10/5/17 – 12:11 P.M.

The Hancock County Commissioners heard from more people lobbying to remove Issue 3 from the November ballot during their Thursday meeting. Commissioner Brian Robertson once again motioned for a vote to remove the issue…

Audio: Brian Robertson

However, Commissioner Tim Bechtol said he didn’t want to move forward yet. He first wants to talk to the 14 elected officials who supported the sales tax measure to begin with…

Audio: Tim Bechtol

Bechtol said he had other reservations as well…

Audio: Tim Bechtol

Members of the Watershed Solutions group said they don’t believe that will be an issue. They said the upcoming 30 percent plan from Stantec Engineering would likely show lower costs for future mitigation projects.

Bechtol also said he had concerns that pulling Issue 3 could confuse voters about Issue 4. Issue 4 is a quarter percent sales tax designed to pay for an expansion at the Hancock County Jail. It would stay on the ballot

Commissioner Brian Robertson said he didn’t think that would be the case…

Audio: Brian Robertson

Robertson made a motion to pull Issue 3 from the ballot. The commissioners tabled the motion until a special meeting at 2 p.m. Friday.

Earlier this week members of the Blanchard Watershed Solutions group and Hancock United for a Better Blanchard asked the commissioners to pull Issue 3 from the ballot so they could continue to work toward common ground between business and agriculture interests.

Issue 3 is a quarter percent sales tax. The commissioners have passed a resolution that would dedicate revenue from the tax to flood reduction projects.