County applauds DISD student

The Erath County Commissioner’s Court opened its Monday, Feb. 26 meeting by bragging on Dublin High School Junior Vanessa Pantoja for earning first in state at the FFA Spanish Creed Speaking contest.

County Judge Brandon Huckabee congratulated the young lady and presented her with a certificate for the accomplishment.

“It’s awesome to see all of the success of these young people,” Huckabee said about Pantoja and the recent success of other students in surrounding school districts. “We are proud of you.”

Ag teacher Derek Dunlap along with Pantoja’s parents were there for the presentation.

The court unanimously agreed on a bid for a new maintenance barn in Precinct 2. The contract for $406,000 was awarded to Tommy Ruderer and the barn will be built on FM 219 towards the airport in Dublin. The item was included in the budget for this year.

Commissioner Albert Ray explained that in the process of deeding the land, an abandoned street was located in the middle, which the city of Dublin would be handing over to the county.

“The city has already told us it’s not a problem,” Ray said.

Several land development pre-application meetings were updated at the court meeting.

All pre-application meetings are a start to any new Subdivision or rural development project.

These projects include an RV Park on CR 495 in Precinct 1, the Payne Subdivision on CR 408 near Lingleville, Cooper Rental Park on Hwy. 377 with tiny homes in Precinct 3 and additional cabins at Wiley Cabin Rental Park on CR 393 in Precinct 2.

A public hearing with no public comments was held on the revision of Erath County Subdivision Rules. A special called meeting will be held Thursday, Feb. 29 at 9:30 a.m. to discuss changes to the subdivision rules.

“A lot of these are state driven legislative changes,” Huckabee explained.

A contract between Erath County and Hood County for inmate housing was approved, with the daily cost of housing an inmate being increased from $50 to $65 for the Erath County Jail.

“We’re the cheapest,”Sheriff Matt Coates explained. “We moved to where we are charging the right amount.”

The contract is for a 1-year term to allow Hood County to house some of their inmates, if needed, at the Erath County Jail. A piece of exercise equipment to do pullups was approved for the county-wide employee workout facility housed at ECSO. Coates explained that there was talk of a fit for duty standard being implemented by Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE), so this piece of equipment could aid in that.