North & East Texas
Cooke County Commissioners Court approved a project by master gardeners for rainwater harvest and a butterfly garden. The county also marked completion of interior restoration of the courthouse in its 100th year.
Coryell County Commissioners Court approved tax abatements for a proposed shopping center in Copperas Cove with phase one of The Shops at Five Hills valued at $50 million.
Gregg County Commissioners Court renewed the county’s contract with Community Healthcore for $480,000 for mental health services.
Houston County has an interim county judge, R.C. “Chris” von Doenhoff, a former judge who was selected to replace Lonnie Hunt until the November election. Hunt resigned to accept a position with the Texas Association of Counties in Austin.
Jasper County Commissioners Court voted to participate in a state program to fund $2 million in repairs and improvements at Bell Field, the county airport.
Kaufman County Commissioners Court approved the purchase of eight new vehicles for the sheriff’s department from Phil Potts Motors for $219,352.
Lamar County Commissioners Court approved an agreement with Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife for a grant of $200,000 to extend the Trail de Paris and Reno Rail Trail by 3.19 miles of recreational trail.
McLennan County Commissioners Court hired Dallas-based ArchiTexas to supervise phase two of construction in a repair project at the 109-year-old courthouse. The budget for phase two is $750,000.
Nacogdoches County received a grant of $100,000 from the Texas Department of State Health Services for a program aimed at reducing the number of preventable hospitalizations for dehydration and urinary tract infections.
Robertson County Commissioners Court voted to continue monthly grants of $2,500 each to the Boys and Girls clubs until September.
Rusk County received two grants of nearly $35,000 for radios for county VFDs and its emergency response team.
Sabine County Judge Charles Watson appointed Gene Graham as commissioner of Precinct 1 to replace Keith Clark, who died recently.
San Augustine County launched a new website, including agendas and minutes of commissioners court meetings, reports and other open records, with an economic development grant from Encana. Commissioners also approved tax abatements for Pinto Pony Cookie factory.
South Texas
Bastrop County Commissioners Court accepted a federal grant of $17,252 for wildfire risk assessments for about 50 properties in nine subdivisions.
Comal County Commissioners Court added $244,782 to the jail budget for overtime and prisoners’ meals. Commissioners also accepted a state grant of $29,000 for radios for the sheriff’s office and approved a contract with Sturgis Web Services to upgrade the tax assessor-collector website to allow online payments.
Frio County Commissioners Court approved $45,000 for security upgrades for county offices in Pearsall and Dilley to improve response times.
Gillespie County Commissioners Court awarded a contract of $370,040 to Beck-Reit and Sons of Austin for a bridge at Barons Creek, qualifying the county to receive state funds for repair of five other bridges. Commissioners also approved the county’s matching funds for $1.8 million in airport improvements.
Jackson County Commissioners Court designated 141 acres as a re-investment zone and approved tax abatements for ETC Texas Pipeline, which is scheduled to build phase one of a plant and gas and liquid pipelines for $300 million. The Jackson County Herald-Tribune said phase two of the project will cost $150 million.
Karnes County Commissioners Court authorized construction by contractor M.J. Boyle on phase one of a courthouse restoration project.
Kleberg County Commissioners Court voted to remove a sign for Judge Pete De La Garza Courthouse Annex and replace it with a sign for the building’s new tenant, the Texas State Department of Family Protective Services. A sign honoring Judge De La Garza will be placed inside the building. Also, the county accepted a federal grant of $717,809 for sheriff’s department overtime, mileage and equipment reimbursement.
Lavaca County received two donations of $15,000 each from the Dickson-Allen Foundation for the records retention center and the senior citizens center.
Nueces County Commissioners Court renamed Amistad Park as Amistad Veterans Memorial Park after $200,000 in renovations. The county also received a Growing Green Award for energy improvements at the courthouse from the Texas Engineering Extension Service and U.S. Department of Commerce.
Orange County Commissioners Court approved participation in federal disaster recovery funds. The Orange Leader reported an allocation of $5.8 million, including $3.7 million for bridge repairs and $1.2 million for road repairs.
