 70 decibels. A $300 fine should be assessed for the first violation, Lowe said, and he said the penalty should double for each subsequent violation.

Mrs. Kenyon, who lives on CR 3210, also urged the commissioners to pass a noise ordinance, as she said neighbors about 100 yards from her house are disturbing her family, her horses and other livestock in the area. Loud noises spook her horses, Mrs. Kenyon said, and she said the noise resulted in the death of a $1,500 sheep when a neighbor’s flock became frightened and stampeded.

Mrs. Kenyon also urged the court to clarify where a law enforcement official should take a sound reading. After one noise complaint, the volume at her house was measured at 75 decibels, she said.

“It would have been 100 if they had measured from the barn,” Mrs. Kenyon added.

Whitis said his department receives noise complaints from all parts of the county. The sheriff noted that his family’s property is “within earshot” of a motorcycle track. Although those property owners have begun limiting their noise, Whitis said other requests for quiet have been less successful.

“Our only recourse is to go to the property owners and ask them to turn it [the noise] down,” Whitis said of the action his deputies can take. “We have no way to enforce this. The only remedy I see is an ordinance.”

The sheriff suggested studying noise ordinances adopted in relatively urban counties and adapting those to fit the needs of Lampasas County’s residential areas. Commissioners should consider creating exceptions for agricultural and manufacturing activities, Whitis said.

“As sheriff, I certainly would appreciate it — anything you can do,” he said of an ordinance to respond to county resident’s complaints. “I feel for them, but we as the Sheriff’s Department are caught in the middle.”

Commissioners tabled the matter.

In another item, commissioners voted unanimously to refinance certificates of obligation issued in 2000, as well as tax notes issued in 2006. The certificates of obligation were used to fund renovation of the Lampasas County Courthouse, and the tax notes provided funds for improvements to the Lampasas County Office Building, as well as for Farm-to-Market Road 1715 right of way acquisition.

Commissioners voted 5-0 to approve an interest rate bid of 3.57 percent from Compass Bank. By decreasing its interest rate from 4.89 percent, the county will ensure a consistent schedule of debt service payments, said Garry Kimball, president of Specialized Public Finance Inc., the county’s financial adviser.

If the county had not refinanced, Kimball said, its interest payments would have increased by $465,000 in 2012 and 2013.

Also at the recent meeting, commissioners voted to reduce the hourly charge for private use of the county office building’s conference room from $25 to $15. The fee, effective immediately, applies for as much as eight hours a day and is capped at $120 per day.

A $100 refundable security deposit — and a waiver of the hourly fee for non-profit groups — still apply.

Jeanette Snell, who spoke on behalf of the Town & Country Study Club and the Lampasas County Museum Foundation, urged officials to collect security deposits from all groups that use the facility, as she said enforcement has been lax in the past. The security deposit helps provide for cleaning in case of damage to the conference room, said Mrs. Snell, who added that Town & Country Study Club and museum foundation members exercise extreme caution when meeting in county facilities.

In addition, commissioners voted to table consideration of changes to the county’s rabies and animal control ordinance. Proposed changes include increases in several animal control fees.