Freestone County Commissioners took action at their Nov. 20 meeting to ensure all ARPA funds are either spent or allocated by the end of the year to avoid loss of the use of the monies.
At the same meeting, the court approved the purchase of a new fire truck for the Fairfield Fire Department; approved a change to cases in Oakwood, requiring them to remain in Oakwood; kept the burn ban lifted; approved Starlink Internet service at the Butler Community Center; and made a variety of other decisions regarding the county’s finances and well-being.
Spending or allocating ARPA funds
Freestone County Auditor Karen Craddick reported that there was still $122,871 of ARPA funds remaining, which would need to be spent or allocated by the end of December for the county to keep them.
“We’ll just need to do a memo of understanding for the ones that will be road material and what we have for that,” she said, “and then we’ve got purchase orders on several items, too.”
Also concerning ARPA funds, Steve Shad, with the Garland Company spoke with the court about the cost of courthouse roof repairs. No decision was made at that time on the subject.
Fairfield to get new fire truck
On a separate matter, Fairfield Fire Chief Anthony Roberts addressed the court about the purchase of a fire truck, saying the Department had accepted a grant by the deadline to pay for most of the truck. The county can withdraw from the grant if they wanted to do so, he pointed out.
The purpose behind getting the new tanker was to replace Tanker 83, he noted, which is significantly aged.
“It still performs,” he said, “but for us to maintain it is going to cost quite a bit more money than we’ve allocated.”
Accompanying Roberts were three representatives of a company called Forecaster. A location for repair of the truck is Wilmer. The price for a Forecaster fire truck is $522,800, and the down payment would be due in November 2025, so it would not be in the next year’s budget but the following year’s budget.
Ultimately, the court approved buying the Forecaster with an option to finance.
Oakwood PD cases to stay in Oakwood; burn ban stays lifted
In a separate matter, the court accepted an amendment to a an interlocal agreement between the Freestone County Sheriff’s Office and the Oakwood Police Department regarding letting those with cases currently getting their cases appealed to Freestone County. The change is that the person would not be able to appeal the case in Freestone County anymore.
In a separate matter, consideration of imposing a burn ban remains on the agenda year round, but the commissioners kept the burn ban lifted at this time.
Other court decisions In other matters, the court:
• Approved paying Starlink $120 a month for Internet service at the Butler Community Center;
• Approved Tara Batton and Anthony Roberts for the Child Protective Service board;
• Approved a plat in the Stoecker Subdivision at CR 345 and FM 489 presented by Scott Stevens;
• Had planned to consider an opioid settlement, but no one was present to present the settlement, so the court tabled the motion; and
• Tabled consideration of action on Internet security until the next meeting.
Public comments
During the public comments portion of the meeting, Freestone County resident Charles Morgan spoke before the court, declaring that the county has an ongoing problem with excess noise from the oil-and-gas machinery. He said the noise is harming the citizens and the court needs to address that.