San Patricio County Judge Terry Simpson visited Panama City, according to the Mathis News, “to reinforce the relationship the county and the port have with the Panama Canal Authority…to promote the Port of Corpus Christi as a trade center for merchants using the canal.”
Travis County Commissioners Court approved transportation and engineering requests for a 177-acre, single-family residential development after an earlier mixed-use plan failed.
Uvalde County received a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the U.S. and Canada.
Waller County Commissioners Court established the position of juvenile case manager. It will be funded by a one-year state grant that is expected to be extended for two additional years.
Washington County Judge John Brieden, in his first term, was appointed to the Texas Juvenile Justice Board.
Williamson County Commissioners Court approved plans for the $10.1 million Blackland Heritage County Park on the San Gabriel River near Hutto.
West Texas
Callahan County Commissioners Court authorized grants to the Cross Pains and Clyde libraries to help offset loss of state and federal funds.
Clay County Commissioners Court approved the purchase for $4,310 of 10 emergency lighting units for the sheriff’s office and jail.
Comanche County received a federal grant of $21,895 to help convert from wideband to narrowband radio signals by Dec. 31.
Dawson County Commissioners Court approved an agreement with Gaines County to share services and expenses of a CPS court coordinator.
Eastland County received a federal grant of $21,895 for upgrades to the county dispatch.
Hale County Commissioners Court allocated to Petersburg VFD $10,000 for a 1,000-gallon water tank from the Texas Forest Service and $7,500 to help make communications equipment compliant with new federal regulations.
Howard County Commissioners Court voted to join the city of Big Spring in helping fund operations of Big Spring State Park with annual grants of $10,000 each. The Midland Reporter-Telegram said the park had earlier been targeted for closing.
Jones County received a federal grant of $21,895 for upgrades to communications equipment.
Llano County received a state grant of $275,000 to help fund three 300-foot radio towers to serve Burnet, Blanco and Llano counties.
Mason County Judge Jerry Bearden appointed Stephen Mutschink as commissioner for Precinct 4 to replace Eldon Kothmann, who died recently.
Midland County Commissioners Court voted to purchase property for $3.2 million for a new northside library. “It’s a great day for the Midland County library system,” Judge Mike Bradford told the Midland Reporter-Telegram.
Montague County Commissioners Court voted to help the county’s historical commission purchase two historical markers for the Poor Farm and Cemetery on land the county has owned since 1873. The Bowie News said there has been no burial at the cemetery since 1936; it is believed to contain about 90 graves. Commissioners also approved the sale of $2.5 million in certificates of obligation to fund courthouse annex construction.
Parker County Commissioners Court approved contracts totaling $750,000 for 13 emergency services districts and volunteer fire departments and $80,000 for expanded fire dispatch.
Parmer County Commissioners Court approved withdrawal of money from its permanent school fund for construction projects at schools in Farwell, Lazbuddie and Friona.
Potter County Commissioners Court selected Mercy Murguia of Amarillo as commissioner for Precinct 2 to replace Manuel “Perez” Villasenor, who died in October. She is a consultant for a health care software company and former board member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Reagan County Commissioners Court appointed Donna Holden of Big Lake as treasurer starting Jan. 1 to replace Nancy Ratliff, who resigned after 25 years of service to the county.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, speaking at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon reported by Fort Worth Business Press, said that “the state of our county is not just good, but great…Great people plus great infrastructure plus limited government equals a growing economy and a bright future.”
Ward County Commissioners Court selected Dinosaur Valley Construction as construction manager at risk for proposed courthouse renovations.
Wichita County Commissioners Court approved several grants, including $193,375 to volunteer fire departments in the county.
Wilbarger County Commissioners Court approved deed transfer for a former county jail to the city of Vernon to develop as a museum. Commissioners also approved 10-year tax abatements for proposed plant expansion by Rhodia, a developer and producer of specialty chemicals.
Wise County Commissioners Court approved the purchase of QueTel computer software to track criminal evidence. “Just this year we’ve had 3,500 items brought in as evidence or property,” Sheriff David Walker told the Wise County Messenger. “It’s a huge liability if we don’t keep up with it or accidentally destroy something.” H – Compiled by Garner Roberts