Freestone County received the good news last week that its Texas Courthouse Preservation Program grant had been approved for $6.38 million.
That announcement took place during the court’s Feb. 5 meeting, when the court also heard a proposal from a state group that could help the county during an emergency; a proposal to repair the courthouse roof; a decision to repair a bridge on CR 971; a decision to buy several firetrucks in advance to save money, and made other decisions concerning the county’s finances and well-being.
County Judge Linda Grant announced that the county had received the full restoration grant of $6,379,190 from the state’s courthouse restoration program.
Present for the announcement were Freestone County Historical Commission Chair William Shelton and secretary Angela Oglesbee. Shelton noted “the positive engagement and response” they had received from the Architecture Committee.
Oglesbee thanked the county commissioners for having the master plan in place, to which she attributed being chosen on the first round and which put Freestone County two years ahead of other counties in the process.
State group offers assistance
Also during the meeting, Commissioners Court was visited by a group of people from a state organization that can offer its assistance to the county in emergency situations.
The visiting group was headed by Barton Withow, with the Texas Commission on Emergency Management. With Withow was his county liaison from Hill County, Jennifer Goth; his section chief ,Paul Gunnels; and assistant chief, RandyAstrid.
“What we’re doing here is we’re trying to seek information from the commissioners to assign a seal for Freestone County,” Withow said.
Essentially, their purpose is to help the county and the jurisdictions within, in management of their emergency management program.
“So essentially it’s to assist you in the management of your program and during an incident to provide on-site support, resources if necessary; and after the incident, the recovery process,” Withow said Grant noted that there would be no cost to the county for the service the group would give – other thantoprovideasmallofficespace.
Dispatch update
Also during the meeting, the court heard an update from ITDirector Dane McBroom on the new dispatch department.
Courthouse roof proposal, bridge repair
Also at the meeting a representative of a company was present to discuss the court- house roof and what he proposed as “a partial tear-off” to address damage and needed repairs to the roof. No decision was made at that time. On a different subject, the court granted the discretionary exemption in Local Code Section 262.024 (2) to repair a bridge on CR 971 in Precinct 4.
County employees email change
In other matters, county employees may no longer access their personal email accounts on county computers. If they receive emails on their personal email accounts about county business, they were told to forward those communications to their county email accounts.
County makes deal with Oakwood
Also present at the meeting were the Oakwood mayor and city secretary to discuss a proposed interlocal agreement between Freestone County and the city of Oakwood for police protection from their city limits to the river, as far as Madison County to County Road 300 for control and traffic.
The commissioners agreed that they need to first get a copy of the agreement to see exactly what the agreement says.
County to buy multiple fire trucks
In a separate matter, the court decided to save money by purchasing five fire trucks at once instead of buying one each year, which would include price increases each year as well as other additional costs.
Sealed bids opened
In other matters, County Auditor Karen Craddock opened sealed bids for the sale of a 2012 Dump Trailer in Precinct 1. The winning bid was from JJ Merchant for $1,778. Also bidding was Dustin Dodge for $350.
Executive session and other actions
At one point, the commissioners went into executive session to discuss personnel matters. When the court returned to regular session, it took no action.
In other matters, the court:
• Accepted a donation to the Sheriff’s Office from Calpine for $1,000. Judge Grant expressed gratitude to Calpine for the donation;
• Appointed the County Clerk’s office as the location for passport acceptance;
• Approved enrolling in cyber security training through the Texas Association of Counties;
• Authorized the sale of fireworks for Texas Independence Day;
• Accepted a grant of $14,050 for home-delivered meals for Senior Services from the Department of Agriculture;
•Agreed to seek new bids on depository contracts from other banks since the contract with Citizens Bank is about to expire;
• Agreed to leave the burn ban lifted;
• Removed the name of former county treasurer Jeanie Keeney and added the name of current county treasurer Mandy Chavers to the Community National Bank and Prosperity Bank accounts; and
• Approved purchasing 20 laptops for deputy cars for $21,400.
Noise complaint
During the time available for the public to comment, retired civil engineer Charles Morgan addressed the court on the dangers of the noise produced by the oil-and-gas business machinery.
“I’ve lived here 50 years, and by golly, I can’t use my own house,” he told the court. “That’s a problem, and we really need to address this thing.”
